ESTABILIZACIÓN DE MATERIALES

In this sub-section, the research method of analysis is presented. The process of analysis is presented as well as the development of the summary codes. Thereafter, the coding process for all the three stages of the research is presented. Please see Appendix AA – section 36.1.3 for more details on the analytical approach including how the summary codes, open codes, axial codes and themes were derived.

The next section will present the approach utilised in interpreting and discussing the initial findings of the research phases.

Data Discussion and Interpretation 3.7

This describes the approach used in discussing and interpreting the results obtained from the data analysis conducted. The analysis of the research data provided a range of qualitative and quantitative data which was interpreted by the researcher and then discussed in relation to the existing body of literature. The aim of the data interpretation was to examine the outcome from the analysis in relation to the key aspects of the research. This was done by examining the outcome from each of the two methods of analysis discussed in sections 3.6.1 and 3.6.2. The outcomes were examined and interpreted in order to gain insight into how the safe food management app impacts consumer knowledge acquisition, knowledge retention and perceived behavioural change.

The outcomes from the thematic coding conducted in the Preliminary Stage, Phase One – Investigating Knowledge Gaps – Firm Perspective, generated insight to the communication gaps between the firm and its consumers which led to the identification of the sources of consumer food safety knowledge gaps. The outcome of this stage led to a focus on consumers by identifying actual consumer knowledge gap areas. The outcome of the descriptive statistics conducted in the Advanced Stage, Phase One – Investigating Knowledge Gaps – Consumer Perspective, generated insight into the food safety knowledge gap areas of Australian consumers – safe meat preparation, while answering the first research question. This led to the need to empower consumers to

optimise their knowledge by designing and developing a smartphone app in a way that targets the knowledge gaps that have been identified in the preceding phase. As a baseline, a paper-based tool was developed by the researcher based on one information modality – text, and the textual information was retrieved from relevant government agencies. The smartphone app was developed based on three information modalities – text, pictures and videos (see section 2.3). While the textual information was the same as that of the paper-based tool, the design and development of the app was based on lessons learnt from existing food safety apps. This led to the selection of three existing apps (text-based app, audio-visual app and integrated app) that address the knowledge gap area identified in phase one (safe meat preparation) based on a set of criteria (see section 3.3.2.2). Following this, the researcher adopted the health literacy online heuristics framework and combined it with a consumer-based evaluation to holistically assess the usability of these applications, their contexts of use and attributes of the end-users. To achieve this, first, the researcher conducted a heuristic evaluation of all three apps to identify problems based on Monkman and Kushniruk’s approach (see section 3.3.2). Second, the researcher conducted a consumer based evaluation of all three apps through a scenario based focus group session with nine participants (see section 3.3.2.1). The outcome of the thematic coding conducted in the Phase Two – Design and Development of the Safe Food Management App, generated insight into the considerations that should be made when designing and developing tools to specifically address consumers’ safe food management knowledge gaps during normal day to day food handling activities. This led to the concept design. The concept design was the basis for the development of the app. The outcome of Phase Two led to the development of the smartphone app and provided the answers to the second research question. Following this, the app was implemented and evaluated in Phase Three – Evaluating and Implementing the Safe Food Management App. This phase involved the commencement of the field experiment which comprised of the pre-test, intervention, and three levels of post-test and aimed to determine the impact of the smartphone app on consumer knowledge acquisition, knowledge retention and perceived behavioural change. The outcome of the descriptive statistics conducted in this phase provided the answers to the third research question.

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Chapter Summary 3.8

This chapter has presented the philosophical position underpinning this investigation. Given the exploratory nature of this research, the use of a mixed methods approach was well-suited to the subjective ontological and pragmatic epistemological positions underpinning the research. This research comprised of a case study, usability evaluation, field experiment and a three phase data collection strategy.

The research design consisted of three phases. The first phase has two stages while the second phase and third phase have only one stage each. The chapter also discussed the tools and techniques utilised in each of the data collection stages. In the preliminary stage for phase one, semi-structured interviews, document reviews and field notes data was used. In the advanced stage for phase one, survey data was used. In phase two, focus group data was used. In phase three, field experiment data was used.

Data analysis methods were also presented in this chapter. For the preliminary stage, phase one, as well as the phase two, the method of analysis was the development of open and axial codes through thematic analysis. The axial coding process was iterative and final themes were developed. However, for the advanced stage in phase one and phase three, descriptive and inferential statistics, were conducted. The last section of the chapter discussed the process of interpreting and discussing the findings.

The next chapter presents the data analysis and preliminary findings of the Preliminary Stage, Phase One – Investigating Knowledge Gaps – Firm Perspective and the Advanced Stage, Phase One - Investigating Knowledge Gaps – Consumer Perspective.

