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Journal Articles Review of Agricultural Economics Year : 2009

Does health information matter for modifying consumption? A field experiment measuring the impact of risk information on fish consumption

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted in France to evaluate the impact of health information on fish consumption. A warning revealed the risks of methyl mercury contamination in fish and gave consumption recommendations. A difference-in-differences estimation shows that this warning led to a statistically significant but relatively weak decrease in fish consumption. Consumption of the most contaminated fish did not decrease despite advice to avoid consumption of these fish. Accompanying questionnaires show that consumers imperfectly recall the fish species quoted in the warning. The results suggest a relatively poor efficacy of a complex health message, despite its use by several national health agencies.
Les résultats d’une expérimentation de terrain montrent les changements de comportements d’achat et de consommation faisant suite à la révélation d’information sur les risques liés aux substances toxiques (mercure) dans le poisson. Cet article montre l'impact statistiquement significatif d'une telle information sur l’achat et la consommation de poisson. L’effet sur la consommation est cependant modeste et les espèces de poisson concernées par la contamination et mentionnées dans le message ne sont que partiellement et imparfaitement mémorisées.

Dates and versions

hal-01172901 , version 1 (07-07-2015)

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Jutta Roosen, Stephan Marette, Sandrine Blanchemanche, Philippe Verger. Does health information matter for modifying consumption? A field experiment measuring the impact of risk information on fish consumption. Review of Agricultural Economics, 2009, 31 (1), pp.2-20. ⟨10.1111/j.1467-9353.2008.01423.x⟩. ⟨hal-01172901⟩
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