Consumers' trust in government institutions and their perception and concern about safety and healthiness of fast food

ABSTRACT

Consumers often depend on public institutions to provide safe and healthy food. Thus, trust in these institutions becomes an important consideration for food consumption. The objective was to examine the relationship between consumer trust in relevant government institutions and consumer perception and concern about fast food safety and healthiness. A quantitative approach was used to conduct a cross-sectional consumer survey in 20 fast-food restaurants in Accra, Ghana. Trust was measured by three components (competence, care, and openness). The competence (β = 0.234, p < .05) and openness (β = 0.238, p < .05) components of trust were significant predictors of consumer perception of safety of fast food. Care component of trust was not significant in influencing any of the dependent variables; however, this component positively associated with the competence and openness components implying that when institutions exhibit competence and honesty they are likely to be perceived as being caring about consumers' concerns. To conclude, relevant institutions need to be more competent, open, and caring to protect consumer health and minimise their concerns about fast-food safety and healthiness. These institutions need to build and maintain consumer trust and ensure that restaurateurs comply with food safety and health guidelines.

KEYWORDS:

• Trust
• fast food
• government institutions
• perception of food safety
• perception of healthiness
• food safety concerns

Acknowledgements

We are thankful to the Netherlands Fellowship Programme and the Science and Technology Policy Research Institute, Ghana for their logistical support.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Dr Rose Omari is a Research Scientist at the Science and Technology Policy Institute (CSIR-STEPRI), Ghana, with expertise in multidisciplinary and policy research in agriculture, food, nutrition, and health. She holds a PhD degree in Rural Sociology and an MPhil degree in Food Science. Rose is also a trainer in food safety and risk communication applied to food safety and the like. Her research areas of interest are consumer studies, food safety, food and nutrition policy, food law and governance, and impact of agricultural programmes on nutrition and health outcomes.

Dr Guido T. P. Ruivenkamp is a Professor of Sociology, Rural Sociology Group, Wageningen University and Research Centre, Wageningen, Netherlands and an Extra-Ordinary Professor of University of Humanistic Studies, Utrecht, Netherlands. His areas of expertise and research are technology studies, critical theory, and rural development studies.

Emmanuel K. Tetteh is a Research Scientist at the Science and Technology Policy Institute (CSIR-STEPRI), Ghana. He has been involved in research in science, technology, and innovation (STI) as well as socio-economic research in several areas including micro, small, and medium enterprises promotion, MSME technology adoption, and ICT penetration in developing countries.

Notes

1. CSPI is a leading North American non-governmental consumer advocacy organisation fighting for improvements in diet and health. CSPI was founded in 1971 and is based in Washington, DC, with offices in Dallas, Texas, and Ottawa, Canada.