CHAPTER FOUR

DATA ANALYSIS

AND PRELIMINARY

FINDINGS:

INVESTIGATING

KNOWLEDGE GAPS

– PHASE ONE

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DATA ANALYSIS AND PRELIMINARY FINDINGS: INVESTIGATING

4

KNOWLEDGE GAPS

4.1

This chapter describes the data analysis and initial findings of the Preliminary Stage, Phase One – Firm Perspective and the Advanced Stage, Phase One - Consumer Perspective of the research. Phase one involved identifying knowledge gaps and this was conducted in two stages: the preliminary stage (firm perspective) and the advanced stage (consumer perspective). First, the focus of the Preliminary Stage was to determine the role played by a food firm in updating consumers’ food safety knowledge during a food recall incident. The data analysis follows the method detailed in section 3. The data collection techniques for this stage included semi-structured interviews (see section 3.5.1) as the primary data source as well as document reviews (see section 3.5.3) and field notes (see section 3.5.4) as secondary data sources. Thematic data analysis was conducted in this stage and it generated twenty-two axial codes and three themes. The themes produced as a result of the inductive coding process are discussed and interpreted while relating it back to phase one of the research. The discussion of the themes identifies the challenges the firm faces which hinder appropriate information sharing between the firm and its consumers, not only during the recall process but on a normal basis. The interpretation shows that post-purchase food safety is largely the responsibility of the consumers while raising questions about how to empower them to optimise their knowledge on safe food management. Second, the focus of the Advanced Stage was to identify consumer food safety knowledge gaps. This involved the analysis and discussion of the collected data on three core areas (pre-purchase, post-purchase and information & communication preferences), through an online survey (see section 3.5.6). The data set was analysed using two different approaches. The survey data was statistically analysed in order to create a range of descriptive statistical diagrams and tables for the post-purchase questions. The survey data was also used to generate tables to represent the best-worst scaling attributes selected by the participants for the pre- purchase questions and the IT related questions. The chapter is divided into the following sections:

 Section 4.2 presents the data analysis and preliminary findings of the three themes generated from the Preliminary Stage, Phase One of the research (firm

perspective). The themes are AUTHENTICITY, BRANDING and BUSINESS AGILITY.

 Section 4.3 presents the data analysis and preliminary findings of the Advanced Stage, Phase One of the research (consumer perspective). This involved questions pre-purchase practices, post-purchase practices and information & communication preferences.

 Section 4.4 provides a summary of the chapter.

Preliminary Stage, Phase One – Firm perspective 4.2

The focus of the preliminary stage of phase one was to generate insights into a food recall incident and to explore the role played by a food firm in updating consumers’ food safety knowledge during the incident. This aimed to provide insights into the sources of consumer food safety knowledge gaps. First, the context of food recall incidents in Australia is presented. Next, the following sub-sections present and discuss each theme resulting from this stage of the research. As this was a preliminary stage, more emphasis is laid on the discussion and interpretation of findings rather than the presentation of the data, in order not to detract from the focus of the research. This stage generated three themes: AUTHENTICITY, BRANDING and BUSINESS AGILITY.

4.2.1 Food Recall Incidents in Australia

According to Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ, 2008), a food recall is an “action taken to remove from distribution, sale and consumption, food which may pose a health and safety risk to consumers”. The two levels of recall that occur are trade recalls (not involving consumers) and consumer recalls. Between 2004 and 2014 Australia experienced 600 food recall incidents (ACCC, 2014). Specifically in relation to premium food products, a number of recalls involved detection of contamination with Escherichia coli. This contaminant causes a wide range of clinical symptoms, including non-bloody diarrhoea, haemorrhagic colitis, and death (Kousta et al., 2010). During these recall incidents consumers were advised not to eat these products and to return them to the place of purchase for a full refund (ACCC, 2014). Under Australian law, primary producers and processors are required to maintain traceability records to support the easy identification and location of food products should issues, such as chemical

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contamination, presence of foreign matter, arise that require product recall (FSANZ, 2008).

An important aspect of any food recall involves information management, as supply chain stakeholders are required to disseminate information to government authorities and the general public in order to reduce the likelihood that affected products are consumed. At the time of writing, this process was conducted through the use of newspapers, television, radio as well as the webpages of the businesses concerned and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission website. Whilst this “information-push” strategy is relatively effective in ensuring that potentially unsafe products are removed from distribution and retail outlets, the system does not extend to formal actions involving consumption and relies primarily on an implicit ‘hope’ that consumers who have purchased the products will learn of the recall and do not consume the product for which the recall action had been raised. Therefore, current recall response mechanisms do not guarantee a closed loop of communication with all purchasers of a recalled product. This makes it more difficult to accurately bench-mark the effectiveness of the current system and provides little insight into how consumers respond to any information disseminated through these mechanisms. For businesses too, merely performing their legal obligations are unlikely to sufficiently mitigate risks, as the form, nature and information channel used will influence consumer confidence in their products and/or brands in different ways and amongst different types of consumers both during and after the recall (Verbeke and Ward, 2006).