A consumer's perspective on the active role of online media endorsement of food integrity by connecting the actors involved

Abstract

The aim of the paper is to analyse the importance of online media when buying food and the consumers’ awareness of its involvement in food integrity. Recognizing the importance of online media in daily life, the paper explores the possibility to get consumers more involved, through social media, in food integrity activities. Thus, the goal of the study was to identify the causal relationship between the involvement of food business operators (FBOs), authorities, and consumers, the three main actors in the food chain. It was found that consumers consider themselves responsible, along with authorities and FBOs, for monitoring food integrity, and that they are interested in periodically receiving information on food integrity through online media. Based on confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation model (SEM), the results showed a link between involving consumers, FBOs, authorities and the influence of online media, in monitoring food integrity, therefore online media could be capitalized together with conventional practices, in a complementary manner. Authorities and FBOs should provide online media with tools through which consumers could lodge complaints, if necessary, find out information about food chain supervision, and get access to educational and informative materials regarding food integrity. The paper promotes the idea of transforming informed consumers into informal auditors for the food products.