Consumers’ Perception of Blockchain-Based Supply Chains: The Impact of Blockchain Literacy

Blockchain technology enables participatory end-to-end traceability of food supply chains, from which product information can be extracted and communicated to consumers through QR codes. Blockchain is "a digital, decentralized and distributed ledger in which transactions are logged and added in chronological order with the goal of creating permanent and tamperproof records" (Treiblmaier, 2018, p. 547). It is being implemented with the aim of achieving two main benefits: increasing consumer trust and improving their food literacy. While the expected benefits of blockchain for food sustainability are becoming more widely recognized (Giganti et al., 2024), a fine-grained analysis of consumer reactions is becoming indispensable. A growing body of research is optimistic when evaluating consumer perceptions of blockchain-based traceability systems and highlights its potential to increase consumer trust and empowerment (Reitano et al., 2024; Vazquez Melendez et al., 2024). It is often noted that consumers are unfamiliar with blockchain, which is likely to undermine technology's impact on improving consumer trust (Rao et al., 2023; Shew et al., 2022). Furthermore, few studies analyze consumer reactions to non-simulated situations or to real content provided by such information devices. Further, it is often noted that consumers are unfamiliar with blockchain, which is likely to undermine the impact the technology could have on improving consumer trust. Our qualitative study mobilizes focus groups to understand how American consumers with low food literacy react to real-world blockchain-enabled packaging, and the impact that knowledge of blockchain technology can have on their evaluations. As a part of a larger research project aimed at evaluating consumer perceptions of blockchain-based traceability systems, this work seeks to answer the following specific questions: (1) How US consumers perceive food packaging augmented with blockchain? (2) Does a better knowledge of blockchain impact consumer perception of blockchain-based information on food? (3) Would blockchain-based traceability systems increase consumer food literacy? Products with live blockchain systems implemented in France at the time of the study were used as stimulus materials. Participants for the three focus groups were recruited from a university in the north east of U.S. and were homogenous in terms of age and food involvement. The third group differed with respect to their prior blockchain knowledge compared to the two groups who had no prior blockchain knowledge. These 6 students were enrolled in a junior-level undergraduate course titled ‘blockchain technology' in which they were exposed to various applications of blockchain. Results support a discussion on the role of blockchain literacy and its relationship with food literacy. This study is original in that it focuses on consumer reactions in the US to the use and content of blockchain-augmented packaging actually implemented by food system actors. While it confirms previous findings of blockchain as a means of providing consumers with traceability data they value, this study also shows how difficult it is for consumers, even young tech-savvy consumers, to easily access relevant information. Our study highlights that blockchain is attractive because it positively impacts trust in unknown brands and help consumers become aware of their lack of food literacy. Results also indicate that consumers may not want to get unpleasant information (such as chicken slaughter) to avoid cognitive dissonance. This dissonance would only occur if the individual is aware of the extent of the problem. In this sense, ignorance is bliss. As shown for consumers' ignorance regarding food miles (Sirieix et al., 2008), if the individual is ignorant of what is disturbing for him, the cognitive dissonance is relieved. Finally, we can expect blockchain to have a limited impact on consumer food literacy if consumers are not inclined to scan QR codes and view the information provided. Our results also confirm previous findings regarding consumers' limited knowledge on how blockchains work (Rao et al., 2023 ; Shew et al., 2022). Our results suggest that blockchain literacy reinforces consumer trust in the information provided. However, consumers with higher blockchain literacy may be more demanding regarding how information is displayed. Furthermore, we also note that theoretical knowledge of blockchain makes consumers less critical of the quality of the information provided, and issues such as the governance of the blockchain implemented (e.g. Who owns the blockchain, who controls data entry, etc.) or the way in which information is linked to physical product properties (the problem of oracles) were not addressed by respondents.