I am the target! Effects of food safety risk perception on consumer behavior: the moderation role of prototype perception and visual attention to safety labels

I am the target! Effects of food safety risk perception on consumer behavior: the moderation role of prototype perception and visual attention to safety labels

Nardi, Vinicius Antonio Machado

URI: http://www.repositorio.jesuita.org.br/handle/UNISINOS/9089

Fecha: 2019-12-17

xmlui.dri2xhtml.METS-1.0.item-contributorAdvisor: Ladeira, Wagner Junior

Resumen:

How do food safety risk perception (FSRP) influence consumer behavior (CB)? In four experimental studies, combining an online experimental survey and eye-tracking, this research extends prior research in demonstrating that FSRP causes adverse effects on the intention to buy food and in the decision-making process - especially to medium-high specific food products risk perception (in study 1). Additionally, this research considers the visual attention theory (in study 2) and the prototype-willingness model (in study 3) to show that consumers who take high (vs. low) attention to safety labels and have a positive (vs. negative) perception of foodborne disease patients will change their decision-making process and reduce the adverse effects of FSRP on CB, propositions supported in study 4. This study contributes to the literature that investigates the food choice by demonstrating that different food products have different levels of risk perception – and this factor is an essential moderator in the negative effect of FSRP on CB. Also, the research showing the crucial role of safety labels to mitigate the negative impact of FSRP on CB in specific high-risk foods – and the inexistence of this effect on medium/low-risk foods. Finally, the study broadens the scope of the contribution of the prototype-willingness model to the food choice field and reveals a surprising result: individuals with a high perception of similarity with foodborne illness patients significantly increase their visual attention during the choice – and almost triple the visual attention to safety labels. Together, the results suggest that managers may be able to reduce the negative impact of FSRP by (i) reinforce bottom-up factors to improve the visual attention to safety labels and (ii) nudge the consumer to enhance the positive prototype perception about foodborne disease patients - increasing their perception of prototype similarity.

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