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The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between risk characteristics, risk perception and future travel intention in the context of food safety risk.

This research used a structured questionnaire administered to a convenience sample of 715 participants. By using structural equation modelling method, a travel intention framework was successfully developed to test the impact of characteristics of food safety risk on perception of risk, and subsequently on travel intention. In addition, the framework was also tested and compared with different demographic groups.

The research confirms that the characteristics of risk have impact on the two dimensions of perception of risk, namely, likelihood of occurrence and consequence of occurrence in turn travel intention. Furthermore, characteristics of risk affect demographic groups differently.

The finding of this study offers insight into the distinct effects between the two dimensions, namely, likelihood and consequence of risk perception and each dimension consists of different loss components and has different effect on travel intention.

The framework provides insight to the government and travel industry that risk perception is a paramount issue for travellers when making destination decision. As such, the government and travel industry should take action to prevent the occurrence of food risk and to reduce the severity consequence of the risk when it occurs.

This research is one of the few studies generating new insights into perception of food safety risk in international tourism from the social science and marketing perspective.

Consumer risk perception plays an important role during periods of food safety concern because it shapes the behaviour of consumers. Multi‐dimensional analysis helps to provide a thorough understanding of consumer‐perceived risk. A survey of 172 respondents was carried out to investigate the importance of individual loss components and the differences between sociodemographic characteristics regarding microbiological risk in chicken meat. The results suggest that health loss is the most important component followed by psychological, financial, time and taste losses. All these loss components were found to be significantly different between degree and non‐degree holders, while long‐term health and social losses were different within gender and age groups respectively. The findings in the study of microbiological risk in chicken meat are likely to be applicable to other food safety related risks.

The purpose of this paper is to examine franchisees’ business start-ups from an entrepreneurial perspective, adopting a process representative of entrepreneurship to examine opportunity identification and evaluation by franchisees and to analyse factors that influence this process.

A qualitative study was employed and data collected using semi-structured interviews with a sample of service industry franchisees in Macau.

The study identifies that social networks play a key role in opportunity identification and that franchisees’ goals influence the criteria used and information search activities undertaken while evaluating franchise opportunities.

The study makes two contributions to franchise literature. It identifies that social networks can serve as substitutes for lack of prior knowledge in franchise opportunity identification. It also identifies the interrelated nature of franchisees’ goals based on the activities and criteria used to evaluate franchise opportunities, and the importance of relational criteria when franchisees lack prior industry knowledge. It therefore also contributes to franchise/entrepreneurship literature by identifying the interrelated nature of the factors contributing to the dynamics of franchise chain growth.

Franchisors should explore how to better use franchisees’ social networks and identify the longer term goals of prospective franchisees to support market penetration and franchise chain growth. Franchisees are advised to use independent information sources to evaluate franchise opportunities using goal-informed objectives and demand and relational criteria.

The study presents a more comprehensive understanding of franchisees’ decision-making process when joining franchise chains by identifying the activities undertaken and criteria used to identify and evaluate franchise opportunities.

Growing concerns about risks to public health have heightened consumer awareness of safety in food consumption. Understanding consumer perception of risk and impact on purchase behaviour is a key issue for the mutual benefit of both consumers and food industry. An exploratory study in the form of personal interviews was carried out to investigate the perceived main food risks in chicken meat product, together with the components of perceived loss and risk reducing strategies. The results suggested the importance of lifestyle loss as a separate factor along with health, financial, time, and product performance loss. Risk reducing strategies adopted by consumers were matched with the marketing strategies used by the food industry, such as product quality assurance, product information and pricing. Consumers felt able to reduce exposure to food safety risk by personal control in the post‐purchase handling and preparation of chicken meat.

Increased incidents of food poisoning in recent years have greatly shaken consumers’ confidence in food. Livestock farmers are among the least trusted parties in the food supply chain. Building trust between consumers and livestock farmers is critical in order to maintain benefit to both parties. In this context, this paper attempts to explore the process on how trust is developed. By adopting stepwise multiple regression, a conceptual model was tested with 182 respondents. Empirical results showed that trustful information, care for consumers, honesty and fairness to consumers are important to building trust during the period of food safety concerns. Suggestions for future research together with implications for livestock farmers are given.

The purpose of this study is to explore the hospitality franchise purchase decision-making process undertaken by franchisees in Macau as an emerging tourism destination and the role of national culture on purchasing a franchise brand and selecting a potential franchisor.

Semi-structured in-depth interviews with 18 franchisees in Macau, who purchased international and domestic hospitality franchise brands, were conducted to understand the feelings, attitudes and motivation of franchisees toward purchasing a hospitality franchise.

