scholarly journals Perceived Norms Influence Perceptions of Risk and Attitudes for Food Technologies

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
M. LaCour ◽  
E. Beyer ◽  
J. L. Finck ◽  
M. Miller ◽  
T. Davis
Keyword(s):  
Risk Perception ◽  
Animal Welfare ◽  
Multiple Regression ◽  
Risk Perceptions ◽  
Regression Models ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Food Technology ◽  
Psychological Variables ◽  
Perceived Norms ◽  
Perceptions Of Risk

ObjectivesUnderstanding the factors that influence consumer attitudes and risk perception is critical for effective marketing of new food technologies. Many variables impact attitudes and risk perception. However, food technology research has largely focused on demographic variables, and often only single technologies (e.g., GMOs). Our goal was to determine how psychological variables differentially influence attitudes and risk perception for a range of food technologies: antibiotics, hormones, vaccines, GMOs, sustainability, and animal welfare technologies. We examined how attitudes and risk perception for these technologies related to four social psychological variables from the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB): perceived norms, past behavior, familiarity, and perceived control. In addition, we measured general Food Technology Neophobia (FTN), Trust in Science (TIS), chemical reasoning (CR).Materials and MethodsParticipants (n = 394) provided demographics followed by TPB, attitude, and risk perception surveys for each of the six technologies. Then they completed FTN, TIS, and a CR survey measuring dose–response beliefs (DR), beliefs in unknown risks (UR), the role of risk in society (RS), and naturalness/knowledge of chemicals (NKC). Multiple regression analyses were used to test for associations among the survey measures.ResultsThe multiple regression models were all significant (p < 0.05). Variance accounted for (R2) ranged from 0.49 to0.69 (See Table 1 for summary). Perceived norms were the strongest predictor of attitudes and risk with higher values being associated with stronger attitudes (standardized betas ranging from 0.51 to 0.71) and lower risk perception (–0.54 to –0.40). There were a number of technology-specific associations, including familiarity increasing perceptions of risk for hormones, and NKC being primarily associated with animal welfare and sustainability technologies.ConclusionThe present findings show a critical role for perceived norms– a person’s perception that people they like also approve of or use a technology– across all technologies. This suggests that social factors like norms play a major role in consumer acceptance of food technologies. Other predictors varied in strength across technologies suggesting marketing may benefit from strategies tailored to specific technologies.Table 1Standardized betas (> 0.10 in bold) from selected coefficients of regression models predicting risk perceptions and attitudes (rows) for each technology (columns)

scholarly journals Functional Neuroimaging Reveals Neural Processes Underlying Food Technology Attitudes and Risk Perception

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
E. S. Beyer ◽  
M. LaCour ◽  
M. F. Miller ◽  
T. H. Davis ◽  
J. L. Finck
Keyword(s):  
Risk Perception ◽  
Animal Welfare ◽  
Perceived Risk ◽  
Functional Neuroimaging ◽  
Middle Temporal Gyrus ◽  
Food Technology ◽  
Process Information ◽  
Mixed Effect ◽  
Perceptions Of Risk ◽  
Positive Attitudes

