Cross‐Cultural Differences in Risk Perception: A Model‐Based Approach

Abstract

The present study assessed cross-cultural differences in the perception of financial risks. Students at large universities in Hong Kong, Taiwan, the Netherlands, and the U.S., as well as a group of Taiwanese security analysts rated the riskiness of a set of monetary lotteries. Risk judgments differed with nationality, but not with occupation (students vs. security analysts) and were modeled by the Conjoint Expected Risk (CER) model?') Consistent with cultural differences in country uncertainty avoidance,(2) CER model parameters of respondents from the two Western countries differed from those of respondents from the two countries with Chinese cultural roots: The risk judgments of respondents from Hong Kong and Taiwan were more sensitive to the magnitude of potential losses and less mitigated by the probability of positive outcomes.

Differences in the Perceived Influence of Natural Disasters and Travel Risk on International Travel

“…The results are consistent with the findings of the previous literature (e.g. Bontempo et al 1997;Seddighi et al 2001;Fuchs and Reichel 2004;Pizam et al 2004;Mavondo 2006a, 2006b). While Asian tourists perceive a greater influence of tornadoes on international travel than other nationality groups, the US tourists perceive this influence to be relatively low.…”

“…For example, significant differences in travel risk perception were found across various national cultures (Seddighi et al 2001;Fuchs and Reichel 2004;Pizam et al 2004;Movondo 2006a, 2006b). It was found that the risk perception of the Chinese significantly differs from that of Westerners (Bontempo et al 1997). Tourists from low Uncertainty Avoidance (UAI) cultures tend to perceive lower risks than tourists from high UAI cultures (Hofstede and Hofstede 2005).…”

The economic psychology of incentives: An international study of top managers

“…The two items are not, therefore, correlates. Bontempo, Bottom and Weber (1997) have, alternatively, associated uncertainty avoidance with risk aversion, but Hofstede explicitly states that uncertainty avoidance is not the same as risk avoidance (Hofstede, 1981(Hofstede, | 2001. For these reasons, correlations between UAI and the measures employed in the study were not assumed.…”

Consumer Food Safety Risk Perceptions and Attitudes: Impacts on Beef Consumption across Countries

“…Weber et al (1998) conclude that Chinese proverbs endorse more risk taking than American proverbs, reflecting risk taking differences between these cultures. Bontempo et al (1997) determine that Asians (Hong Kong and Taiwan) perceive greater risk than American and Dutch respondents to lotteries having a small probability of large losses. If this translates to food safety perceptions, Asians might perceive greater food safety risk for a food safety hazard that has very small prevalence but potentially serious health consequences than would Americans.…”