Time-temperature indicators or integrators (TTIs) indicate food quality changes based on time-temperature history. Whilst many types of TTIs have been developed and commercialized, educated consumers often refuse to purchase food products with attached TTI labels showing even a slight color change. In this study, a novel on-off diffusion-based TTI coupled with polydiacetylene/silica nanocomposites has been proposed. The prototype TTI tag has a multilayer structure comprised of a self-adhesive base layer, a middle microporous sheet, and an upper opaque white layer coupled with a square reservoir of Tween 20 attached to an activation stripe. At the end of the diffusion path, polydiacetylene/silica nanocomposites were injected into a loading site as a fine blue stripe. After activation, Tween 20 diffused and reached the loading site, where it rapidly changed from blue-to-red via solvatochromism. This alternative and innovative TTI continuously showed a blue color until reaching the end point, at which stage a red color rapidly appeared, indicating product rejection. Thus, this novel TTI it is of great benefit to the brand owner. The developed prototype was characterized and evaluated for its ability to monitor microbial quality based on published, isothermal, microbial growth data of modified-atmosphere packaged minced beef, Mediterranean fish, and ground pork. The diffusion of Tween 20 in the TTI system was measured under various isothermal conditions and a kinetic model, based on the association between diffusion and time-temperature, was investigated. The Gaussian-estimated activation energy value was 51.082kJ mol-1. Tween 20 diffusion of 6.10, 5.15 and 6.15mm along the TTI systems were considered to be end points and the 95% confidence interval between the times taken for TTI to display OFF and for the foods to reach their deterioration thresholds were 23.30-23.70, 23.00-23.50 and 23.44-24.05h for total aerobic bacteria, Shewanella putrefaciens, and Pseudomonas spp. respectively. The TTI performance test for reproducibility and accuracy revealed a normal frequency distribution with 35004.90, 1200.254.82 and 549.811.09min at 0, 11 and 25C, respectively in accordance with the investigation of diffusion in the TTI.

Low water activity foods usually do not support growth of pathogens. However, in recent years, a number of outbreaks associated with low water activity foods occurred, making people have a new understanding of microorganisms about low water activity foods and resulting in the safety of these foods becoming a major concern. Traditional thermal sterilization methods are difficult to be applied in low water activity foods because of its poor heat transfer and strong heat resistance of microorganisms. Radio frequency (RF) is considered as one of the most potential technologies in food industry and has an excellent prospect on content of the advantages of rapid and uniform heating. The Principle of RF-Sterilization is similar to Microwave, but RF has lower frequency and wider wavelength, therefore RF penetration depth is more suitable for Sterilization. For the pre-packaged food, there is few report on the effect of RF on the food and packaging materials. This presentation aims to discuss the influence of RF through comparing to Microwave.

Antioxidant packaging have been investigated for a very long time, since lipid oxidation may cause a lot of quality problems which are not just on lipids but also to other components of food during storage and transportation. Lipid oxidation of packaged food can be by partly excluded by adding antioxidants to the packaged food, however, in order to make sure sustain release of antioxidant in a relatively long term and avoid food safety problems concerned by consumers, controlled release antioxidant active packaging, on the basis of active packaging, has been introduced and investigated. Controlled release packaging (CRP) means that active compounds release from packaging materials in a controlled manner which offers a prolonged delivery of active compounds at predictable and reproducible release rate. This study focuses on three subject in regard to the realized methods of controlled release of antioxidants in food packaging, which include encapsulation of active compounds with a mesoporous matrix, modification of structure and composition of multilayer film, and preparation of hydrogel bio-based packaging polymers.

Food quality indicator is a simple device to communicate information of food quality to consumers. Change of specific gas composition in the headspace of food packaging can be considered as a food quality indication. For examples, level of carbon dioxide (CO2) increases in the headspace of packaged kimchi which is fermented over time during storage. The elevated ammonia (NH3) level inside a food package is an indication of spoilage. In this study, CO2 indicators and NH3 indicators were developed to monitor food quality and their performance were evaluated. Especially, the correlation between the food quality change and the indicator change were studied during storage. Two types (chitosan-based and whey protein isolate-based) of CO2 indicators was developed to monitor the CO2 concentration in the headspace of a food package. The CO2 indicators showed a visual change depending on CO2 level in the package headspace and were installed on the packaged kimchi and the packaged makgeolli in order to notify their ripening stage. NH3 indicators were developed to monitor the headspace NH3 concentration in the packaged fishery products such as fermented skate. The NH3 indicators showed a prominent color change depending on NH3 level as the skate was fermented over time. In addition, the polylactic acid (PLA)-based package box installing NH3 indicator was developed for the fermented skate and the color change of the indicator was evaluated at different storage temperatures over time. In conclusion, the gas indicators incorporated into the package was able to simply inform food quality over time.