ObjectivesAdvances in food technology provide numerous benefits including improvements in sustainability, quality, and food security. However, consumers often perceive such technologies as risky, even when extensively vetted for safety. Neuroimaging has the potential to reveal how the consumer brain processes information about technologies and how this processing relates to their attitudes and risk perception. The current study used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine how brain activation during processing of infographics about food technologies related to subsequent ratings of risk and attitudes. Based on neuroeconomic research, we hypothesized that the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) would track positive attitudes for the technologies due to its role in computing subjective value and positive affect. In contrast, we predicted that the lateral PFC would track perceptions of risk associated with the technologies due to its role in processing conflict and uncertainty.Materials and MethodsParticipants (n = 53; 31 Female; Age 18- 43) completed a neuroimaging study at Texas Tech Neuroimaging Institute. Participants were scanned while viewing 6 different food technology infographics in 30s blocks: hormone implants, antibiotics, vaccines, GMOs, animal welfare technology, and sustainability technologies. Between viewing blocks, participants answered attitudes and risk perception questions for each technology. The scans were analyzed using a mixed effect implemented in FSL’s FEAT software and corrected for multiple comparisons (p < 0.05) using cluster-based thresholding with a primary threshold of z = 3.1 (p < 0.001).ResultsParticipants had lower attitudes and higher risk perception for antibiotics and hormones relative to GMOs and vaccines (risk perception: t(52) = 5.07, p < 0.001; attitudes: t(52) = 8.35, p < 0.001) and animal welfare and sustainability technologies (risk perception: t(52) = 6.60, p < 0.001; attitudes: t(52) = 7.65, p < 0.001). Consistent with our predictions, a cluster in lateral PFC (1496 voxels, p < 0.001) was positively associated with between-infographic differences in risk perception (and negatively associated with attitudes) such that it was most highly activated for the hormones and antibiotics and less so for the lower perceived risk technologies. Additionally, we observed a cluster in vmPFC (648 voxels, p < 0.001) that was positively associated with attitudes and thus was most highly activated for the lower perceived risk and higher attitude technologies. Several additional areas were associated with risk and attitudes including lateral parietal cortex, precuneus, occipital, and middle temporal gyrus (p < 0.05).ConclusionOur results present a critical step forward in understanding how consumers process information about food technologies. We found areas of the vmPFC tracked positive attitudes and lateral PFC tracked perceptions of risk and lower attitudes. These findings are important because they suggest that PFC regions may contribute to how consumers process information about food technologies, which can affect how they retain and use information to update their beliefs. Future research should examine whether fMRI may be useful prospectively for predicting consumer responses to information campaigns about food technologies.

scholarly journals Infographics Influence Attitudes and Risk Perceptions for Food Technologies

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
M. LaCour ◽  
E. Beyer ◽  
J. L. Finck ◽  
M. Miller ◽  
T. Davis
Keyword(s):  
Risk Perception ◽  
Animal Welfare ◽  
Perceived Risk ◽  
Risk Perceptions ◽  
Mixed Effects ◽  
Mixed Effects Models ◽  
Sustainable Food ◽  
Perceptions Of Risk ◽  
General Improvement ◽  
English Speaking

ObjectivesFood technologies have facilitated a healthier, more efficient, and sustainable food supply. They nevertheless often face resistance from consumers. Compared to organic and traditional farming techniques, food produced with technologies tends to be associated with higher perceptions of risk, lower attitudes, and fewer perceived benefits. Countering resistance toward technologies poses a serious challenge because persuasive appeals have the potential to amplify preexisting attitudes instead of changing them. We tested six infographics for their ability to improve attitudes and risk perception toward six food technologies: hormones, antibiotics, GM crops, vaccines, sustainability technology, and animal welfare technology. Our objective was to determine whether these infographics would successfully shift perceived risk and attitudes toward these technologies.Materials and MethodsParticipants (n = 810) from English speaking countries (in North America, Europe, and Australia) were recruited from Amazon’s MTurk service. They answered a survey assessing their levels of risk perception and attitudes regarding each of the six food technologies, followed by a general food technology neophobia (FTN) survey. An experimental condition (n = 416) saw an infographic before answering questions about each technology and a control condition (n = 394) did not. Linear mixed effects models implemented in R were used to test risk and attitude differences among technologies and whether the infographics affected risk perception and attitudes.ResultsLinear mixed effects models revealed that there was a significant interaction between technology and condition for both risk: F(54040) = 5.068, p < 0.001, and attitudes: F(54040) = 26.34, p < 0.001. Overall, there was a tendency for risk perception to decrease (g = –.36, z = 6.89, p < 0.001) and attitudes to increase (g = .48, z = 9.38, p < 0.001), in the condition that saw the infographics. However, there were larger decreases in risk perception and increases in attitudes for hormones (risk: z = 5.05, p < 0.001; attitudes: z = 8.30, p < 0.001), GMOs (risk: z = 6.89, p < 0.001; attitudes: 13.21, p < 0.001), vaccines (risk: z = 6.45, p < 0.001; attitudes: z = 6.11, p < 0.001), and antibiotics (risk: 5.06, p < 0.001; attitudes: z = 7.83, p < 0.001), but smaller changes for sustainability (risk: z = 2.77, p = 0.03; attitudes: z = 2.89, p = 0.02) and animal welfare (risk: z = 4.91, p < 0.001; attitudes: z = 3.51, p = 0.003). Including FTN in the models did not affect the overall pattern of results, suggesting that the changes in risk perception and attitudes were not due to simply a general change in FTN.ConclusionOur results found that infographics provide a potential avenue for improving attitudes and risk perception for food technologies. Across six different infographics, we found attitudes and risk perception improved for hormones, antibiotics, vaccines, GMOs, sustainability technologies, and animal welfare technologies. These results are important because such persuasive appeals can often backfire, yet here we observed general improvement. In future studies it will be critical to examine how such attitude and risk perception changes relate to consumer behavior (e.g., willingness-to-pay), and which specific strategies in the infographics led to the improved attitudes.

