UNDERSTANDING SWIFTLET-HOUSE FARMERS’ ACCEPTANCE OF BIO-QR CODE FOR THE EDIBLE BIRD NEST TRACEABILITY SYSTEM: A CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

Abstract

Edible Bird Nest (EBN) is a popular and expensive cuisine among Chinese ethnicities. Food safety issues repeatedly confronted the EBN industry because of no systematic standard to certify the product. As a result, China, the world's largest EBN importer, issued new import regulations demanding traceability systems as a standard requirement for legal EBN importation. The new rules impacted Thailand, which used to be the biggest exporter of EBN after Indonesia and Malaysia. Currently, Thailand's market share of legal EBN export to China is less than 1%. The purpose of this paper is to present a conceptual framework (CF) for understanding swiftlet-house farmers' acceptance of Bio-QR codes for the EBN traceability system. From the literature we reviewed, we constructed the framework based on an extended Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) consisting of six factors (PU, PEOU, AT, SN, PI, IN), additional three variables (CBP, JR, RD) related to PU, and two variables (SE, COT) associated to PEOU. This CF will be used in future research to develop a far superior traceability system based on the needs and limitations of users. We hope our new system is widely accepted in order to support Thai EBN's quality, meet international standards, and regain customer trust.