The study reveals that national culture can play an important role in franchisees’ decision-making process. Personal networks of friends and family (guanxi) are very influential in introducing and steering aspiring entrepreneurs toward franchising as an option to realize their ambitions, although there may be some limitations to franchisees with this approach. Guanxi was also found to be particularly relevant during negotiations and franchisees’ post-purchase reviews.

International franchisors should understand the importance of guanxi at different stages of the franchisees’ decision-making process. Franchisees should realize how a reliance on guanxi might negatively affect their efforts to undertake sufficient research to thoroughly evaluate the franchisor offer before contract signature.

A comprehensive hospitality franchisee decision-making purchase framework is developed, which includes the cultural context and cultural values. Guanxi, in particular, affects the franchisee decision-making process.

Consumer perception of risk and its impacts on purchasing behaviour are critical aspects of food safety. Consumer risk management strategies influence, and respond to, the risk management strategies adopted by the food industry. This research, using poultry product as the focus, aims to identify the consumer risk-reducing strategies and their impact on perception of food safety-related risk and then on purchase behaviour.

By adopting a quantitative research paradigm with a quota sample of 200 respondents, a Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) model was built to assess the direct and indirect effects of strategies taken by consumers to reduce perceived risk and the consequences for purchase likelihood, utilising LISREL 8.30.

The research reveals brand, information and quality assurance as influential risk-reducing strategies to reduce consumer perception of food safety risk and subsequently to facilitate purchase likelihood during a period concerned about microbiological contamination in chicken meat.

The results provide guidance of both proactive and remedial actions that the food industry can follow and also help to evaluate the effectiveness of its marketing activities.

The research provides an insight in assisting government agencies and the food industry to develop appropriate food-related risk management strategies to serve the interests of both consumers and producers.

The purpose of this paper is to examine how the incorporation of marketing elements into consumer risk coping strategies affects consumer purchase decision during periods of food safety concern.

This research used a structured questionnaire administered to a convenience sample of 216 respondents. By using logistic regression, a consumer risk coping framework incorporating marketing strategies was successfully developed to test the impact of brand and quality assurance, price reduction, availability in all stores and endorsement from an independent organization, which may not act alone but combine with each other during food purchase.

The research confirms that consumers adopt risk coping strategies in time of food risk concern and their coping strategies include marketing elements such as brand and quality assurance, price reduction, availability in all stores and endorsement from an independent organization.

The framework helps marketers to predict the effect of their marketing plan by incorporating consumers' risk coping strategies, in turn to improve consumers' purchase intention when perceived food safety risk exists.

This research demonstrates how marketers can incorporate marketing strategies in a consumer risk coping framework, in order to provide an insight for the industry to evaluate the effectiveness of their marketing strategies in times of food safety concern.

Adapting from the extant literature, this paper aims to present an empirical framework of risk measurement in the context of food safety risk in overseas destinations.

Data were collected from 715 respondents visiting Macau in October 2008 by using intercept method. Principal component analysis followed by confirmatory factor analysis were utilised for data analysis.

The research yielded 12 factors, of which five factors, namely Dread, Framing effect, Controllable, Regulation and Past experience measure risk characteristics; two factors, namely Uncertainty and Consequence measure tourist risk perception, and five factors, namely Travel information, Safety assurance, Destination reputation, Marketing activities and Precaution measure risk reduction, especially related to food safety risk in international destinations.

The tourist industry should understand more specifically what tourists want to know so as to devise appropriate communication management strategies at the international destination.

The risk measurement framework provides an insight for the development of an instrument to assess the social and economic impact on tourist perception of international travel risk.

Food safety is an important issue facing consumers, the food industry and the government. Since consumers cannot themselves easily assess food safety risks, their perception of food safety is, in part, a matter of trust in the food chain. This study seeks to focus on livestock farmers and to investigate the causal relationship between the factors that determine consumer trust, regarding food safety and in turn their purchase likelihood.

By integrating theories developed in several disciplines, six factors, namely: providing information, competence, integrity, benevolence, credibility, and reliability were adopted for this study. The conceptual model was tested with a sample of 194 individuals in the form of a structural equation model using LISREL 8.30.

The research confirms that livestock farmers could draw benefit from strategies to increase their trustworthiness through provision of information, show their benevolence and integrity to consumers, and in turn positively influence consumers' purchasing decision.

Livestock farmers should understand more specifically what consumers want to know and provide accurate and reliable information.

This exploratory study provides a useful insight into the potential benefit from trust building that could be derived by livestock farmers, food safety regulators and the food supply chain as a whole, as well as the ways in which this might be achieved.