When perceived risk spreads: cross-category spillover effects from a food safety crisis

Risk perception during food safety crises can extend beyond the directly affected product, yet the mechanisms shaping cross-category spillover remain insufficiently understood. This study examines whether perceived risk associated with a pox outbreak affecting goats spills over from goat meat to related meat and dairy categories and whether trust in regulatory authorities mediates these relationships. Survey data were analyzed using structural equation modeling across five categories: beef, pork, goat milk, goat yogurt, and goat cheese. The findings reveal significant direct relationships between goat meat perceived risk and perceived risk for beef, pork, and goat milk. For goat yogurt, the total association was significant, although neither the direct effect nor the indirect effect through trust reached statistical significance, while no significant relationship was found for goat cheese. Trust in regulatory authorities mediated the spillover relationships for beef, pork, and goat milk, but not for goat yogurt or goat cheese. These findings show that cross-category risk spillover is product-specific and that institutional trust constitutes an important, but non-uniform, mechanism through which perceived risk may extend across food categories. The study contributes to understanding the boundaries of risk spillover during food safety crises and offers practical implications for policymakers, regulatory authorities, and industry stakeholders regarding product-specific crisis communication and the management of consumer risk perceptions.