| Summary: | Qualitative methods for exploratory social research allow a deep understanding of individuals’ knowledge, perceptions, values, and preferences. In this study, we aimed to develop a scale to measure customer attitudes toward food risks. In-depth interviews were conducted with customers from two different restaurants located in Sao Paulo, Brazil, to raise social representation constructs by means of the collective subject discourse technique to compose the scale items. A 5-point Likert scale was used to assess the degree of the respondent’s agreement/disagreement with each item (n = 24). The instrument developed was tested (n = 61) to evaluate validity and reliability; it yielded satisfactory internal consistency (α = 0.78, 17 items). The study offers a theoretical and methodological insight into scale development, and identifies customers’ social representations in buffet-style restaurants related to hygiene, risk management, food-hazards, responsibility, and trust in food systems. The proposed methodology is suitable to apply to further marketing research and effective risk management and communication regarding foodservices issues.
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