Consumer preferences for sustainably produced ultra-high-temperature milk in China.

Contrary to ongoing declines in per capita milk consumption in the United States and Europe, per capita milk consumption in China is experiencing dramatic increases, making China one of the most dynamic global dairy markets. Meeting the rapid growth in milk demand presents environmental challenges under current dairy farm production in China. This article measures Chinese consumer valuation of environmentally sustainable milk and of correlated attributes such as food safety and geographic origin. The authors used a discrete choice experiment to collect survey data from a stratified sample of respondents in 5 cities. Applying a mixed logit demand model to the data, they estimated the probability of choosing sustainably produced UHT pasteurized milk over conventional milk, as well as consumers' willingness to pay for the sustainably produced milk. Empirical results confirm that, overall, consumers value sustainably produced milk as they are willing to pay a premium of $2.01/L, well above the cost of conventional milk. Consumer segments more likely to purchase sustainably produced milk include the young, males, and childless households, as well as those already concerned about the environment and food safety. In addition, this article also finds that consumers exhibit a strong degree of home bias in that they prefer domestic brands with domestically sourced raw milk. Valuable new knowledge is provided for policy makers, producers, and marketers interested in designing marketing strategies, and for other researchers interested in general food sustainability issues.

Consumer trust in the dairy value chain in China: The role of trustworthiness, the melamine scandal, and the media.

This study provides a deep insight into Chinese consumer trust in the Chinese dairy value chain, as a lack of trust due to the 2008 melamine scandal has been widely recognized as a barrier to the development of the domestic dairy industry in China. Based on face-to-face interviews with 954 Chinese consumers in Beijing, Shanghai, and Shijiazhuang, this study measured consumer trust in farmers, manufacturers, retailers, the government, and third parties. Consumer trust was studied by measuring the effect of beliefs on the trustworthiness of actors (i.e., competence, benevolence, integrity, credibility, and openness), and current experiences regarding the melamine scandal and the media. The results showed that the level of trust in dairy chain actors varied. The government and third parties were relatively highly trusted, whereas retailers were considered less trustworthy. The importance of consumer beliefs about trustworthiness are different among actors. Consumer belief of competence determines trust in farmers and manufacturers. For retailers, the government, and third parties, respectively, benevolence, credibility, and openness are the most important factors. Trust in dairy chain actors is still strongly negatively affected by current experiences regarding the melamine scandal, even though it occurred more than 10 years ago. Using social media to directly provide more information and establish continuous daily communication with consumers could help manufacturers and third parties to strengthen consumer trust.

Stochastic induction time of attachment due to the formation of transient holes in the intervening water films between air bubbles and solid surfaces.

HYPOTHESIS: Bubble attachment to hydrophobic solid surfaces is influenced by the liquid film instability. Inclusion of transiently formed holes within the film rather than the so-called hydrophobic force in the theory is expected to better describe and explain film rupture and triple contact line formation in the bubble-surface attachment process. The significance of surface hydrophobicity and hole formation renders the stochastic nature of the induction time of attachment. EXPERIMENTS: A combination of high-speed video microscopy and theoretical analysis was applied to investigate the induction time of attachment and critical film thickness of air bubbles rising freely perpendicularly to silica surfaces of different hydrophobicities. FINDINGS: Film rupture occurred statistically for shorter induction times and thicker films on the more hydrophobic surface, rejecting the conjecture of hydrophobic force. Computed results of the critical base radius of the transient holes causing film rupture were merged together nicely, independently of surface hydrophobicity. The paper sheds light on the significance of hydrophobicity on the attachment process by means of a novel and easily implemented methodology, without relying on the debatable hydrophobic force.

Consumer confidence in the safety of milk and infant milk formula in China.

A series of food safety incidents related to domestically produced dairy in China harmed consumer confidence and caused a dramatic decrease in dairy consumption from 2008 to 2010. Compared with previous studies that mainly assessed consumer confidence in food or dairy in general, this study focused on 2 specific dairy products, milk and infant milk formula (IMF). Based on data from 934 Chinese consumers, confidence in the safety of milk and IMF was measured by using a multi-item scale with 2 dimensions-optimism and pessimism. We found that Chinese consumers were optimistic about the safety of milk and IMF but, at the same time, were concerned about the risks related to milk and IMF. Chinese consumers have less confidence in IMF than in milk. Structural equation modeling indicated that consumer trust in manufacturers and third parties in the dairy supply chain and confidence in other foods, such as meat and fish, can foster consumer confidence in the safety of milk and IMF, while the extent of recall of the melamine infant formula incident in 2008 and trait worry exert negative effects. In addition, consumers with more children or less family income are likely to be more confident in domestically produced IMF. These insights into consumer confidence and its determinants can assist dairy supply chains and regulatory institutions in formulating effective risk communication strategies to strengthen consumer confidence.