Perceived Risk Triggers the Effects of Trace-Back Information on Consumer Trust

Understanding how trace-back information quality with the support of traceability systems contributes to consumer trust has been of interest to academics and practitioners. Drawing upon Commitment-Trust Theory, this research examines the role of trace-back information on consumer trust in the context of food safety. A consumer-based questionnaire survey was conducted following a structural model that was tested by using structural equation modelling techniques. The findings indicate that perceived risk increases perceived informativeness of traceability systems. More particularly, providing consumers with high quality trace-back information about the sources of ingredients, the production process, storage, and the supply chain is considered as the informativeness of traceability systems. Importantly, trace-back information about a product has a positive influence on consumer trust. Once consumers have increased trust in a product, they would buy a product about which they were concerned