Role of Trust and Risk in Consumer Food Choice: The SPARTA Model

This paper explores the role of trust in food safety information in determining consumer choice in relation to socio-demographic effects and other determinants. We propose a modelling framework which extends the Theory of Planned Behaviour to account for risk perception and trust and allows for country-specific effects. The model is tested on the impact of salmonella information on chicken consumption choices across five European countries, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands and the UK, based on a nationally representative survey for a total of 2,725 face-to-face interviews. Results show that no relationship emerges between socio-demographics variables and the trust placed by consumer in food safety information, although country differences are relevant. The findings also suggest that the policy priority should be on building and maintaining trust in food and health authorities, and research institutions.