Purpose

Information is often available to consumers through their social networks. Focusing on dairy consumers in India, this paper aims to present evidence of peer effects in consumers’ attitudes towards various food safety attributes and food safety practices.

Design/methodology/approach

Unobserved individual heterogeneities are crucial confounders in the identification of social (endogenous) effects. The identification is based on exploiting within-consumer variation across different aspects of attitude (or practices) related to food safety.

Findings

This paper uses a novel identification strategy that allows for average effects across attributes and practices to be estimated. Using the strategy, though this paper cannot estimate endogenous effects in each attribute or practice, this paper is able to identify such effects averaged over attributes or practices.

Research limitations/implications

Cross-sectional study, caste affiliation is not defined at the right level of granularity.

Practical implications

The results suggest that information campaigns aimed at creating awareness about food safety can have social multiplier effects, and this also translates into changes in the practices followed to mitigate food safety risks.

Social implications

In health-related awareness and practices, there are well-established cases of multiplier effects. The most significant example of this is the Pulse Polio campaign in India, where an awareness drives through social multiplier effects had such a significant impact that in 2012 India was declared polio-free. Perhaps, a similar campaign in matters related to food safety could be very fruitful.

Originality/value

The methodology and the issue are unique. Little exists in assessing social networks in the context of food safety.

中文翻译：

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食品安全评估和实践中的同行效应：来自印度乳制品消费者的研究结果

目的

消费者通常可以通过他们的社交网络获得信息。本文以印度的乳制品消费者为重点，旨在展示消费者对各种食品安全属性和食品安全实践的态度中的同伴效应证据。

设计/方法/方法

未观察到的个体异质性是识别社会（内生）效应的关键混杂因素。该识别基于利用与食品安全相关的态度（或做法）的不同方面的消费者内部差异。

发现

本文使用了一种新颖的识别策略，可以估计跨属性和实践的平均效果。使用该策略，虽然本文无法估计每个属性或实践中的内生效应，但本文能够识别这些属性或实践的平均影响。

研究限制/影响

横断面研究，种姓从属关系没有在正确的粒度级别上定义。

实际影响

结果表明，旨在提高食品安全意识的信息运动可以产生社会乘数效应，这也转化为减少食品安全风险所遵循的做法的变化。

社会影响

在与健康相关的意识和实践中，存在倍增效应的公认案例。最重要的例子是印度的脉搏脊髓灰质炎运动，通过社会乘数效应提高认识产生了如此重大的影响，以至于 2012 年印度被宣布无脊髓灰质炎。或许，在与食品安全相关的问题上开展类似的运动会非常有成效。

原创性/价值

方法论和问题都是独一无二的。在食品安全的背景下评估社交网络几乎没有。