scholarly journals What People Really Think About Safety around Horses: The Relationship between Risk Perception, Values and Safety Behaviours

Animals ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 2222
Author(s):  
Meredith Chapman ◽  
Matthew Thomas ◽  
Kirrilly Thompson
Keyword(s):  
Risk Perception ◽  
First Principles ◽  
Risk Perceptions ◽  
Risk Mitigation ◽  
Perceptions Of Risk ◽  
General Acceptance ◽  
Related Risk ◽  
Serious Injuries ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Safety First

The equestrian industry reports high rates of serious injuries, illness and fatalities when compared to other high-risk sports and work environments. To address these ongoing safety concerns, a greater understanding of the relationship between human risk perception, values and safety behaviours is required. This paper presents results from an international survey that explored relationships between a respondents’ willingness to take risk during daily activities along with, their perceptions of risk and behaviours during horse-related interactions. Respondents’ comments around risk management principles and safety-first inspirations were also analysed. We examined what humans think about hazardous situations or activities and how they managed risk with suitable controls. Analysis identified three important findings. First, safe behaviours around horses were associated with safety training (formal and/or informal). Second, unsafe behaviours around horses were associated with higher levels of equestrian experience as well as income from horse-related work. Finally, findings revealed a general acceptance of danger and imminent injury during horse interactions. This may explain why some respondents de-emphasised or ‘talked-down’ the importance of safety-first principles. In this paper we predominantly reported quantitative findings of respondents self-reported safety behaviours, general and horse-related risk perceptions despite injury or illness. We discussed the benefits of improved safety-first principles like training, risk assessments, rider-horse match with enriched safety communications to enhance risk-mitigation during human–horse interactions.

scholarly journals PENGARUH KUALITAS PELAYANAN TERHADAP PERSEPSI NILAI NASABAH YANG DIMEDIASI OLEH PERSEPSI RISIKO STUDI PADA NASABAH LPD PERERENAN KABUPATEN BADUNG

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (5) ◽  
pp. 2652
Author(s):  
Ida bagus Surya Wijaya ◽  
Kastawan Mandala
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Service ◽  
Risk Perception ◽  
Service Quality ◽  
Perceived Risk ◽  
Risk Perceptions ◽  
Customer Value ◽  
Added Value ◽  
Perceptions Of Risk ◽  
Analysis Technique

The risks faced by customers when using the services of LPD, with attention to and maintain the quality of the company provided to customers will be added value to the LPD. The purpose of this study to determine the effect of service quality on the perception of customer value mediated by risk perception. This research was conducted at LPD Pererenan Kabupaten Badung. The sample used is 100 customers. The technique of this research is purposive sampling and analysis technique used is path analysis technique. Quality of service has a positive and significant impact on the perception of value. Perceptions of risk have a negative and significant impact on the perception of value, which means that when perceived risk perceptions of customers when using LPD services are high, the perception of customer value on LPD is low. Service quality has a negative and significant impact on risk perception. Perceptions of risk mediate the effect of service quality on the perception of customer value positively and significantly, it proves when the quality of service and perception of customer value is high then customer risk perceptions aat using LPD services low. A good LPD business should be able to maintain the quality of service provided to its customers, in terms of service. LPDs should be able to prioritize the interests of LPD customers in financial services LPD, able to establish good service quality and perception of good customer value.   Keywords: service quality, customer perception, risk perception

scholarly journals The tenacity of trust in petrochemical communities: Reckoning with risk on the Fawley Waterside (1997–2019)

2021 ◽  
pp. 251484862110453
Author(s):  
David Brown ◽  
Alice Mah ◽  
Gordon Walker
Keyword(s):  
Risk Perception ◽  
Risk Perceptions ◽  
Social Trust ◽  
Oil Refinery ◽  
Toxic Exposure ◽  
Perceptions Of Risk ◽  
Individual Interviews ◽  
Documentary Analysis ◽  
Local Risk ◽  
Over Time

