Consumers' Demand and Satisfaction for Food Quality and Safety in China

2018 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 16H06203
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (A)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Research Field: Agricultural science in management and economy
• Research Institution: Waseda University
• Principal Investigator: Shimokawa Satoru 早稲田大学, 政治経済学術院, 准教授 (40767224)
• Project Period (FY): 2016-04-01 – 2019-03-31
• Keywords: 食品安全 / 食品ラベル / 消費者需要 / 消費者満足度 / 都市農村格差 / 中国

Outline of Final Research Achievements

To explore the demand for food safety in both urban and rural China, we conducted a household survey with discrete choice experiments and consumer satisfaction surveys in urban and rural areas in Hubei Province. We measured the demand for rice and pork with the green food label or the organic food　label.
First, we find that “knowing the green food label” significantly increases the demand for green foods, and the influence is larger in urban areas than in rural areas. Even among consumers without knowing the label, the demand is positive in urban areas while almost zero in rural areas. These knowledge-related differences contribute to explaining about 30% of the urban-rural gap in the demand for green foods.
Second, we show that the availability of foods with the food safety labels increases consumer satisfaction in China, and the positive effect is larger among consumers who did not purchase the labeled items than among those who purchased the labeled items.

Free Research Field

農業経済学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

中国では食品安全問題が頻発しており、国民の「食品の質と安全性」に対する不満が急速に高まっている。生活必需品である食品に対する国民の大きな不満は、社会への不満、ひいては共産党体制への不満につながりかねず、中国政府にとってきわめて重要な問題である。そのため、今後の中国における食料需要を理解するためには、量的側面だけでなく、「食品の質・安全性」に対する需要の究明が必要とされている。