Consumers’ responsiveness towards contaminated canned sardine in Malaysia: Does perceived severity matter?

Abstract

Incidences of food contamination often lead to behavioral changes among consumers, and the long-term outcome may jeopardize economic returns to producers. Therefore, this study aims to examine the relationship between food safety concerns, price consciousness, perceived severity, and food repurchase intention in the context of the canned sardine contamination issue in Malaysia. Moreover, the moderating and the mediating impact of perceived severity on repurchase intention are also uncovered in this study. A self-administered survey was distributed to a total of 400 respondents among consumers of canned sardine who had prior knowledge regarding canned sardine contamination. Empirical finding supported that price consciousness is related to repurchase intention. Perceived severity positively moderates the relationship between these two variables. The study results also reveal that, perceived severity fully mediates the relationship between food safety concerns and consumers’ repurchase intention. This paper offers new insights into tackling food poisoning issues and addressing market sales during a food contamination outbreak.