2016년 4월 7일, 식품의약품안전처에서 [제1차 당류 저감 종합계획]을 발표하였다. 발표 내용에 의하면 당류의 과잉 섭취는 국민 건강을 위협하고 과도한 사회비용을 야기할 수 있고, 우리 국민의 가공식품을 통한 당류 섭취량이 증가 하고 있어 선제적 관리가 필요하다고 한다. 우리 국민의 평균 당류 섭취량은 섭취기준 이내이지만 증가 추세이며 일 부 계층(어린이, 청소년, 청년층)의 가공식품을 통한 당류 섭취량은 기준을 초과한다고 밝혔다. 가공식품 중 당류 주요 급원식품은 음료류이며 음료류를 통한 당류 섭취비율은 증가추세에 있다고 한다. 따라서 식품의약품안전처는 ‘우리 국민의 당류 적정 섭취 유도 - 가공식품을 통한 당류 섭취량을 1일 열량의 10% 이내로 관리’를 2020년까지의 목표로 설정하고, 1) 덜 달게 먹는 식습관 유도, 2) 당류 저감식품 선택환경 조성, 3) 당 류 저감정책 추진기반 구축이라는 3대 핵심전략을 바탕으로 세부 과제를 추진하기 시작하였다. 이어서, 한국식품산업협회는 식품의약품안전처의 발표에 대하여 ‘식품산업계는 정부의 당류 저감 정책에 적극 참여 할 것’이라는 제목의 성명서를 발표한 바 있다. 식품산업계는 국민의 요구와 식품업계 수용 역량에 맞게 추진될 수 있 도록 적극 참여하고자 한다고 밝히고, 특히 우리나라 당류 섭취 수준이 다른 국가에 비해 아직 심각하지 않으나, 당류 과잉 섭취와 비만이 문제되고 있는 국제적인 상황에 선제적으로 국가적 노력을 추진코자 하는 정부의 발표에 식품산 업계의 뜻을 같이 하고자 한다고 하였다. 이에, 식품산업계는 다양한 제품 개발에 힘써 소비자들의 선택 폭을 넓히도 록 돕는 한편, 소비자들의 올바른 식생활 형성을 위한 과학적이고 객관적인 정보 전달과 건강한 생활을 지속할 수 있 도록 안전하고 균형잡힌 영양의 식품을 제공하기 위한 노력을 지속하겠다고 성명하였다. 현재, 식품산업협회에서는 음료류 제조업체들이 중심이 되어 ‘음료업계 공통의 당류 저감 계획(안)’을 마련하기 위 하여 활발한 협의가 진행되고 있으며, 논의가 되고 있는 당류 저감 전략은 다음과 같다. 음료업계의 당류 저감 전략은 1) 기존 제품의 당류 함량 저감 (Reformulation), 2) 저당 제품 개발 확대 (Innovation), 3) 소용량 포장 제품 확대 (Smaller Package), 4) 당류 저감 제품의 광고/홍보 증대 (Promotion)로 논의 되고 있다. 기존 제품에 대하여 저감화 우선 순위을 설정하여 순차적으로 당류 저감을 진행하는 한편, 저당 제품 개발의 확대를 위하 여 새로운 고감미료 및 무열량 당류 등의 신소재 원료 식품(첨가물)의 개발에 연구 및 투자를 하고 있다. 또한 기능성 워터 제품, 탄산수 제품, 블랙 커피 제품과 소용량 포장 제품을 확대하여 판매/공급하면서 이러한 당류를 줄인 제품에 대한 광고/홍보비를 증대하는 등의 과제를 계속 시행 및 추가 계획하고 있다. 음료업계는 소비자의 기호에 맞는 제품을 제공하는 것 뿐만 아니라 우리 국민의 균형된 식생활을 돕기 위해 당류의 적정 섭취에 도움이 되는 제품들 개발/판매에 노력을 더 할 것으로 기대한다. 결과적으로, 음료업계를 포함한 식품산업계는 우리 국민이 당류 적정 섭취를 통한 건강한 식생활을 유지할 수 있도 록, 당류를 줄인 제품을 어디서든 쉽게 선택할 수 있도록 하는데 노력하는 것이 바람직할 것이다.

