Why are strawberries still unsalable on a large scale after the rumors were refuted?
On April 26, a media outlet bought 8 samples of strawberries from the market and "detected acetochlor exceeding the standard," thereby concluding that strawberries "cause cancer," which triggered panic among consumers. On May 1, this newspaper published "Is 'Strawberry Pesticide Residue Exceeding the Standard Causes Cancer' True?", reporting that 175 samples taken from Beijing all tested negative for acetochlor. It also logically demonstrated from multiple aspects, including that "if acetochlor were used, the strawberry seedlings would also be killed," that the detection of acetochlor exceeding the standard on strawberries was not credible. On May 2, People's Daily also published a report stating that "eating strawberries causes cancer" is unreliable. Subsequently, major media outlets and websites followed up with reports one after another.
Logically speaking, this "strawberry incident" should have come to an end here. However, the domestic strawberry market remained sluggish, and prices in major production areas plummeted by more than 40%. On May 6, the agricultural product trading platform "Yimutian" disclosed that strawberry prices in seven major production areas including Liaoning, Hebei, and Jilin fell from 4-8 yuan in mid-April to 1-4 yuan, and in some areas strawberries even dropped below 1 yuan. In just half a month, 6,000 strawberry solar greenhouses in Changping District, Beijing, suffered losses of more than 26 million yuan.
Since the mainstream media has already refuted the rumors, why did the strawberry industry still suffer such huge losses? Similar situations are not limited to this year's strawberries. So-called "swelling agent" watermelons, Hainan "banana cancer," and "fruit fly" citrus all involved farmers still having to endure prolonged harm after the rumors were refuted. What is the reason?
First, the "primacy effect" is at work. People always tend to believe the information they encounter for the first time and remain skeptical of later statements. At the same time, the "primacy effect" also has the characteristic of persistence. Under preconceived biased cognition, it can strongly and persistently affect people's thoughts and behavior. Reflected in this strawberry incident, many consumers chose to "control their mouths."
Second, most consumers hold the mentality of "rather believe it exists than believe it does not." As something ingested, strawberries concern everyone's health, and moreover, strawberries are not daily necessities. When choosing whether to eat them or not, consumers will be extremely cautious.
Third, for the parties harmed by this strawberry incident, making an appropriate response at the first opportunity was an important step to minimize losses. But "the rumor has already spread everywhere, while the truth is still putting on its shoes." One should know that in the world of the internet and self-media, a few days are enough to solidify this news into the deep-rooted cognition of the vast majority of people. Of course, after the incident occurred, relevant departments also made corresponding responses, such as publishing spot-check results and having experts in pesticides, plant protection, and quality inspection come forward to demonstrate. But how to convey such voices to consumers through more and more convenient channels still deserves further deep thought.
Half a month has already passed, and the harm to the strawberry industry will still be difficult to eliminate in the short term. There are still some points here worth pondering.
In recent years, the degree of organization in China's agricultural production and operation has continuously improved, but relative to the development of the market, it is still far from enough. The situation of small-scale production by millions of households is widespread. When a crisis appears in the industry, it is very difficult to respond effectively in a timely manner and quickly clarify the facts. Taking this strawberry incident as an example, a single strawberry grower or cooperative, or even an agricultural enterprise, can hardly have the energy, time, money, and ability to respond reasonably, which is what caused the delay and weakness of crisis public relations. Therefore, it is especially necessary to improve the degree of organization in agricultural production and operation and strengthen the industry's ability in crisis public relations and responding to emergencies.
In addition, publicity of agricultural product market information should be further increased, information transparency should be enhanced, and collateral damage to the entire industry caused by individual cases should be avoided, so as to restore consumer confidence.
Food safety is more important than heaven and concerns people's health. In the supervision of food safety, the media should also clarify its own responsibilities. While supervising food safety and safeguarding consumers' rights and interests, it should also safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of producers, take facts as the basis, and minimize the collateral damage and accidental harm to an industry as much as possible. Therefore, on this issue, it is necessary to be more scientific, more rigorous, and also more prudent.
Generally speaking, the quality and safety of China's agricultural products are reliable, and consumption safety is guaranteed. In the field of strawberry production, we have also established a strict safety supervision system and improved a quality traceability system. What pesticides to use, when to use them, what dosage to use, and even the channels for purchasing pesticides are all fixed. It is believed that with the further improvement of the degree of agricultural organization in China, the continuous perfection of the quality and safety supervision system for agricultural products, and increasingly stronger supervision, the quality and safety of agricultural products will be more powerfully guaranteed.