Evaluating the Effects of a Message on Attitude and Intention To Eat Raw Meat: Salmonellosis Prevention (original) (raw)

Unsustainable, unhealthy, or disgusting? Comparing different persuasive messages against meat consumption

Excessive meat consumption is associated with a range of environmental problems. In this investigation, we examined the effectiveness of three types of persuasive messages posited to affect attitudes toward meat consumption. The first two messages contained health and environment-related appeals (e.g., the moral consequences of environmental degradation and animal welfare), which are commonly used in campaigns aimed at meat reduction. A third kind of message – one that is less frequently applied in meat-consumption campaigns – follows from research suggesting that meat aversions are acquired via the emotion disgust. Results across three studies – and a meta-analysis of these studies – suggest that disgust-oriented persuasive messages are more effective than health-oriented messages, and they are at least as effective as moral (i.e., animal welfare) messages in influencing meat attitudes. The practical implications for campaigns to reduce meat consumption are being discussed.

Shaping food safety perceptions: The influence of informational nudges

Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics, 2019

This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain. Highlights  Gain and loss message framing and issue involvement affect food safety perceptions.  High issue involvement heightened consumer concerns of foodborne illness.  The gain-framed message was persuasive only under low issue involvement.  The loss-framed message was persuasive under both low and high issue involvement.

Designing Environmental Messages to Discourage Red Meat Consumption: An Online Experiment

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

Reducing red meat consumption in high-consuming countries is critical for mitigating climate change and preventing chronic disease. This study tested the effectiveness of messages conveying the worsening or reduction of environmental harms at discouraging red meat consumption. 1078 U.S. adults viewed seven messages in an online survey highlighting the reduction or worsening of environmental harms associated with eating red meat (between-subjects factor) and rated the messages on how much they discouraged them from wanting to buy beef. Each message highlighted a different environmental harm: deforestation, climate change, water shortages, biodiversity loss, carbon footprint, greenhouse gas emissions, or environment (within-subjects factor). No statistically significant difference was found between the reduction and worsening of environmental harms conditions for most topics, though the worsening of harms frame slightly outperformed the reduction of harms frame for the ‘environment’ t...

Consumers’ avoidance of information on red meat risks: information exposure effects on attitudes and perceived knowledge

Journal of Risk Research, 2015

2015): Consumers' avoidance of information on red meat risks: information exposure effects on attitudes and perceived knowledge, Journal of Risk Research, In accordance with cognitive dissonance theory, individuals generally avoid information that is not consistent with their cognitions, to avoid psychological discomfort associated with tensions arising from contradictory beliefs. Information avoidance may thus make risk communication less successful. To address this, we presented information on red meat risks to red meat consumers. To explore information exposure effects, attitudes toward red meat and perceived knowledge of red meat risks were measured before, immediately after, and two weeks after exposure. We expected information avoidance of red meat risks to be: positively related to (1) study discontentment; and (2) positive attitudes toward red meat; and negatively related to (3) information seeking on red meat risks; and (4) systematic and heuristic processing of information. In addition, following exposure to the risk information, we expected that (5) individuals who scored high in avoidance of red meat risks information to change their attitudes and perceived risk knowledge less than individuals who scored low in avoidance. Results were in line with the first three expectations. Support for the fourth was partial insofar as this was only confirmed regarding systematic processing. The final prediction was not confirmed; individuals who scored high in avoidance decreased the positivity of their attitudes and increased their perceived knowledge in a similar fashion to those who scored low in avoidance. These changes stood over the two-week follow-up period. Results are discussed in accordance with cognitive dissonance theory, with the possible use of suppression strategies, and with the corresponding implications for risk communication practice.

The impact of communicating conflicting risk and benefit messages: An experimental study on red meat information

Food Quality and Preference, 2014

Health risk and benefit messages that pertain to the same food may leave consumers unsure about the health consequences and advisability of consuming the food where conflict is inferred between the risk and benefit messages. A 2 Â 2 between-subjects vignette study was carried out to investigate how food consumers from eight European countries (N = 803) appraised conflicting risk and benefit messages and whether the trustworthiness of a third-party communicator through which a conflicting message is received moderated appraisals of this information. We also investigated whether appraisals were subject to cross-cultural variation based on cultural levels of uncertainty avoidance. Communication of a conflicting message outlining the benefits of red meat led to decreased credibility being attributed to the original risk message compared to when a second confirmatory risk message was communicated. Evaluation of the new information was not impacted by any apparent conflict with the original risk message; however, the third-party communicating the new message did impact the credibility of this new information. These effects were not subject to cultural variation. Further understanding on the strategies employed by consumers to evaluate conflicting food-related risk and benefit messages is discussed.

