Consumers’ risk perception of vegetables in Southeast Asia: Evidence from Laos, Cambodia, and Viet Nam

Vegetable safety is a public concern in Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam—developing countries in Southeast Asia. Eliminating this concern requires insight into factors shaping it. Food risk perception might differ among countries due to the dissimilarities in culture, social, and economic conditions. However, an understanding on this difference is lacking in Southeast Asia. This paper is the first attempt to compare factors influencing risk perception of vegetables in Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam. Principle component analysis and ordered logit regression were employed on a sample of 1,199 consumers from the three countries. We found trust and perception of hazards influenced risk perception across countries. Gender shaped risk perception in Laos and Vietnam. The importance of vegetables and risk information determined risk perception in Vietnam only, while hazard knowledge and homegrown vegetables were predictors of risk perception solely in Cambodia. Since Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam are inhomogeneous in risk perception, policy measures to address food risk perception should be tailored to each country