Information quality:: meeting the needs of the consumer

Given the current needs of consumers for a guarantee of safety that brands and labelling do not necessarily give them, as well as the irrelevance of a great deal of the information that is given to them, good quality information is becoming a necessary prerequisite for the setting-up of an active partnership between supplier and consumer. An active partnership of this kind, based on joint production of quality information, can encourage mutual understanding and lead to the development of trust and of consumer loyalty. The use of various quality symbols devised and conferred by a third-party organism may, in this case, help to reinforce a bond of trust that has already been established. However, trust can only develop in the course of a long-term relation, following on from a learning process. In this case, quality information, co-produced jointly by the supplier and the consumer, makes for more efficient information, and leads to a better understanding and fulfilment of consumer needs. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.