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Generic medicine (GM), which is an alternative drug product for branded medicine (BM), is used less in Japan than in other OECD countries. Therefore, we investigate why the medical consumers of Japan avoid the use of GMs even though the efficacy and safety of the medicines have already been proven. We theorize that effectiveness or risk of GMs are related to the consumer attitude toward GMs is affected by the behavioral approach/activation system (BAS) which promotes actions to reach the desired state, and the behavioral inhibition system (BIS) which suppresses behaviors to avoid negative outcomes. To see which of the BAS and BIS dimensions are related to GM usage, we surveyed 374 Japanese consumers and found that Quality, Efficacy, Safety, & Cost-effectiveness with the BAS, and Functional Risk, Financial Risk, Social Risk, Physical Risk, Psychological Risk, & Time Risk with the BIS had a significant effect on consumer attitude to GMs. These results are important in that they 1), confirm the role of BAS/BIS in attitudes to GMs, 2), provide guidelines when marketing GMs, 3), help governments promote the use of GMs as a cost-saving measure, and 4), guide future surveys regarding consumer attitudes to GMs.

Purpose: This study investigates which message appeals more effectively induce consumers' ethical consumption by using combinations of self- or other-benefit appeals with future or present benefits and determines whether priming personal norms or social norms influences the effect. Design/methodology/approach: To test the theoretically derived priori hypotheses concerning the role of benefit, temporal distance, norms, and ethical consumption message, this research presented three experiments (two-Way ANOVA). The first test showed no difference in ethical consumption between the self- and other-benefit appeal types. The second experiment tested the hypothesis that self-benefit and other-benefit appeals are more effective for present and future benefits, respectively. The final experiment assessed whether self-benefit and other-benefit appeals primed with personal and social norms, respectively, would be more effective. Findings: Our results suggest that the appeal approach should be combined with either social or personal norms when the benefit is received to create more effective marketing messages when advertising ethical goods. Research limitations/implications: Owing to the growing trend in ethical consumption, we are becoming more concerned about animal welfare and seeking ethical meat options. Originality/value: This study promotes environmental sustainability, demonstrating that Method Products manufactures goods utilizing eco-friendly materials.

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