Warning Messages: Will the Consumer Bother to Look?

Abstract

One way to encourage the safe use of potentially hazardous household products is to provide a warning message on the label. But will the consumer bother to look at the message? In Experiment 1 subjects were asked to imagine themselves purchasing a number of household products. They then rated the products on skin-contact hazard, inhalation hazard, swallowing hazard and overall hazard. They also rated the likelihood that they would look for a warning and how familiar they were with the product. In Experiment 2 more detailed information about familiarity with products was collected along with hazard ratings. Together the results of the two experiments indicate that subjects do discriminate products on overall hazard. They also rate skin contact hazard lowest, inhalation hazard intermediate and swallowing hazard highest. The more hazardous they perceive a product, the more likely they will look for a warning. Further, females are more likely to look for warnings than males. Also, perceived hazard varies inversely with familiarity. The principal conclusion is that factors such as perceived hazard, familiarity and sex influence the consumer's decision to look for a warning message on the labels of potentially hazardous household products.