Transcript Stigmatisation within the Northern Ireland Food Supply Chain and

Stigmatisation within the
Northern Ireland Food Supply
Chain and the Management of
Communication
Michelle Potts
Department of Agriculture and Food Science
Queens University Belfast, Northern Ireland
Introduction to Study
This research project began by
investigating the concept of stigma
and how this affects the agric-food
sector in Northern Ireland through the
channels of communication used to
inform consumers about food risk
issues.
Stigmatisation
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Stigmatisation is concerned with
understanding why the public view
certain places, products and
technology as dangerous and in a
negative manner.
Literature Reviewed
Many areas have been reviewed and included in
the study.
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Stigmatisation
Decision making
Risk – risk perception, behaviour & management
Social amplification
Consumer behaviour
Trust
Aim of Study

To provide insight into the previously
neglected role of stigma and its relationship
to the management of communication on risk
within the Northern Ireland food supply chain
and determine mechanisms that will improve
trust between consumers and those related
with the agric-food industry in Northern
Ireland.
Research Questions
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Examine perception and behaviour toward
food risk related issues
Consumers
 Experts
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Explore why certain foods are avoided by
consumers.
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Identify the processes leading to avoidance.
Determine levels of risk aversion and
stigmatisation.
Study Design
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Quantitative component:
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Baseline Surveys
• Consumers
• Experts (undergraduate and postgraduate food
qualifications)
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Assessed knowledge of food related issues over
last two decades
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Examined:
Recency of issue
 Nature of risk
 Public profile
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Study Design
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Qualitative component:
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Focus Group
• Expert (food education specialists, food technologists)
• To identify areas of food stigmatisation and determine
a scale of risk aversion
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One-to-one Interviews
Preliminary Quantitative
Results
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Baseline Survey
Examined 38 food related incidents from the
last two decades.
 Conducted mid-May to mid-June 2006
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Findings:
56% Consumer, 44% Expert
 55% male, 45% female
 Ages ranging from 20 to 60 years
 63% lived in rural areas of Northern Ireland
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32% had food qualifications
• 23% had various levels of food hygiene
certificates
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8% reported experiencing a food related incident
in last 2 years
• Of those, 82% were micro related incidents.
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Overall, 14% follow a specific diet
• 64% follow diet associated with positive health
• 19% have a food intolerance
• 16% follow a meat aversion diet
Avian Bird Flu
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94% recalled avian bird flu
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28% recalled further information after prompting
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Recency of Issue:
 10% made reference to it being a recent issue
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Nature of Risk:
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Responses identified:
• Confusion regarding safety of chicken
consumption
• Fear of the unknown
• Fear of it entering Northern Ireland
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11% linked the food related issue with human
concerns, e.g. fear entering food chain and human
death.
24 responses directly linked the issue with chicken
• Within the chicken descriptions, 15 references
were made to avian bird flu.
Public Profile:
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15% made reference to communication of
information on avian bird flu, e.g. media coverage
and news reports.
Bacteria
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49% recalled this issue
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An additional 14% recalled further information
after prompting
Various references were made to product
advertising and informational campaigns
(4%), personal and kitchen hygiene (9%).
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Most descriptions linked bacteria with food
poisoning (3%), salmonella (5%) and E. coli
(7%).
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Analysis of E.coli descriptions identified 24%
of all references were linked to bacteria.
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Analysis of salmonella’s descriptions
highlighted 9% of overall references were
linked to bacteria.
BSE
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98% of respondents recalled BSE
75% provided a description of the issue
 A further 22% recalled further information
after prompting
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19% of respondents made reference to CJD
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Within CJD, 68% of descriptions made links to
BSE
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In BSE, media was referred to by 10% of
respondents
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3% made reference to BSE happening within
the last decade
Summary of Preliminary
Quantitative Results
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Knowledge of food related issues appear to be
dependent on influences such as experience,
perception and level of exposure to communication.
People may recall issues but not remember a great
deal about them.
Some issues examined were identified as areas of
concern for food industry professionals but not for
consumers, e.g. GM
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Is this based on a perception there is a lack of
immediate human consequence?
Preliminary Qualitative
Results
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Focus Group
Expert group of food education and food
industry professionals.
 Number of statements identified which
describe the process of stigmatisation.
 Participants gave direction as to issues to be
used as discussion points in the one-to-one
interviews.
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Focus Group Findings
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Various areas were identified for further
exploration:
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Level of avoidance
 Trust
of food or food related item
 Communication
 Experience
 Quest for knowledge
Preliminary Qualitative
Results
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One-on-one Interviews
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6 preliminary interviews were conducted
• 3 with consumers, 3 with experts
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Avoidance foods / issues identified:
Meat (quality of meat, method of production)
 Trans fatty acids
 Food additives
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Communication Issues:
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Participants reported giving a high level of
attention to informational updates after initial
exposure to a food related issue.
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Most respondents reported actively seeking
food related information but further
exploration identified they tend to wait until
the information reaches them.
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Most respondents were quite satisfied with
how information is presented to food
consumers
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Although, they would prefer it to be more
timely, more understandable and more
condensed.
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Satisfactory exposure to information was
found mainly through the media, Health
promotion agency and Food standards
agency.
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Unsatisfactory exposure to information was
reported through supermarkets, government,
internet and friends.
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Food standards agency and Health
promotion agency were attributed with high
levels of trust for sources of information.
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Friends and supermarkets were associated
with low trust in sources of food related
information.
Summary of Preliminary Oneon-one Interview Findings
Foods and food products are avoided due to
knowledge, negative experience and personal
perception.
 Consumers want to receive information on
food related issues which is timely, more
understandable and more condensed.
 Consumers trust certain informational sources
because they feel they should.
 Lack of trust permeates into the food supply
chain.
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In Conclusion
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It is apparent people say they behave in a
certain way regarding food and food risk
issues, but
Is this all just talk?
To be continued.....
Thank you!
Acknowledgements
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Department of Agriculture and Rural
Development, Northern Ireland for funding
this research.
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Supervisor
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Dr Roy Nelson