많은 사람이 한국에서 식품하기 너무 힘들다고 한다. 세계 경제 성장이 둔화되고, 경쟁이 치열해지면서 겪을 수밖 에 없는 공통적인 어려움 말고도 한국에는 유난히 심한 식품에 대한 불신감과 그에 따른 규제가 있어서 다른 나라보 다 식품하기가 힘들다는 하소연이다. 사실 10여년 전부터 인터넷이나 언론에서 식품에 대한 부정적인 책과 글 그리고 보도가 많았고, 그런 영향으로 온갖 규제가 강화되었다. 그리고 식품 표시 제도나 , HACCP 같은 안전 대책은 세계에 서 가장 강도 높게 추진되었다. 그럼에도 국민들의 식품에 대한 불신과 불안감은 세계에서 가장 높은 편이고, 규제는 갈수록 강화되는 추세이다 요즘은 신제품을 개발하려고 할 때 예전보다 검토사항이 정말 많아 훨씬 많은 노력과 시간이 소비되지만, 이렇게 개발된 신제품에 대한 소비자의 반응은 냉담한 경우가 많다. 식품회사에 대해 불신이 신제품에 대한 불신으로 이어지 기 때문이다. 식품회사는 좋은 신제품 개발하고 성공시켜야, 회사의 매출도 늘고, 시장도 확대되고, 활력도 늘어날 텐 데, 제품 개발에 좋아진 여건은 없고, 감당할 짐만 훨씬 많아진 것이다. 사실 신제품의 표시 사항 하나 완성하는 것도 정말 보통일이 아니다. 제품에 사용된 전원료를 표시하면서, 어떤 원 료는 용도 표시를, 복합원료면 구성 성분을, 또 원산지, GMO, 알레르기, 영양성분 등 챙기고 따져야할 서류가 보통이 아니다. 그리고 표시 법규마저 수시로 변한다. 그나마 적합한 정보처리 시스템이 있으면 도움이 될텐데, 우리나라 대 부분의 식품회사는 실험 배합표 관리마저 전산화되어 있지 않다. 물론 대부분의 식품회사에 ERP가 도입이 되어 있기 는 하다. 그러나 ERP 시스템은 생산이 확정된 제품을 등록하여 원료수불이나 생산관리를 원할하게 하기 위한 것이라, R&D 활동에 필요한 실험원료(임시 원료)와 실험 배합표를 입력하면 큰 혼란이 발생하고, R&D에 필요한 사전원가 예 측, 성분분석, 영양분석등 연구를 효과적으로 수행하기에 필요한 기능이 없다. 더구나 시스템의 보완과 안정성을 위해 사용절차와 과정이 지나치게 복잡하며 연구원들이 사용을 기피한다. 그래서 연구소 제품 개발 배합표는 연구원 개인 별로 엑셀과 같은 표 작성 프로그램을 통해 수작업으로 관리 되는 실정이다. 많은 분석과 검증이 필요한 연구 단계에 서 제대로 된 전산시스템의 도움이 없으므로 개발 과정에 효율적이지도 않고, 이후에 표시사항 같은 작업도 전산화가 힘든 상황이다. 모든 식품회사에서 사용하기 좋은 배합표의 관리 프로그램이 있다면, 연구 개발 효율성을 크게 향상시킬 수 있고, 참고용 원료 데이터베이스의 구축도 가능해질 것이다. 시스템의 성패는 데이터베이스의 구축에 있는데, 각자 회사별 원료 DB도 있지만 공유 코드를 통해 공통 원료 데이터베이스를 공유하고 활용할 수 있다면, 중소기업이나 개인 사용 자의 부담을 크게 줄일 수 있을 것이다. 그리고 이러한 원료 정보는 긍극적으로는 식품원료에 대한 위키피디아 같은 참고 자료를 만드는데도 활용이 가능 할 것이다. 식품의 불신 원인 중에는 식품원료에 대한 오해도 상당한 몫을 한다. 보존료, 항산화제, 색소, 아스파탐, 사 카린, MSG 같은 첨가물 뿐 아니라 포화지방, 글루텐, 우유, 소금, 설탕, GMO 등에 대한 오해이다. 이런 소재에 대한 엉터리 정보는 주기적으로 출현하는데, 이런 이슈에 대한 객관적이고 믿을만한 자료를 한군데서 모두 볼 수 있게 하 면 연구원에게나 소비자에게 많은 도움이 될 것이다. 그런데 아직 우리에게는 이런 노력이나 식품 연구소의 생산성을 높일 만한 프로그램의 활용이 이루어지고 있지 않다. 알파고가 까지 등장하는 시대에 IT기술의 활용이 너무나 부족한 현실이다

한국산업식품공학 창립 20주년을 기하여 한국식품산업의 과거와 현재를 바탕으로 미래의 발전방향을 모색해 보았 다. 한국식품산업의 역사는 해방 전후로 구분하여 주요 식품산업체, 생산품목을 다루었다. 식품산업의 규모와 수출입, 기술환경의 변화, 소비 및 유통구조의 변화를 살펴보았다. 한국 식품공학의 교육환경과 학술단체, 연구기관 등의 변천 과 한국산업식품공학회 창립 배경과 국내외 활동상황을 정리하였다. 미래 한국식품산업과 식품공학의 별전을 위한 전 략으로 세계기술변천방향과 한국의 우위산업과 소비자의 구조에 적합한 기술발전 전망을 피력하였다. 초창기 한국식 품공학자의 일원으로 수행한 저자의 교육과 연구경험을 소개하였다. 당 평균 구성원 감소, 노령화 사회, 최근에 캠핑문화 확산으로 HMR면시장이 커져갈 것이다.

