社会网络对有机食品选择的影响

The Influence of Social Networks on Organic Food Choice

社会网络对健康风险行为,比如HIV传播、风险性行为等的影响受到了很多研究者的关注,但是社会网络如何影响公众的食品风险行为却未得到应有的注意。本文利用社会调查数据,研究社会网络对个体有机食品购买决策的影响,结果表明:(1)社会网络成员中受过高等教育人数的比例和讨论食品安全人数的比例对个体的有机食品购买意愿有正向影响,这可能是因为网络中信息传递机制发挥了作用;(2)网络中管理人员的比例和网络密度对个体的有机食品购买意愿有负向影响,这可能是因为社会网络提供了社会支持,从而降低了人们采取风险防范行为的意愿。论文最后提出了研究的理论意涵及下一步研究的方向。

Although the impact of social network on health risk behaviors has got a lot of concerns by previous studies, there are relatively few studies on how the social network influences the public food risk behavior. Using a large-scale social survey data, this paper explores the relationship be- tween social networks and decisions of organic food purchase. The data analysis shows that： （1） those who have the network with higher educated members and more members discussing food safe- ty issues tend to be more willing to pay for organic food. This might because the networks provide better information of food risk; （2） If one＇s networks is characterized by higher density and higher proportion of of/icials, his/her willingness to pay for organic foods is usually lower. This might be- cause the networks provide social support so that reduces people＇ s risk prevention behavior. The theoretical implication and the topics for future studies are discussed in the end.