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The perception of risk for non-lethal events and its relation to risk-taking behavior
Abstract
A frequently used safety device is the safety sign. Despite its frequent use, it is often found to be ineffective in modifying consumer behavior. Those areas of research that are related to safety sign compliance are described in this dissertation using an information processing model of the consumer. One important area, identified as impacting consumer safety sign compliance, is how the consumer perceives the safety risk associated with the product. Research in the area of risk severity has found that there are at least two underlying risk dimensions used by consumers, with each of these dimensions being composed of several variables. However, research done in the area of risk severity has focused on risk as defined in terms of the number of people that may die from accidents rather than the extent of injuries that a person might experience. While it may be appropriate to apply these research findings to a large-scale project, such as a nuclear power plant, it may not be appropriate to apply these findings to consumer products. This is due to the fact that the most likely injury mode for a consumer product is not death. This dissertation describes a series of four experiments designed to examine those factors that impact consumer perception of risk for consumer products. Experiment 1 found that risk factors obtained when risk is defined as death were the same as when risk was defined as injury. Experiment 2 found that the risk factors obtained for both a broad and narrow class of product were the same. Experiment 3 found that a subject's perception of a product's risk could be modified through manipulation of risk variables. Experiment 4 explored the possibility of using risk perception variables to modify risk taking behavior through the use of product labels that described a product in terms of risk variables. A discussion follows regarding the impact of these findings on the area of risk perception research as well as the applied areas of Marketing and Safety Engineering.
Subject Area
Occupational psychology|Industrial engineering|Marketing
Recommended Citation
Hughes, Stanley Tucker, "The perception of risk for non-lethal events and its relation to risk-taking behavior" (1993). Doctoral Dissertations Available from Proquest. AAI9329628.
https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations/AAI9329628