Consumer perceptions of risk, benefit and risk management - Emerging themes in European research

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Consumer perceptions of risk, benefit and risk
management - Emerging themes in European research

• Dr Lynn Frewer
• Professor, Food Safety and Consumer Behaviour

Lynn.Frewer_at_wur.nl www.mcb.wur.nl/UK/Staff/Faculty
/Frewer
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Consumer perceptions of risk, benefit,
uncertainty and cost Contextualizing consumer
attitudes towards emerging (and converging)
technologies
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Emerging societal issues in the Agri-food sector

• Consumer Health
• Food Safety
• Food Quality
• Sustainability

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Emerging issues in the agri-food sector

• Consumer health
• Westernised countries face a pandemic
• of obesity
• Healthy foods
• Optimal taste
• Functional foods and ingredients
• Food Safety
• Consumers demand safe foods
• Smart packaging
• Microbial contamination
• Pathogen detection
• Optimal product quality (ripeness)?

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Emerging societal issues in the agri-food sector

• Tracking and tracing
• Consumers want improved choice
• Globalisation results in lengthening food chains
• Introduction of allergens
• Production processes (GMOs, organic production)
• Food quality (country of origin)
• Emerging food risks
• Sustainability
• Increasingly important societal issue
• Efficient production
• Reduced consumer wastage
• Environmental protection

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Risk (benefit) assessment and emerging societal
concerns

• Human health?
• Impact on the environment?
• Ethical concerns (integrity of nature)?
• Trust in risk analysis?
• Consumer choice

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The key questions that need to be asked

• What is driving consumer perceptions of risk and
  benefit?
• Who trusts whom to inform and regulate?
• How does this relate to consumer confidence in
  the food chain and associated science base?
• Are there cross-cultural, inter- and intra-
  individual differences in perceptions and
  information needs?
• How do other consumer attitudes (ethics, wider
  value systems) relate to perceptions of risk and
  benefit?
• How do the public react to information about
  risk/benefit uncertainty?
• How do we understand risk/benefit variability
  across different population groups
• What does this mean for consumer decision-making
  about health, wellbeing, and choice?

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Risk Analysis Framework improving trust through
increased transparency?
Risk Management
Risk Assessment

(after WHO,1998)
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Increased transparency raises more communication
needs?


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Consumer risk perception

• The psychology of risk perception drives public
  risk attitudes
• An involuntary risk over which people have no
  control is more threatening than one people
  choose to take
• Potentially catastrophic risks concern people
  most
• Unnatural (technological) risks are more
  threatening than natural ones

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What went wrong with commercialisation of
genetically modified foods? Are there
implications for other emerging technologies?

• Consumer values such as concern about the
  integrity of nature, and trust in the regulatory
  system were an important part of societal and
  consumer acceptance
• Developing communication about substantial
  equivalence did not address consumer concerns
• Control over consumption of GM foods was
  important to European consumers, necessitating
  the labelling of GM foods and implementation of
  effective traceability systems
• The negative public reaction to GM foods was less
  to do with risk, and more to do with consumer
  choice and provision of relevant information
• Marketing issue, not an ideological issue (who
  wants what products and why?)
• Opaque risk analysis systems and decision-making
  practices were not helpful in reassuring the
  public
• The absence of 1st generation products with
  tangible and desirable consumer benefits

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Emerging food technologies

• Consumers make trade-offs between risk, benefit
  and cost (including ethical costs)
• Decisions are made on a case-by-case basis
  related to specific perceptions of risk and
  benefit
• New technologies consumer attitudes not
  starting from zero

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A Risk-benefit Analysis Framework improving
trust through increased transparency?


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Trust in regulatory institutions and risk-benefit
governance

• People may not always have a view regarding
  different agri-food technology applications or
  food safety issues
• Trust in regulatory institutions is important,
  particularly in the area of potentially
  controversial applications of emerging
  technologies

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Building societal trust in food risk management
What needs to be communicated?
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Structural model Food risk management quality
Proactive
Opaque
FRM quality
Sceptical
Trust in honesty
Trust in expertise
(?2(2420)8429, plt0.01 RMSEA0.07).
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GM Apple
Female0, Male1 Non-patient0, Patient1
Gender
-0.13
Rejection Factors
0.23
-0.34
Environ- mental concerns
Acceptance implementation Genetic Modification
R2 0.08
r - 0.60
Health concerns
Benefits
0.50
R2 0.57
Allergic patient
Schenck, Fischer and Frewer submitted)
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GM Birch
Female0, Male1 Non-patient0, Patient1
Gender
-0.16
Rejection Factors
Environ- mental concerns
0.17
-0.28
R2 0.06
Acceptance implementation Genetic Modification
r - 0.57
Health concerns
Benefits
0.11
R2 0.58
0.54
Allergic patient
0.18
R2 0.05
0.11
Schenck, Fischer and Frewer submitted)
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Risks and Benefits

• Perceptions of what constitutes a benefit
  important
• Risk judgements based on
• Severity
• Availability
• Consequences
• Individual differences in health status influence
  peoples decisions

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Emerging food technologies summary

• Consumers make trade-offs between risk, benefit
  and cost (including ethical costs)
• Decisions are made on a case-by-case basis
  related to specific perceptions of risk and
  benefit
• New technologies consumer attitudes not
  starting from zero

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Risk Analysis framework
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Conclusions Consumer acceptance of agrifood
nanotechnology

• Emphasis on risk-benefit analysis
• assessment (health, environment , socio-economic
  and ethical impact)
• Management (decision-making, stakeholder and
  citizen priorities)
• Communication
• Evaluation of consumer perceptions of benefit and
  risk
• Risk-benefit tradeoffs
• Individual difference in consumer decision-making
  
• Bring together to develop best practice in
  risk-benefit communication

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Thank you!Any Questions?