Analysis of commodity traceability service effects on the purchase behavior of consumers using an evolutionary game model

Blockchain-based commodity traceability is an emerging technology developed in recent years; it plays a vital role in monitoring product quality and responding to product safety problems. Considering the perceived value of product traceability for consumers and the cost of using blockchain technology, determining whether merchants adopt blockchain-based commodity traceability technology deserves attention. Based on the information asymmetry between consumers and merchants, this paper establishes a two-party evolutionary game model to understand whether merchants enable the commodity traceability function and whether consumers choose to be involved in the commodity traceability relationship based on the Foote, Cone, and Belding grid theory. The model explores the influence boundary of merchants enabling the commodity traceability function for consumers with different degrees of involvement in purchasing behavior. The results show that traceability cost, consumer involvement, commodity price, and the value-added traceability nature of different commodities affect the evolution results. These results indicate that businesses need to constantly reduce the cost of traceability to improve consumer involvement and the perceived value of commodity traceability. Businesses must identify consumers with different involvement levels, and commodities with different traceability levels should provide targeted services for consumers and commodities.