The objective of the current study was to compare the execution of hygiene and safety management according to the characteristics of children’s food service stations, with the ultimate objective of providing sanitary and safe food service to children. To this end, the study conducted surveys of 73 public and private pre-schools with fewer than 100 children in district A from July 30 to October 31 2015. The differences were evaluated by t-test and analysis of variance. The confidence and validity of the results were analyzed by six food ingredient and facilities management questions, three personal hygiene and facilities management questions, four environmental management questions, and five storage and treatment management questions; for a total of 18 questions. The cumulative distribution of the four factors was 61.569%, and the Cronbach’s alpha was 0.821, which indicated that the results were reliable. The results revealed that public pre-schools (a) and home-based pre-schools (b) had different levels of food ingredient and facility management, but no differences in the number of cooks, number of children served, type of food distribution, and the existence of mass food service facilities. The results of the study may be used to develop hygiene and safety management manual and educational contents to promote the health of the children served.

The purpose of this study was to analyze University student’s dietary behavior for processed foods and recognition on food nutrition labelling according to the degree of health concern. For this study, 302 University students in Gyeonggi region was surveyed by questionnaire from May in 2016 and it included the questions about general matters, dietary behavior on processed foods, and the food nutrition label system. It was analysed by SPSS win 23.0 program. And the results are as follows. According to the result of the factor analysis, the preference of processed foods were showed 3.21~3.97. There were significant differences in milk and milk products preference according to health concern (p<0.05). Also frequency of processed foods was shown significant differences in milk and milk products, noodles, beverage, and fast food (p<0.05), whereas no significant differences were found in meat products, snack, bread and frozen food (p>0.05). Also, the processed food purchase consideration according to health concern was shown significant differences in nutrition, origin, manufacturing company (p<0.05), whereas no significant differences were found in taste, price, exterior, brand, and shelf life (p>0.05). Thus, it is necessary to do continuing public relations and to provide more opportunities for nutrition education so that the University students may obtain right dietary behavior on processed foods and the system of food nutrition indication be established properly.

With the interest on operational efficiency due to the rapid growth of food material distribution industry and food service industry, the study adopts DEA (Data Envelopment Analysis) model and examines to measure the technological, pure technical and scale efficiency those companies engaging in the food material distribution and food service business. As a result of analysis, the companies operating integrated business have relatively higher efficiency than those operating only food material distribution or food service companies while the result indicates that three efficiencies don’t have significant difference depending on whether affiliated companies or not. In the results from the measuring by DEA.

The purpose of this study was to survey the perception and preference for Korean food among Chinese students residing in Korea (Chinese foreign students, N=69) and China (Chinese-locals, N=98). A total of 76.8% of Chinese foreign students and 70.4% of Chinese-locals had ever eaten Korean food in China before visiting Korea, and motivation to try Korean food at first was ‘easy access to Korean food restaurants’ (Chinese foreign students 38.6%, Chinese-locals 44.9%). The most important factors in selecting Korean food were ‘taste’ and ‘price’ (Chinese foreign students 72.7% and 18.2%, Chineselocals 59.1% and 22.7%, respectively), and needed improvements for Korean food were ‘spicy and salty taste’ and ‘nutritional aspect’ (Chinese foreign students 54.5% and 25.8%, Chinese-locals 33.3% and 36.4%, p<0.05). The scores for perception of Korean food were significantly lower in Chinese-locals (2.99) than in Chinese foreign students (3.31)(p<0.001). Chinese foreign students preferred Bulgogi (20.5%), Neobiani (20.1%), and Galbijjim (17.9%), whereas Chinese-locals preferred Bulgogi (16.1%), Gimbap (16.1%), and Samgyetang (15.2%) (p<0.001). The most preferred condiment was ‘Garlic’ (18.0%) in Chinese foreign students, and ‘Red pepper powder’ (16.4%) in Chinese-locals. The results of the study can be used as a foundation to prepare a globalization strategy for Korean Food.

본 연구에서는 1차 농수산물 및 축산물의 기능성 표시광고를 제한하는 법 제도적 제한요인을 탐색하 였다. 우선 이를 위해 선행연구들을 참조하여 농수산물의 품질 및 안전성과 직결되거나 식품표시와 관 련된 법령인 양곡관리법, 축산물위생관리법, 식품위생법, 건강기능식품에 관한 법률, 시행령, 시행규칙 및 표시광고 관련 조항들을 고찰하였다. 법 조항의 적용 시 법률간 관리대상 식품 형태 및 범위의 모호 성, 규제대상 영업자 모호한 설정이 농수산물 기능성 표시광고의 주요 제한요인으로 판단된다. 또한 법 령 주관부처 별 중복규제 가능성, 행정처분 기준의 모호성 등이 확인되었다. 본 연구를 통해 농식품의 기능성 표시광고 제한요인을 도출하였으며, 이는 1차 농수산물 경쟁력 강화를 위한 정책 기초자료로 활 용될 수 있다.

