Qualitätssicherungssysteme in der Ernährungsbranche

Abstract

Current policy trends and changing consumer expectations have resulted in a variety of private initiatives searching for new approaches to ensure quality assurance in the food sector. A certification boom has followed and new markets have been developed. The following study is aimed at analysing these challenges from a theoretical and an empirical perspective.The conceptual framework is based on a multi-level concept divided into four main chapters: The thematic level covers, accordingly, four main issues: While the first chapter deals with the status quo of quality assurance in the food sector, the second part focuses on the audit quality of certification systems. The third part analyses from a farmer s perspective the acceptance, the perceived benefits and costs of selected quality assurance systems. In the last part, two mechanisms are discussed, which ensure currently the compliance with organic standards. The first mechanism is based on social control and motivation driven by the organic farming associations, while the second one is linked to formal controls by organic certifiers.Besides the thematic level each chapter comprises a specific methodology and a particular theoretical framework. A very sophisticated and comprehensive methodology is part of the third chapter concerning the acceptance of the selected systems of quality assurance. Not only multivariate analyses such as cluster or regression analyses were applied, but also structural equation modelling. For that purpose, a measurement model for acceptance analyses was designed and empirically tested.The theoretical level is a composed approach of economic theory and behavioural science. Economic models from financial auditing are transferred to the audit quality of certification systems and information economics is utilised to explain the necessity of certification. The conceptual framework of the empirical part is based on key elements of adoption theory and the TAM (Technology Acceptance Model). The final chapter deals with the design of economic models describing control mechanisms and incentives within quality assurance systems. The models include an extension of the economic model by adding elements from a sociological perspective.Finally, two future development paths are suggested and characterised: The first path is aimed at integrating value-oriented elements to strengthen the intrinsic motivation for quality production. The second path focuses on the risk orientation of certification systems to enhance efficiency and effectiveness.