Effect of Warning Labels on Consumer Motivation and Intention to Avoid Consuming Processed Foods

Nutrients

Nutritional warnings (NWs) as a front-of-package label were implemented as a public policy aiding consumers with recognizing processed foods with high levels of critical nutrients (sodium, saturated fats, carbohydrates, and calories). However, in spite of this tool being well positioned in consumer decision making, there is little extant knowledge about the relationship between the message sent by NW, nutritional knowledge, consumer motivation, and the intention to avoid consuming processed foods. To understand these dimensions’ relations, a theoretical model was created and subsequently tested through structural equations. We applied a survey to 807 home food purchasing decision makers. The results show that the direct effect of NW messages raises the intention to avoid processed foods, while eating motivation is negative in its direct effect on the same avoidance intention. However, the message sent by NWs had a mediating effect between the intentions to avoid processed food and e...

Uncovering the mind-sets of consumers towards food safety messages

Food Quality and Preference, 2011

Knowing the specific characteristics which trigger a strong sense of safe versus unsafe allows risk communicators to reach consumers effectively with targeted messages. Using experimental design of ideas and conjoint measurement, we assessed consumer interest in and perceived safety of food characteristics that consumers think to be important when they make a purchase decision. The study identified the specific characteristics and the associated phrasing. The data generate a database by which we understand the perceptions of risk. In turn the database shows how these risk perceptions vary by conventional subgroups (age, gender, ethnicity), and by different mind-sets that exist in the population. The results combine insights about acceptance with insights about safety, answering questions that could not have been previously addressed in this efficient, quantitative way. The study is the first in a series designed to create a large-scale database of safety for food, beverage, and eating situation, based on the perceptions of consumers. The study opens up a new area for consumer understanding dealing with the perception of intangible topics including safety, compliance, and 'good-for-you'.

Are you cooking your meat enough? The efficacy of the Theory of Planned Behavior in predicting a best practice to prevent salmonellosis

Food Research International

Salmonella is one of the most common pathogens in the European Union which can spread in the domestic environment due to incorrect food handling practices. This study has investigated the efficacy of the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) to uncover the processes that lead to the formation of the intentions and thus to a specific behavior, i.e. consuming meat and fresh sausages only if well cooked. Two parallel longitudinal studies comprising Italian young adults and adults were carried out. In a two week period, participants were administered two questionnaires measuring behavioral intentions and their antecedents in the first wave, and self-reported behavior toward the target behavior in the second one. Results showed the superior predictive power of the TPB plus past behavior. From a cognitive perspective, the samples differed: the actual behavior of young adults derives from intentions and perceived control, whereas the behavior of adults depends only on past behavior. Findings suggest that food risk-communication should consider the differences in behavior models.

Changing Food Safety Risk Perceptions: The Influence of Message Framings & Media Food Safety Information

2016

Human cases of E. coli O157:H7 infections linked to the consumption of contaminated beef products consistently receive public attention due to their far-reaching health and economic implications. As consumers’ risk attitudes and perceptions remain pivotal to beef food safety initiatives, the study seeks to investigate the role of message framings and media food safety information on consumers’ valuation of their risk of an E. coli food infection, and attitudes towards food safety technologies. Using a nationally representative sample of 1,842 residents across the US, respondents were randomly assigned into six information groups. Findings reveal that message framings, particularly loss-framed messages influence consumers’ perceived risks, and attitudes towards food safety interventions. Respondents who received the media story about the plight of a consumer who suffered an E. coli infection showed more concern about the risk of an infection, while those who received loss-framed info...

Communicating Risks and Benefits from Fish Consumption: Impact on Belgian Consumers' Perception and Intention to Eat Fish

Risk Analysis, 2008

Communicating about the health effects of fish and seafood may potentially result in a conflict situation: increasing intake is desirable because of health and nutritional benefits, but higher consumption may also lead to an increased intake of potentially harmful environmental contaminants. In order to anticipate the communication challenge this conflict may pose, the research presented here aimed to assess the impact of risk/benefit communication on Belgian consumers' fish consumption behavior and fish attribute perception. Data were collected in June 2005 from a sample of 381 women, aged between 20 and 50 years. An experimental design consisting of four message conditions (benefit-only; risk-only; benefit-risk; and risk-benefit) combined with three information sources (fish and food industry; consumer organization; government) was used. Exposure to the benefit-only message resulted in an increase from a self-reported fish consumption frequency of 4.2 times per month to an intended fish consumption frequency of 5.1 times per month (+21%), while fish attribute perceptions only marginally improved. The risk-only message resulted in a strong negative perceptual change in the range of two points on a seven-point scale. This translated into an 8% decrease of behavioral intention (from eating fish 4.5 times per month to an intention of eating fish 4.1 times per month). Balanced messages referring to both risks and benefits yielded no significant change in behavioral intention, despite a significant worsening of fish attribute perception. The presentation order of benefits and risks in the balanced message showed a tendency to affect both behavioral intention and attribute perception, with the first message component being most influential. Information source did not yield any significant impact either on behavioral intention or on attribute perceptions, independent of the message content. The results from this study provide valuable insights for future risk/benefit and balanced communication about seafood.