Allocation of Responsibility for Injuries from a “Hidden” Hazard

Abstract

Safety researchers have investigated how people assign blame for injuries sustained during the use of or exposure to consumer products. In this study, we examine attributions made by people given product-use scenarios that describe a girl whose age is manipulated to be from 18 months to 16 years and who suffers serious brain damage after choking on marshmallows made available to her by her mother. Supplementary information intended to be either positive or detrimental to the manufacturer and its safety practices was either present or absent from the scenario. Approximately half of the participants in the positive frame condition also received sample product warnings purportedly developed and used by the manufacturer. In general, participants allocated more responsibility to the girl's parents than to the manufacturer. As predicted, allocation of blame to the girl varied directly with her age. The greater the age of the child, the greater the blame she received. Supplementary information that casts the manufacturer and the manufacturer's practices in a positive light shifted blame away from the manufacturer toward the girl and her parents. Conversely, supplementary information detrimental to the manufacturer shifted blame away from the girl and her parents and toward the manufacturer. The warnings had no measurable effect on allocation of blame. The implications of these results for consumers, legal professionals, and researchers are discussed.