Consumer reactions to risk information on bovine spongiform encephalopathy in Japan

To investigate the impact of information on foodborne disease on consumers, we quantified consumers' anxiety, purchasing behaviors, and willingness-to-pay (WTP) in response to the reading of newspaper articles published in 2001 that documented the first cow in Japan to be infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE).

An online questionnaire survey of 993 females aged 20-59 years was conducted in 2007. The participants were randomly selected from the general population via the Internet and were divided into three groups. Each group was assigned a different number of BSE-related articles to read, namely, two, four, and six articles, respectively. Each participant described her personal level of anxiety, underlying reasons for her anxiety, and changes in purchasing behavior after reading the articles. The respondents who wanted to buy guaranteed-safe beef were asked to state their maximal WTP.

The level of anxiety was significantly lower and distrust of the relevant administration significantly greater in the group asked to read six articles than in the other groups. The WTP value for guaranteed beef was approximately 1.3-fold higher than the regular purchase price, with significant differences between groups. In the 'six-article' group, the ratio between WTP and the regular purchase price was significantly less than that in the 'four-article' group.

These findings suggest that the anxiety of consumers can be reduced if they receive an appropriate amount of published information. WTP may be linked to the contents of the articles.