Antimicrobial-resistant bacteria in food: which behaviour change strategies increase consumers’ risk awareness and preventive food-handling behaviour?

Abstract

Objectives: We aimed to identify the potential of behaviour change strategies to effectively increase consumers' risk awareness, behavioural intention, and preventive food-handling behaviour to reduce the transmission risk of antimicrobialresistant bacteria through food. The applied strategies targeted knowledge and determinants of the health action process approach (HAPA). We tested techniques that are expected to increase knowledge, risk perception, and positive outcome expectancy (Study 1) as well as those that increase planning and coping self-efficacy (Study 2) in two randomised control trials. Methods: In Study 1 (N = 328), a 2 × 2 between-subject design was employed to investigate the effects of an educational video about the spread of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria and a personalised risk message on knowledge, risk perception, outcome expectancy and consequently on intention regarding safe food-handling behaviour. In Study 2 (N = 129), we used a 2 × 2 design to examine to what extent goal setting (implemented vs. not implemented) and time (pre-vs. post-test) affected planning, coping self-efficacy, and preventive food-handling behaviour. Results: In Study 1, we found that the video increased knowledge and the perceived susceptibility of risk compared to the control video. We found no increase on the dependent variables after receiving the personalised risk message. In Study 2, goal setting significantly improved safe food-handling behaviour compared to the control condition. Moreover, participants in the goal-setting condition showed more planning of safe food-handling measures and of dealing with emerging barriers than participants in the control condition. Conclusions: These findings demonstrate that the delivery of an educational video on the spread of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria is a useful strategy to increase risk awareness, whereas goal setting presents a promising approach to improve foodhandling behaviour. Following the HAPA, an additional effective behaviour change technique is required that decreases negative outcome expectancies and improves coping self-efficacy, thereby further improving intention and behaviour.

Tailoring Can Improve Consumers’ Hygienic Food-Handling Behavior to Reduce the Transmission Risk of Antimicrobial-Resistant Bacteria through Food

“…Nevertheless, the latter increased more among participants in the tailored condition than the control condition regardless of the individual’s HAPA phase. As shown in previous research, this might be due to the educational video provided in the tailored and generic intervention at T1 [ 38 ]. The personalized BCT risk message had no additional effect on risk perception; otherwise, risk perception should have increased among nonintenders in the tailored condition compared to the participants without the risk message.…”

“…Participants in the generic intervention condition received an educational video at T1 about food as an AMR exposure source that was proven to increase AMR knowledge and risk perception [ 38 ]. It included risk information and the four core food safety practices: ‘clean, chill, cook and separate’ [ 1 ].…”

“…Setting measures was accompanied with instructions on how to perform hygienic practices to trigger beliefs about capabilities and to avoid repression of health concerns, which is a tactic to cope with a health threat (see Supplementary Materials S3 ) [ 43 , 44 ]. In a previous study, goal setting successfully increased the planning and execution of hygienic food handling that reduces the transmission risk of AMR [ 38 ]. Goal setting also leads to an increase in motivation, which in turn can increase behavior [ 45 ].…”

Understanding barriers to consumers to stop washing raw poultry through in-depth interviews

“…Targeting awareness of the contaminants on raw poultry and ways that transmission may occur in the kitchen may improve the success of targeted messaging. Targeted educational videos on the spread of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria have been a useful strategy to increase risk awareness and improve food-handling behaviors in consumers (Freivogel and Visschers, 2021).…”

A Closer Look on Health Risk Attitude and Its Relationship towards Stress-Related Behaviour among Youth

“…This may occur when youth have little understanding of the seriousness of depression. This may also occur if the respondent relies solely on personal experiences and thus underestimates the prevalence and severity of the risk (Freivogel & Visschers, 2021). Based on the findings of the current study, it is recommended that future studies employ a broader range of respondents and examine additional factors that contribute to influencing depression prevention behaviour in order to improve their accuracy.…”