# The Psychosocial Resonance of Food Safety Risk: A Space-Time Perspective

## TL;DR

This paper explores how food safety risks spread through society using a model that combines network theory and spatial analysis.

## Contribution

The novel CA-SHIRS model integrates cellular automata and epidemic modeling to study food safety risk diffusion.

## Key findings

- Higher infection and conversion probabilities increase the spread of food safety risk resonance across regions.
- Consumer risk perception and media authenticity can inhibit the spread of psychosocial resonance.
- Market noise and media report tendency accelerate the diffusion of food safety risk resonance.

## Abstract

From a space-time perspective, this paper constructs a CA-SHIRS model to study the psychosocial resonance diffusion of food safety risk, using complex network and cellular automata theory. The CA-SHIRS model is a framework that combines cellular automata with SHIRS (Susceptible–Hidden–Infected–Recovered–Susceptible) epidemic modeling. This methodological integration can effectively reflect local interactions and spatial distribution among consumers. Furthermore, this paper analyzes the diffusion mechanism and spatial–temporal evolution of the psychosocial resonance of food safety risk, considering the interaction between consumer heterogeneity and media communication strategies. The primary conclusions are outlined as follows: (1) An increase in infection probability, conversion probability, and immune failure probability causes the psychosocial resonance of food safety risk to spread rapidly across different regions and populations. In contrast, an increase in immune probability helps control the psychosocial resonance of food safety risk. (2) The diffusion threshold of the psychosocial resonance of food safety risk is negatively related to the consumer risk perception level, consumer risk attention, media freedom, and media report authenticity. However, it is positively correlated with consumer sentiment, market noise, and media report tendency. (3) The consumer risk perception level, consumer risk attention, media freedom, and media report authenticity can effectively inhibit the spatial–temporal diffusion of the psychosocial resonance of food safety risk. On the other hand, increases in market noise, consumer sentiment, and media report tendency accelerate the spread of the psychosocial resonance of food safety risk across different regions.