The purposes of this study are to develop a chitosan suspension for the carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration indication of packaged food and to investigate the changes in the CO2 indication corresponding to 2-amino-2-methylpropan- 1-ol (AMP) or 2-aminoethanol (monoethanolamine, MEA) addition. Chitosan suspension was prepared by adding chitosan (0.1, 0.2, and 0.4%) to distilled water and subsequently the pH of the suspension was adjusted to 7.0 after the addition of AMP or MEA. Changes in the pH and the turbidity of the chitosan suspension were measured over time under exposure in a normal atmosphere or 100% carbon dioxide environment. The pH of the chitosan suspension exposed at 100% carbon dioxide environment decreased rapidly up to approximately 6.3 in the initial CO2 exposure. The transmittance values of 0.1 and 0.2% chitosan suspensions with 5% AMP increased from 32 to 99% and from 19 to 86%, respectively. The addition of 5% AMP improved the visual indication performance of the chitosan suspension since it increased significantly the width of the transmittance value before and after CO2 exposure. The chitosan suspension with AMP has a potential to be used as a quality indicator of the packaged foods which produce carbon dioxide during storage and distribution.

In recent years, ethical consumption has been attracting attention in Japan. Ethical products cover various issues, such as protection of the global environment, sustainability of resources, and protection of producers. Because the specification of such issues is difficult, previous studies often analyzed only one phenomenon. Several studies have attempted to examine the buying behavior of consumers of organic food products, based on Ajzen’s (1991) theory of planned behavior (TPB) (Sparks and Shepherd, 1992; Arvola et al., 2007; Chen, 2007, Lodorfos and Dennis, 2008). The TPB considers intention as a function of three principle determinants: attitude toward behavior, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control. Regarding ethical food consumption, moral norms are individual value judgments connected to a specific behavior and its outcome (Manstead, 1999). A comprehensive model based on ethical issues for various products is required. Prior research highlights the consensus that targeting females in ethical consumption will have a greater chance of success (Roberts, 1996; Mainieri et al., 1997; De Pelsmacker et al., 2005). We propose three hypotheses to explain gender difference in consuming ethical food products. The aim of this study is to analyze the purchase behavior of consumers of ethical food products and to examine how consumers differ by gender in terms of the ethical issues. This study adopted organic vegetables, fair trade products, products certified by the Rainforest Alliance, free-range eggs, and fish certified by the Aquaculture Stewardship Council as ethical food products. These food products are associated with different ethical issues, and thus, we define ethical issues as “ethical attitude” for each product. For example, the ethical attitude of free-range eggs is included in the following categories (Table 1): environment, which means the protection of the global environment; health, which refers to the health of consumers; animal, which means the welfare of animals and the sustainability of resources; and farmer/aquaculturist, which means protecting farmers or aquaculturists

The objective of this study is to examine the effect of food scandals on trust towards the corporate brand and purchase intention in Japan. Drawing on Mayer, Davis and Schoorman’s Model of Organizational Trust (1995) this study explores the effects of perceived trustworthiness, trust, and perceived risk on a consumer’s intention to purchase. In Japan, consumers were outraged when some top hotels and department stores were found to have mislabeled foods, selling cheaper alternatives instead of the expensive foods offered on the menu and using expired products (Grace, 2007; Japan Today, 2013; Kageyama, 2007; Onishi, 2007; Spitzer, 2013). The various food scandals have led to product shunning, fear, distrust and suspicion among consumers (Garretson & Burton, 2000; Niewczas, 2014; Smith & Riethmuller, 1999; Yeung & Morris, 2001). Thus this research was conducted to identify the influence of food scandals involving well-established Japanese supermarkets on consumer trust and risk perception. The influence of culture in shaping purchase intention was also explored. Trust itself is a concept that is elusive with myriad definitions ranging from Luhmann’s (1979) sociological theory of trust that looks as trust being a function of high perceived risk and experience to Deutsch (1973) who defines it as the willingness to be dependent on others in the belief that the other party will not disappoint intentionally. Luhmann (1979) argues that in order for trust to be apparent there has to be high-perceived risk. Various studies have also focused on trust being operational when there is risk‐taking behavior (Anderson & Narus, 1990; Canning & Hammer‐Llyod, 2007; Doney & Canon, 1997; Morgan & Hunt, 1994). In the food sector, as consumers lose control over knowing about the food we eat due to the increasing complexity of the food system trust becomes an essential component. Consumers have to trust food producers ranging from farmers to food companies as well as the public authorities to ensure food safety, quality and adequate supply. Consumers display different and inconsistent reactions regarding food safety that affects the perception of quality and their willingness‐to‐pay (Berg, 2004; Brewer & Rojas, 2008).

