The effects of food safety issues released by we media on consumers’ awareness and purchasing behavior: A case study in China

In recent years, we media, i.e., micro-blogs, have drawn increasing attention to their roles by exposing food safety scandals in China. In this paper, a typical case of a scandal concerning “set-style yogurt and jelly event” reported by a micro-blog was studied and analyzed in terms of its dissemination mode and the mechanism of how a micro-blog from “opinion leaders” affected public attention. Related sales data of set-style yogurt and jelly products were obtained after the event from a supermarket corporation in Beijing and used to analyze trends affected by the scandal. The results indicate that in the new media age, we media has greatly increased dissemination of the voices of “opinion leaders” and triggered large-scale communication of food safety messages to the public. In this serious information asymmetry situation between public and food manufacturer, food-safety scandals revealed by we media could easily be noticed by consumers and further affect their judgments of expected utility and their purchasing behavior. Sales volume decreases and negative influence on brand reputation might contribute to correcting food manufacturers’ behavior. We media could be an effective tool to improve the food-safety status of the market.