When food governance matters to consumer food choice: Consumer perception of and preference for food quality certifications

Food quality certifications have been widely promoted for sustainable goals and addressing consumers' increasing concern for food safety. However, these mechanisms have achieved varied success in practice. Prior research notes the importance of certification and certifying agencies in making tangible an invisible process to build consumer trust in certified food. What we have yet to understand is if and how perceived trustworthiness of food actors, such as growers and retailers in that process, influences consumers' trust in food certification and their food choices. To extend the literature on food certification in a complex network environment, we examined consumer trust in three food certification schemes which represent two types (community-based versus third-party), two certification origins (international versus domestic), and two certification standards (organic versus Good Agricultural Practice or GAP). Data were collected via in-depth interviews with 27 participants in Vietnam. These participants have similar awareness of, access to and capability to afford organic food but differ in their food choice. This is the first study exploring consumers' perceptions of community-based certification in comparison with other third-party certifications in the same market. Our study shows that the variation in consumer trust in certifications depends on their perceived trustworthiness of the food system and its actors to deliver certified food. Findings reveal that the higher the level of trust in the certification, the lower the need for trust in food actors. Conversely, the lower the level of trust in the system, the higher the need for trust in food actors. Importantly, food chain governance, the mechanisms linking growers to retailers, increase consumers' trust in certified food. The study proposes two food governance frameworks to improve consumer trust in certification schemes in developing countries.