Airong Zhang

• PhD
• Principal Research Scientist at Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation Australia

Antibiotics are widely used to prevent healthy animals from getting diseases in livestock industries. Such practice has greatly contributed to the increase in antibiotic-resistant pathogens in animals and in the environment, which poses severe health threats to humans. This study aims to investigate consumers’ purchase intention towards meat produc...

Background Antibiotics have been widely used in feed and drinking water for food animals to prevent them from getting sick. Such preventive use of antibiotics has become a contributor to increasing antibiotic resistance and thus poses threats to human health. However, consumers have little knowledge about this practice and the associated health ris...

Purpose The present experimental study aims to investigate when a food safety incident occurs, how country image influences consumers' trust and purchase intention, as well as the relationship between trust and purchase intention. Design/methodology/approach Participants (N = 1,590) were randomly allocated into one of the eight conditions [(countr...

Objectives This study examined how trust in the information about COVID-19 from social media and official media as well as how the information was disseminated affect public’s wellbeing directly and indirectly through perceived safety over time. Methods Two online surveys were conducted in China, with the first survey (Time1, N = 22,718) being at...

Food credence attributes (e.g., food safety, organic, and carbon neutral production methods) are quality characteristics of products that cannot be assessed by buyers at the point of sale without additional information (e.g., certification labels). Hence, the ability to access credence attributes of a particular product can result in a situation te...

Pest carp species are a problem around the world, particularly in Australia where European carp (Cyprinus carpio) account for up to 90% of fish biomass in several major river systems. The Australian National Carp Control Plan investigated the feasibility of using a biological control agent (Cyprinid herpesvirus 3; CyHV-3) to control carp. CyHV-3 is...

Increased focus towards food safety and quality is reshaping food purchasing decisions around the world. Although some food attributes are visible, many of the attributes that consumers seek and are willing to pay a price premium for are not. Consequently, consumers rely on trusted cues and information to help them verify the food quality and crede...

Agricultural industries are facing a dual challenge of increasing production to meet the growing population with a disruptive changing climate and, at the same time, reducing its environmental impacts. Digital agriculture supported by big data technology has been regarded as a solution to address such challenges. However, realising the potential va...

: Self-medication with antibiotics is a major contributing factor to antimicrobial resistance. Prior research examining factors associated with antibiotic self-medication has focused on an individual’s knowledge about antibiotics, antibiotic usage practices, accessibility to antibiotic medication, and demographic characteristics. The role of psycho...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to develop an integrative model where perceived competence, perceived warmth and “clean green image” of an exporting country are drivers for Chinese consumers' trust in food quality and food safety, which in turn predict their willingness to buy fresh fruit from this country. Design/methodology/approach Partici...

Beyond measurement of the ecological and economic impacts of invasive species and pest control on conservation, agricultural productivity and ecosystem services, there are multiple social and human dimensions which influence how stakeholders perceive and respond to research and management strategies. Given the increasing global attention on interdi...

Understanding consumer food preferences can provide agribusinesses with a competitive advantage through meeting consumers’ needs. Consumers’ preferences for food attributes have been extensively examined, focusing on specific aspects of attributes with specific food products. It is less clear how consumers evaluate the relative importance of the ke...

Background While the COVID-19 is rapidly spreading around the world, the information and misinformation about the novel virus has also flooded the social media globally. This led to the declaration by World Health Organisation that the world is not only fighting against epidemic but also fighting an infodemic. How media source and the dissemination...

Restorative experience refers to an experience of psychophysical restoration from stress and mental fatigue during people‒environment interactions. Previous research has documented the influence of neighbourhood physical environment on restorative experiences; however, it is still unclear whether neighbourhood social environment can affect restorat...

Consumers have become increasingly concerned about food safety due to numerous food scandals and incidents over the past two decades. Consequently, they demand to be informed of the processes involved along the food supply chain. Employing a traceability system, tracing food from ‘farm to fork’, has been embraced by the food industries and governme...

The absence of legal and regulatory frameworks around the collection, sharing and use of agricultural data contributes to the range of challenges currently being faced by farmers considering adoption of smart farming technologies. Many laws potentially influence the ownership, control of and access to data, in this paper we examine the attitudes of...

Achieving sustainable global food security for a rapidly growing world population is one of the greatest challenges of our time. Producing more food efficiently by closing the yield gaps is regarded as a promising solution to address this challenge without further expanding farming land. However, there is limited understanding of the causes contrib...

Background: Environmental changes caused by plant pathogen incursions can have significant economic and social impacts on agricultural communities. Proactive and vigilant biosecurity actions on-ground are essential in preventing outbreaks from occurring and/or spreading. However, little is known about psychological drivers for action. Experimental:...

Gender has been recognised as an important dimension when it comes to how the public is affected by, and responds to, the mining sector. This paper investigates the way that gender differences play out in relation to social licence and extractive industries. We seek to advance understanding of social licence in extractive industries by building on...

AT A GLANCE… Average wheat yields between 2000 and 2014 for the Liverpool Plains (2.6 tonnes per hectare) are 2.3 tonnes per hectare below the water-limited yield potential for dryland wheat. On average, this is costing growers $575 per hectare. A national survey of 232 growers included 45 respondents from the Liverpool Plains. Of the 45 Liverpoo...