Around the world, people living close to polluting industries have different perceptions of the risks of toxic exposure, ranging from anger to acceptance to denial. We draw attention to a case with relatively high levels of social trust, but also relatively high levels of risk perception: the communities living adjacent to the Fawley (UK) oil refinery and petrochemical complex, a site that has been operated by Esso since the early 1950s. Our findings are based on a novel comparative analysis of two qualitative studies of local risk perceptions in Fawley conducted more than two decades apart in 1997 and 2019, incorporating focus group and individual interviews with residents, alongside documentary analysis and stakeholder interviews. Perceptions of risk and trust in the local polluting industry have fluctuated over the years, with unease never far from the surface as industrial employment has slowly contracted. Yet overall, the picture in 2019 was not too dissimilar from that in 1997: while community–industry relations were strained amidst periodic risk incidents and a sense of decline, a cautious sense of trust in the polluting enterprise had endured, based on a delicate balance of heritage, risk, and recognition. We draw attention to the residents’ careful reckoning with risks over time and the tenacity of social trust as an act of negotiation that took risk into account but also included other important factors such as recognition and reciprocity. Local risk perceptions in Fawley are closely bound up with the residents’ shared industrial heritage and enduring perceptions of Esso as a ‘good neighbour’. Our longitudinal analysis allowed us to reflect on changes over time in Fawley, providing greater temporal depth to the risk perception literature.

Dismissing “Don’t Know” Responses to Perceived Risk Survey Items Threatens the Validity of Theoretical and Empirical Behavior-Change Research

2021 ◽  
pp. 174569162110178
Author(s):  
Erika A. Waters ◽  
Marc T. Kiviniemi ◽  
Jennifer L. Hay ◽  
Heather Orom
Keyword(s):  
Risk Perception ◽  
Behavior Change ◽  
Perceived Risk ◽  
Risk Perceptions ◽  
Targeted Intervention ◽  
Perceptions Of Risk ◽  
Empirical Risk ◽  
Volitional Behavior ◽  
Don't Know Responses ◽  
The U.S

Since the middle of the 20th century, perceptions of risk have been critical to understanding engagement in volitional behavior change. However, theoretical and empirical risk perception research seldom considers the possibility that risk perceptions do not simply exist: They must be formed. Thus, some people may not have formulated a perception of risk for a hazard at the time a researcher asks them, or they may not be confident in the extent to which their perception matches reality. We describe a decade-long research program that investigates the possibility that some people may genuinely not know their risk of even well-publicized hazards. We demonstrate that indications of not knowing (i.e., “don’t know” responses) are prevalent in the U.S. population, are systematically more likely to occur among marginalized sociodemographic groups, and are associated with less engagement in protective health behaviors. “Don’t know” responses are likely indications of genuinely limited knowledge and therefore may indicate populations in need of targeted intervention. This body of research suggests that not allowing participants to indicate their uncertainty may threaten the validity and generalizability of behavior-change research. We provide concrete recommendations for scientists to allow participants to express uncertainty and to analyze the resulting data.

The Role of Arrest Risk Perception Formation in the Association Between Psychopathy and Aggressive Offending

2021 ◽  
pp. 154120402110299
Author(s):  
Sultan Altikrit ◽  
Joseph L. Nedelec ◽  
Ian Silver
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Risk Perception ◽  
Personality Traits ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Risk Perceptions ◽  
Juvenile Justice System ◽  
Developmental Model ◽  
Perceptions Of Risk ◽  
Aggressive Offending

Research on the role of risk perception as a mechanism linking personality traits and behavioral outcomes is limited. The current study assessed a developmental model of the influence of psychopathic traits (PPTs) on the between- and within-individual variation in perceptions of risk and aggressive offending. Multivariate latent growth curve models were used to estimate the role of risk perceptions in the association between PPTs and aggressive offending in a sample of 1,354 adjudicated youths. The results indicated that PPTs influenced between-individual differences in perceptions of risk (β = −.312) and aggressive offending (β = .256), although the effects on within-individual differences suggested some attenuation over time. Additionally, higher PPT scores exhibited an indirect influence on increased aggressive offending through reduced perceptions of risk (β = .049). Implications from this line of research support calls for a developmentally informed juvenile justice system that considers latent personality traits and their long-term effects. Broader implications support individualized rehabilitative programming and tailored responses to offending over the blanket deterrence approach that dominates the current landscape of the American criminal justice system.

