The Impact of Negative Public Opinion on Specialty Agricultural Product Markets and the Restoration of Regional Public Brands: A Case Study of the Fugong Bayberry Incident in Zhangzhou

Abstract

In the digital media era, short videos and self-media accelerate the cross-regional diffusion of negative food safety information, making regional public brands of specialty agricultural products highly susceptible to widespread public opinion crises triggered by the non‑compliant behaviors of local operators. Taking the public opinion incident in May 2026 involving the illegal addition of prohibited additives to Fugong bayberries in Longhai, Zhangzhou, as a case study, this paper applies the social amplification of risk framework, the tragedy of the commons theory of regional public brands, and information asymmetry theory to systematically analyze the multidimensional impacts of negative public opinion on production and marketing, price systems, and regional brand reputation of specialty agricultural products. It clarifies the transmission mechanism linking opinion diffusion, market panic, and brand trust erosion, identifies deficiencies in current restoration efforts, and constructs a framework for market relief and long‑term brand restoration for fresh specialty agricultural products under public opinion crises, from three dimensions: pre‑risk warning, mid‑event intervention, and post‑event governance. The findings indicate that the intrinsic characteristics of fresh agricultural products—short shelf life, limited geographical differentiation, and fragmented operators—amplify the cascading losses of negative publicity. Sole reliance on ex‑post law enforcement and public communication cannot rapidly rebuild consumer trust; instead, a resilient brand governance system that integrates full‑chain traceability, multi‑actor collaboration, and digital opinion monitoring is essential.