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Risk Communication and Foodborne Illness: Message Sponsorship and Attempts to Stimulate Perceptions of Risk

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  • Joye Gordon

Abstract

Foodborne illness represents a serious health hazard in the United States. Since foodborne illness can often be prevented by an individual's behavior, messages aimed at promoting safe food‐handling behaviors should be a major tool to reduce the incidence of foodborne illness. This article argues that to achieve adoption of safe food‐handling practices in the home, food‐safety messages should both stimulate risk perceptions and promote self‐efficacy, feelings that one can successfully enact recommended behaviors. A content analysis of nationally distributed food‐safety messages questioned if messages incorporated these features. Since food‐safety communicators operate in complex environments with multiple and sometimes competing objectives, this study also questioned if sponsorship of foodborne illness prevention messages was related to the amount of content designed to alter risk perceptions associated with foodborne illness. Results of the quantitative content analysis found that copywriters generally included content designed to stimulate risk perception about foodborne illness but virtually ignored self‐efficacy needs of the audience. A marked difference in tendencies to stimulate risk perceptions was found based on sponsorship. Both in volume and proportion, results show that governmentally sponsored messages more aggressively attempted to heighten risk perceptions associated with foodborne illness than did messages sponsored by privately funded communicators.

Suggested Citation

  • Joye Gordon, 2003. "Risk Communication and Foodborne Illness: Message Sponsorship and Attempts to Stimulate Perceptions of Risk," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 23(6), pages 1287-1296, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:wly:riskan:v:23:y:2003:i:6:p:1287-1296
    DOI: 10.1111/j.0272-4332.2003.00401.x
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Chris Fife‐Schaw & Gene Rowe, 1996. "Public Perceptions of Everyday Food Hazards: A Psychometric Study," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 16(4), pages 487-500, August.
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    1. Arnout R. H. Fischer & Lynn J. Frewer & Maarten J. Nauta, 2006. "Toward Improving Food Safety in the Domestic Environment: A Multi‐Item Rasch Scale for the Measurement of the Safety Efficacy of Domestic Food‐Handling Practices," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 26(5), pages 1323-1338, October.
    2. Dominic Mancini & Gregmar I. Galinato, 2008. "Was It Something I Ate? Implementation of the FDA Seafood HACCP Program," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 90(1), pages 28-41.
    3. Tianjun Feng & L. Robin Keller & Ping Wu & Yifan Xu, 2014. "An Empirical Study of the Toxic Capsule Crisis in China: Risk Perceptions and Behavioral Responses," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 34(4), pages 698-710, April.
    4. Marcel Kornelis & Janneke De Jonge & Lynn Frewer & Hans Dagevos, 2007. "Consumer Selection of Food‐Safety Information Sources," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(2), pages 327-335, April.

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