Engagement has aroused tremendous interest in the marketing community, but studies examining engagement with luxury brands are absent. This study investigates whether luxury stores can use food to drive engagement with different customer segments. The results have important managerial implications and further our understanding of the behavioral drivers of (dis)engagement. The old marketing reality in which brands communicate with customers through one-way advertising messages is long gone (Campbell, Parent, Berthon, 2011). Now, it is not only brands that broadcast messages to customers, but customers can initiate or actively participate in conversations with brands. This customers’ participation in conversations with brands can have an effect on their and other customers’ purchase decisions. Therefore, brands are now focusing on using advertising to get customers engaged with them. Customer engagement has become a new way of describing brands’ relationships with customers. Scholars have offered many definitions of engagement. Some of them emphasize the psychological aspects of engagement (e.g., Calder Malthouse, and Schaedel, 2009; Mollen and Wilson, 2010), while others describe engagement in behavioral terms (e.g., Van Doorn et al., 2010; Verhoef et al., 2010). The most comprehensive definition of customer engagement was offered by Brodie et al. (2011: p. 790) who describe customer engagement as “a psychological state that occurs by virtue of interactive, co-creative customer experiences with a focal agent/object (e.g., a brand) in specific service relationships. It occurs under a specific set of context-dependent conditions generating differing customer engagement levels; and exists as a dynamic, iterative process within service relationships that co-creates value. Customer engagement plays a central role in a nomological network governing theoretical relationships in which other relational concepts (e.g., involvement, loyalty) are antecedents and/or consequences of iterative customer engagement processes. It is a multidimensional concept subject to a context- and/or stakeholder-specific expression of relevant cognitive, emotional and/or behavioral dimensions.” As both this definition and other definitions in the extant literature (e.g., Calder et al., 2009; O’Brien & Toms 2010).

Recent decades have seen a number of policies have been launched to promote information disclosure on food products marketed in developed countries. There has also been increasing efforts to promote healthy eating in developing economies (Cowburn & Stockley 2005). A good example appears in China, where, in an effort to improve health education, nutrition labels became mandatory under the Nutrition Labeling Act (NLA) since 2013. Additionally, food labeling regulations were issued by India, Mercosur members and South Africa. While nutritional labeling has received a lot of attention both in academia and from the press, there are some key gaps in the nutrition labeling literature. One issue of how standardized information requirements affect firm marketing responses (e.g., advertising levels. R&D investment, and corporate social responsibility programs) and performance has been understudied. Another clear gap in the literature is how nutritional labeling requirements affect developing economies.

