Rethinking Digital Innovations in the Lens of Sustainability: Perspectives from Asian Consumers of Organic Olive Oil

Abstract

The recent trend highlights that several forces changed the international food system that, consequently, changed consumer behavior. The consumers’ easy access to information on new production and processing technologies resulted in a constantly increasing demand for food quality and organic food, especially for organic olive oil. Since the perception of quality in a product changed, digital innovations can act on multiple levels to improve food safety and traceability and combat counterfeiting, thus affecting consumers’ behavior and consumption habits. Moreover, since there is no consensus on how consumers perceive the role and the impact of traceability systems on the food supply chain, this chapter aims to understand the sensitivities and perceptions of Asian consumers concerning organic olive oil through a series of questions clustered around topics related to product authenticity, sustainability, and traceability. Survey data examines attitudes that underpin consumers’ beliefs about traceability supply chain-related attributes and links them to perceived benefits in terms of food quality, safety, and food fraud risk reduction. Furthermore, different dimensions are examined to illustrate how the concepts of food safety and quality may have different meanings. Understanding which dimensions consumers mostly associate with traceability will help to provide useful traceability information in line with their requirements.