Digital agricultural technologies and big data analytics present great opportunities for transformational change in agriculture, providing a precision management approach to improve productivity and profitability while reducing environmental impact. To realise the potential benefits of digital agriculture and big data, it is essential that primary...

Building on the knowledge that procedural fairness of and trust in mining companies, as well as confidence in governance, are key determinants of social licence to operate (SLO), the present research aims to examine how these preconditions of SLO are affected by the terms of engagement set out in initial letters sent to residents. Through an experi...

Building on the knowledge that procedural fairness of and trust in mining companies, as well as confidence in governance, are key determinants of social licence to operate (SLO), the present research aims to examine how these preconditions of SLO are affected by the terms of engagement set out in initial letters sent to residents. Through an experi...

Companies in the energy and resources sectors often conduct surveys to understand their acceptance within the community. Such surveys generate rich data, yet sometimes key insights can be missed using conventional plots of average responses for each question. Here, we investigated how multivariate statistics might be used to analyse and communicate...

The aim of the project was to benchmark Australian producers’ needs, perceived risks and benefits, and expectations associated with digital agriculture and big data context. Such understanding will inform strategies aimed at 1) better utilising agricultural data to enhance productivity and profitability, and 2) better capitalising on the opportunit...

Community relations are an integral part of successful and socially acceptable mining operations. Effective interactions between a mining company and a host community tend to foster mutual understanding and trust, leading to higher levels of acceptance of those operations. The Waihi gold mining operations in New Zealand, which consist of an open pi...

Drawing on classic social identity theorizing (Tajfel, Differentiation between social groups: Studies in the social psychology of intergroup relations, London, UK, Academic Press, 1978), we propose that low-status minority group members' self-efficacy and performance on intellectual tasks can be enhanced by prompting them to believe in a better fut...

Changing societal expectations have influenced the way industries involved in the development or extraction of natural resources conduct their operations around the world. Increasingly, communities are demanding more involvement in decision-making around such operations, have expectations of receiving a greater share of the benefits from these oper...

A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at The University of Queensland in 2013 School of Psychology

When people are morally convicted regarding a specific issue, these convictions exert a powerful influence on their attitudes and behavior. In the current research we examined whether there are boundary conditions to the influence of this effect. Specifically, whether in the context of salient economic rewards, moral convictions may become weaker p...

Obtaining and maintaining a social licence to operate is a major challenge for the mining industry around the world. This study examines how the public’s perceptions of the distributional fairness of the benefits of mining, procedural fairness in the interactions between the mining industry and society, and confidence in the governance arrangements...

Membership in important social groups can promote a positive identity. We propose and test an identity resource model in which personal self-esteem is boosted by membership in additional important social groups. Belonging to multiple important group memberships predicts personal self-esteem in children (Study 1a), older adults (Study 1b), and forme...

In collaboration with the Chinese Academy of Social Science, East China Normal University, and Sichuan Normal University, CSIRO has conducted an extensive survey of more than 5122 people to understand more about what people in China think about mining and what constitutes a social licence to operate for mining in China. In particular, we examine ho...

We examine the role of hopeful thinking in enhancing life satisfaction among a minority group facing pervasive group-based discrimination: country migrant workers’ children in China. Positive psychology reasoning suggests that hopeful thinking can attenuate the negative impact of perceived discrimination on life satisfaction. This moderation model...

We sought to identify the mechanisms that cause strongly fused individuals (those who have a powerful, visceral feeling of oneness with the group) to make extreme sacrifices for their group. A large multinational study revealed a widespread tendency for fused individuals to endorse making extreme sacrifices for their country. Nevertheless, when ask...

We propose that to understand how a social licence to operate in mining is granted and maintained, we need to take account of the processes mining companies use to engage with local communities. The present research measured and modelled the critical elements of social licence by conducting a longitudinal study in an Australian mining region. The r...

Although many forms of differential treatment based on group membership are perceived to be legitimate, disadvantaged group members' responses to discrimina-tion have been studied primarily in contexts in which such treatment is appraised as illegitimate. This has resulted in an impoverished understanding of differential group-based treatment and a...

In the context of school segregation in China, the authors propose that disadvantaged group members’ self-esteem should improve when they consider the prospect of a better future for the group (i.e., awareness of cognitive alternatives to the lower status position). A pilot study established that country workers’ children who were educated with cit...

I and most Australians want our immigration policy radically reviewed and that of multicul-turalism abolished. I believe we are in danger of being swamped by Asians…. They have their own culture and religion … A truly mul-ticultural country can never be strong or united. (Hanson, 1996) The integration of immigrants and minorities into mainstream so...

Four studies investigated the conditions under which minority group members respond to group-based discrimination with increased identification with their group. We propose that minorities' interaction goals should serve as a moderator: seeking distance from the majority might keep minority identification alive in the face of perceived discriminati...

The performance of 25 children with Down syndrome on delay of gratification tasks was compared with that of a mental age-matched group of typically developing children. Delay tasks included both other- and self-imposed tasks. Children with Down syndrome were significantly less able to delay gratification than the comparison group on two of the thre...

Adulthood brings with it responsibilities for making choices and decisions about one's own life. Individuals with Down syndrome, their parents and communities, have begun to expect at least some of these responsibilities will be met by the person with Down syndrome. This will require a range of skills in managing one's own behaviour and these skill...