Introduction Consumers throughout the world, including Asia, are showing increased concerns about food safety. Public policy, industry, and academic researchers are turning increased attention to the effects of food labeling requirements. General food labels provide information about serving size, servings per container, total calories per serving, calories from fat, and minimum daily nutritional value. Consumers must then use the food labeling information to make individual dietary choices. Thus it is appropriate for researchers to ask how consumers formulate product choices and evaluations according to food labeling information including calorie counts and standardized nutritional information (Ford et al. 1996; Keller et al. 1997; Roe, Levy, & Derby 1999). Long-term strategies are critically needed to find ways to protect public health and to assure food safety. Health practitioners and governmental regulators have increased their efforts to address the growing problem by sponsoring programs for food safety and by requiring nutritional labeling. In answer to the need for further research in food consumption behavior (RFC), this study was conducted to investigate how manufacturers might use consumers’ perceptions of risks and involvement for planning the most effective food labeling. Theoretical Framework To find ways to promote general and social marketing healthful consumer use of food labels (Lefebvre, 1988; McDermott, 2000), this study utilizes consumer segmentation techniques in which consumers are categorized according to psychological and demographic profiles (Slater, Kelly, & Thackeray, 2006). That is, they are segmented based on essential homogeneous responses (Forthofer, 2000; Kotler, 1971) and demographic characteristics, including age, gender, income and social class, although demographics may be less effective than psychological differences for predicting responses to health promotions (Lefebvre, 1988; Slater, 1991). The psychographics approach to consumer segmentation, derived from marketing techniques, selects variables that predict health behaviors; that is, consumers are segmented according to how they process communication channel properties and message features (Rimal & Adkins, 2003). By focusing on consumer segmentation we elucidate how consumers react to food labeling designed to promote health and food safety. Consumer segmentation should help us understand why consumers might reject risky unhealthful behaviors and adopt protective healthful behaviors (Slater, 2006). The risk perception attitude framework (Garretson & Burton, 2000; Rimal & Real 2003; Turner, Rimal, Morrison &, Kim, 2006) is a theoretical perspective for segmenting consumers based on their perceptions of risk and their beliefs about personal efficacy. According to the risk perception attitude framework, risk perceptions are usually insufficient to motivate behavior, but when high risk perceptions are coupled with strong efficacy beliefs, people are more motivated to engage in self-protective behaviors. Social cognitive theory and the extended parallel process model also support the importance of efficacy beliefs as moderating risk perception effects on self-protective behavior (Bandura 1986; Witte 1994). Using the risk perception attitude framework for purposes of this study, consumers are classified into four groups according to their risk perception and self-efficacy as indicated by their involvement in health concerns. 1) The "indifference" group comprises study participants who have low risk perceptions and low involvement; they believe they face few risks, lack control of their actions, and are thus not motivated to undertake protective behaviors. 2) The "responsive" group comprises study participants who have high risk perceptions and high involvement and thus are motivated to undertake extensive self-protective behaviors. 3) The "proactive" group comprises participants who have low risk perception but high involvement; they believe strongly in their personal abilities to take control, but perceive low risk and are thus not motivated to engage in self-protective behaviors. 4) The "avoidance" group comprises study participants who have high risk perceptions and low involvement; they are concerned about the need to counter risks but lack the self-efficacy and involvement to follow recommendations. Research Questions To examine the risk perception attitude framework in the context of research on food consumption behavior (RFC), three central research questions are posed: RQ1: How are consumers classified according to their level of perceived risk and involvement? RQ2: Do different consumer types show different attitudes toward paying higher prices for safer food and toward paying attention to food labels? RQ3: What factors influence consumer classifications? Methods Data for this study came from research on food consumption behavior (RFC) conducted by Korea Rural Economic Institute (KREI) in 2014. In 2013, the KREI began gathering data regarding food consumption behavior to help the food industry develop more efficient use of food resources. RFC data are appropriate because they include data about various consumption patterns regarding food lifestyles, purchases, and food safety. Specifically, RFC for this study, we gathered data for a stratified sampling of 6,311 consumers, 19 to 75-years-old, living in 16 metropolitan city-regions in South Korea. Table 1 shows general features of the research participants. Among the respondents, 44.2% were men; 55.8% were women; 10.7% were 19 to 25-years-old; 37.6% were high school graduates; 46.9% had lower than middle school graduation levels, 21.9% were college graduates, 2.3% had post-graduate levels, 1.1% were uneducated; 36.5% had average monthly family incomes of 200~399; 1.3% had the highest rate of 1000 and more; 1.0% had low to moderate interest in health; 42.8% reported that they bought food two or three times weekly; 0.7% reported buying food once a month. Respondents reported an average 3.93 regarding risk perceptions for food safety. Their reported average level of involvement was 3.32; average of intention to pay higher prices for safe food was 3.37, and their average likelihood of checking food labels was 3.15. Measurement To score education levels, the uneducated group = 1, less than middle school = 2, high school graduates = 3, college graduates = 4, and postgraduates = 5. A five-point Likert-type scale was used to measure participants’ interest in their health (1 = complete indifference to 5 = very much interested). Also a five-point Likert scale was used to measure perceived risk for twelve items related to food safety: foreign substances, pesticide residue, use of antibiotics in livestock and fish, natural toxicity, food additives, heavy metals, endocrine disruptors, bacterial contamination, livestock disease, GMO, irradiation, packing hazards, and allergens (1 = not concerned at all to 5 = very concerned). Involvement was measured for three questions regarding food origin, food materials, and eco-friendly products (1 = not concerned at all to 5 = very concerned). Intentions to pay higher prices for safe food and to check food labels were measured from 1 = not at all to 5 = very positive. Results Four consumer groups were classified according to their level of perceived risk and involvement. We followed previous RPA model studies (e.g., Sullivan et al., 2008; Jo & Yoo, 2011) and classified groups based on median perceived risk and involvement: (≥4.00) for high perceived risk, (<4.00) for low perceived risk, (≥3.333) for high involvement, and (< 3.33) for low involvement. The responsive group had high perceived risk and high involvement; the proactive group had low perceived risk and high involvement; the avoidance group had high perceived risk and low involvement; and the indifference group had low perceived risk and low involvement. Additionally, ANOVA with post-hoc Tukey test was conducted to examine the average difference among the four groups regarding their intentions to pay higher prices for safe food and to check food labels. Multinomial logit regression was performed to discover the factors that influence classification of consumer types. Classification of consumer types according to perceived risk and involvement Table 1 shows the consumer classifications according to the level of perceived risk and involvement: 1,198 participants, 21.8%, were in the indifference group with low perceived risk and low involvement; 1,254 participants, 22.8%, were in the proactive group with low perceived risk and high involvement; 1,125 participants, 20.5%, were in the avoidance group with high perceived risk and low involvement; 1,924 participants, 35.5%, were in the responsive group with high perceived risk and high involvement. Among the four groups, the responsive group had a statistically significant relatively high ratio: χ2 value for group classification was 79.695 (p <.001). Consumer classification differences in purchase intentions to pay higher prices for safe food and to check food labels Table 2 shows differences in intentions to pay higher prices for safe food and to check food labels. The proactive group showed the highest average intentions to pay higher prices for safe food at 3.52, followed by the responsive group at 3.51, the avoidance group at 3.25, and the indifference group at 3.16. The differences among the groups were statistically significant. A Tukey post-analysis showed that the high involvement group, in contrast with the low involvement group, showed higher average intentions to pay higher prices for safe food. Among the low involvement groups, those with high perceived risk had higher average intentions than those with low perceived risk. The responsive group showed the highest average intentions to check food labels at 3.44, followed by the proactive group at 3.43, the avoidance group at 2.74, and the indifference group at 2.27. The differences among the groups were statistically significant. A Tukey post-analysis showed that high involvement groups, in contrast with low involvement groups, showed higher average intentions to check food labels, but no difference was found according to the level of perceived risk. Influential factors of consumer segmentations Table 3 shows the results of examining the factors of gender, age, education, monthly average family income, and interest in health that are typical in consumer segments. Comparing all groups with the responsive group, the indifference group was most likely to comprise young women who had lower educational levels, lower monthly income, and less interest in health. The proactive group was most likely to be made up of men. The avoidance group was most likely to be made of young men who had lower educational levels, lower monthly incomes, and less interest in health. Discussion This study is an investigation of the theoretical framework of risk perception and involvement according to indifference, proactivity, responsiveness, or avoidance consumer segments. The study centrally indicates that the four risk perception–involvement framework groups differ in their perceptions of risk and the extent of their involvement. By revealing the importance of high involvement as a fruitful intervention strategy, the results suggest practical implications for public policymakers and marketers who strive to devise appropriate food labeling. Social cognitive theory has long stressed the importance of enhancing personal involvement (Bandura 1986). That insight can be applied to the risk perception attitude framework for identifying particular audiences who will respond to involvement-enhancing messages. Our findings suggest that a useful strategy in promoting change is to recognize that consumers will react differently according to their tendencies toward indifference, proactivity, responsiveness, or avoidance.