scholarly journals How Risk Perceptions, Not Evidence, Have Driven Harmful Policies on COVID-19

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 236-239 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sweta CHAKRABORTY
Keyword(s):  
Risk Perception ◽  
Vulnerable Populations ◽  
Risk Perceptions ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Base Rate ◽  
Perceptions Of Risk ◽  
Lay Public

COVID-19 hits all of the cognitive triggers for how the lay public misjudges risk. Robust findings from the field of risk perception have identified unique characteristics of a risk that allow for greater attribution of frequency and probability than is likely to be aligned with the base-rate statistics of the risk. COVID-19 embodies these features. It is unfamiliar, invisible, dreaded, potentially endemic, involuntary, disproportionately impacts vulnerable populations such as the elderly and has the potential for widespread catastrophe. When risks with such characteristics emerge, it is imperative for there to be trust between those in governance and communication and the lay public in order to quell public fears. This is not the environment in which COVID-19 has emerged, potentially resulting in even greater perceptions of risk.

scholarly journals Neural Correlates of Attitudes and Risk Perception for Food Technology Topics

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tyler Davis ◽  
Mark LaCour ◽  
Erin Beyer ◽  
Jessica L. Finck ◽  
Markus F. Miller
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Risk Perception ◽  
Resistance To Change ◽  
Neural Correlates ◽  
Consumer Acceptability ◽  
Technological Innovations ◽  
Food Technology ◽  
Perceptions Of Risk ◽  
Subjective Value ◽  
The Brain

AbstractFood technologies provide numerous benefits to society and are extensively vetted for safety. However, many technological innovations still face high levels of skepticism from consumers. To promote development and use of food technologies, it is critical to understand the psychological and neurobiological processes associated with consumer acceptability concerns. The current study uses a neuroscience-based approach to understand consumer attitudes and perceptions of risk associated with food technologies and investigate how such attitudes impact consumer’s processing of information related to food technologies. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to measure brain activation while participants processed infographics related to food technology topics. For technology topics perceived as riskier (antibiotics and hormones), activation was higher in areas of the lateral prefrontal cortex that are associated with decisional uncertainty. In contrast, technology topics that were viewed more favorably (sustainability and animal welfare) tended to activate the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, a region that processes positive affect and subjective value. Moreover, for information about hormones, the lateral PFC activation was associated with individual differences in resistance to change in risk perception. These results reveal how attitudes and risk perception relate to how the brain processes information about food technologies and how people respond to information about such technologies.

Relative Contribution of Likelihood and Severity of Injury to Risk Perceptions

1992 ◽  
Vol 36 (13) ◽  
pp. 1014-1018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen L. Young ◽  
Michael S. Wogalter ◽  
John W. Brelsford
Keyword(s):  
Risk Perception ◽  
Perceived Risk ◽  
Risk Perceptions ◽  
Consumer Products ◽  
Perceptions Of Risk ◽  
Relative Contribution ◽  
Severity Of Injury ◽  
Primary Determinant ◽  
People’S Perceptions

The degree of caution that people are willing to take for a given product is largely determined by their perceptions of the risk associated with that product. Research suggests that risk perceptions are determined by the objective likelihood or probability of encountering potential hazards (Slovic, Fischhoff, and Lichtenstein, 1979). However, there is also research suggesting that objective likelihood plays little or no role in determining risk perceptions. Rather, risk is determined by the subjective dimension of the hazard or in other words, the severity of injury (Wogalter, Desaulniers and Brelsford, 1986, 1987). The present research examined aspects of these two studies in an attempt to reconcile the observed differences. Subjects evaluated either the Wogalter et al. (1986, 1987) products or the Slovic et al. (1979) items on eight rating questions. Results demonstrated that severity of injury was the foremost predictor of perceived risk for the Wogalter products, but that likelihood of injury was primarily responsible for ratings of risk for the Slovic items. The two lists differed substantially on all the dimensions evaluated, suggesting that the content of the lists is responsible for the contrary findings. In a second study, subjects rated another set of generic consumer products. These ratings showed a pattern of results similar to the Wogalter products. Overall, this research: (a) explains the basis for conflicting results in the risk perception literature, and (b) demonstrates that severity of injury, and not likelihood of injury, is the primary determinant of people's perceptions of risk for common consumer products.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document