Is Blockchain Technology Reshaping Traceability and Supply Chain Transparency in Agri-Food Systems? Learning from Generation Z Consumers in Malaysia

With increasing concerns over food safety, fraud, and information asymmetry in global food supply chains, improving transparency has become a key challenge for modern agricultural systems. Traditional supply chains often lack visibility, leading to fragmented data, reduced consumer trust, and difficulties in verifying food product information. Blockchain technology has emerged as a promising solution for enabling decentralised and tamper-resistant data sharing across supply networks. However, despite its theoretical potential, empirical evidence remains limited regarding how blockchain adoption enhances transparency through specific operational mechanisms, such as traceability. Therefore, this study investigates the role of blockchain adoption in improving traceability and strengthening supply chain transparency within agri-food systems. Data were collected from Generation Z university students in Malaysia, selected due to their familiarity with digital technologies and heightened awareness of food sourcing issues. The study is based on a total of 253 usable responses analysed using IBM SPSS Statistics 27, employing reliability analysis, Exploratory Factor Analysis, Pearson correlation, multiple regression analysis, and the PROCESS Macro Model 4 with 5000 bootstrap resamples for mediation testing. The findings indicate that blockchain adoption is significantly and positively associated with traceability, which in turn is positively associated with overall supply chain transparency. Furthermore, traceability is found to act as a mediating factor, serving as the key mechanism through which blockchain generates transparency outcomes, via an indirect-only mediation pathway. Thus, based on this premise, it is evident that blockchain alone is not sufficient unless integrated with effective traceability systems, highlighting the importance of aligning digital infrastructure with physical supply chain processes to strengthen trust and resilience in agricultural systems.