Despite consumers' growing support to preserve the environment, organic products business in emerging country such as Indonesia is still suffered from consumer’s low acceptance toward organic food. It is conceivable that some influencing factors are existed; as such consumers’ attitude cannot be translated into action. Through mixed methodology research, this study proposes an approach to integrate individual factors, which encompasses psychographic and demographic factors, into Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) to predict consumer acceptance toward organic food. Then, using Partial Least Square analysis, this study generates an extending TAM that could explain the role of those individual factors toward consumers’ acceptance on organic food.

With increasing income and education, requirements to product quality are getting higher in China. Specifically, people tend to nutrition and health now. Food safety has attracted increasing attention due to its importance. The nutrition claims on packaging became one of the most important standards to decide whether to buy. A great deal of research has focused on consumer responses (e.g., Hieke and Taylor 2012; Parker & Lehmann 2014; Shah et al. 2014) to the influx of product information to markets. Topics of research included the impact on consumers’ beliefs with regards to products (Ford et al. 2005), purchasing behavior (Nikolova and Inman 2015), and information processing behavior (Moorman 1990). The diversity of consumer responses is based on consumer differences (Moorman 1990), and health- and nutrition-related (HNR) claims (Choi et al. 2013). Although a great deal of research has addressed the influence of product information disclosure on the market, these studies have focused almost exclusively on developed economies. Going forward it is very likely that emerging markets will play a more important part in corporate strategic planning, as opposed to something considered after making plans for long developed markets. Thus, the impact of market information is likely to matter more and more to those global marketers operating in emerging markets. To fill the research gaps, we investigated how the existence and forms of nutrition claims affect the purchase intention of consumers in China. We explore the moderating role of consumer’s nutrition knowledge. We combine simulation experiment and questionnaire and design two experiments: Experiment 1 is about the existence of nutrition claims, we want to know how the existence of nutrition claims affects the purchase intention of consumers. Experiment 2 which is 2(health claims Vs function claims)×2 (promotion Vs prevention) test is to find out how the claim presentation forms impact the purchase intention of consumers. In experiment 1, we required the subjects to choose one setting randomly and fill in the questionnaires according to their choices. We collected 315 effective questionnaires of experiment 1and 156 effective questionnaires of experiment 2. The results show that: (1) The existence of nutrition claims affects the purchase intention of consumers. specifically, compared with the product without health claims, consumers tend to choose the one with health claims, and compared with the product without function claims, consumers tend to choose the one with health claims.(2)Nutrition knowledge plays a positively role. Nutrition knowledge can change the effect of the existence of health claims and function claims on purchase intention.(3) Consumer trust only plays a partly moderate role. The consumer trust can increase the effect of the existence of function claims but not health claims on purchase intention.(4)The forms of nutrition claims affect consumers purchase intention. Consumers tend to choose the product with promotion claims more than the one with prevention claims.(5) Nutrition knowledge plays a positively role, it can improve the effect of the forms of health claims on purchase intention. The more nutritional knowledge does consumers comprehend, the more sensitive to the product with promotion claims they are.(6)Consumer trust also plays a positively role. The higher Consumer trust does consumers maintain, the more sensitive to the product with promotion claims they are.