Dynamic game research of food agricultural products supply chain based on blockchain traceability technology

Purpose Food quality and safety issues have always been imperative topics discussed by people. The anti-tampering of blockchain technology and the transparency of information make it possible to improve food traceability and safety quality. How to effectively apply blockchain traceability technology to food safety has great research significance for improving food safety and consumer quality trust. Design/methodology/approach The paper aims to analyze the differences in product quality levels and market participants’ profits before and after the use of blockchain-driven traceability technology in the food agricultural product supply chain (SC) in the dynamic game frameworks of supplier-led and retailer-led modes, respectively, and explores the willingness, social welfare and consumer surplus of each member of the agricultural product SC to participate in the blockchain. Besides, We investigate the SC performance improvement with the mechanism of central centralized decision-making and revenue-sharing contract, compared to the SC performance in dynamic games. Findings The results are obtained as follow: The adoption of blockchain traceability technology can help improve the quality of food agricultural products, consumer surplus and social welfare, but the application and popularization of technology is hindered by traceability technology installment costs. Compared with the supplier leadership model, retailer-led food quality level, customer surplus and social welfare are higher. Research limitations/implications How to effectively apply blockchain traceability technology to food safety has great research significance for improving food safety and consumer quality trust. Practical implications Food quality and safety issues have always been hot topics discussed by people. The anti-tampering of blockchain technology and the transparency of information make it possible to improve food traceability and safety quality. Social implications The research results enrich the theories related to food safety and quality, and provide a valuable reference for food enterprises involved in the decision-making exploration of blockchain technology. Originality/value Based on the characteristics of blockchain technology, the demand function is adjusted and the product loss risk of channel members is transferred through a Stackelberg game SC composed of agricultural products suppliers and retailers. Highlights: • We introduce two features of blockchain: quality trust and product information tracking. • The willingness of each member of the supply chain to use blockchain for product traceability was explored. • The overall traceability effect of the retailer-led blockchain is better than that of the manufacturer-led blockchain. • The cost of blockchain technology is a barrier to its adoption. • Blockchain brings higher consumer surplus and social welfare.