Mitigating Public Concerns About Recycled Drinking Water: Leveraging the Power of Voting and Communication

Kecinski, Maik; Messer, Kent D.

doi:10.1029/2017wr022290

Cited by 16 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 67 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…This suggests that if WHIN is not made in Wuhan, consumers who do not avert Wuhan regain their willingness to purchase WHIN, but the information treatment is not effective for those predetermined to avert healthy Wuhan people, which reinforces the fact that stigma is irrational. This is also consistent with the stigma literature that stigma is caused more by emotions than by rationality (Ito & Kuriyama, 2017; Kanter et al, 2009; Kecinsk et al, 2018; Kecinsk & Messer, 2018; Shimokawa et al, 2018).…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 86%

Food consumption and stigmatization under COVID‐19: Evidence from Chinese consumers’ aversion to Wuhan hot instant noodles

Hao

Wang

2021

Agribusiness

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Pandemics often lead to food stigma, and the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) pandemic provides some evidence to this belief. Mitigating food stigma during the pandemic is vital for consumption replenishment and economic recovery and helping the stigmatized people. We conduct an empirical study to examine consumer behaviors using Wuhan hot instant noodles (WHINs), a packaged version of the famous Chinese dish reganmian, as a case study. Although WHIN's name and origin signify Wuhan, the epicenter of the pandemic, the noodles could be actually produced elsewhere, but since the COVID‐19 outbreak, WHIN has been avoided. On the basis of our results, we find that providing scientific information about the irrelevance between WHIN and the coronavirus is not effective in changing the minds of people with stigma. Moreover, stigma is more emotional than rational, especially among people with a lower self‐identified social class and poor psychological state. Therefore, psychological intervention programs may be warranted during pandemics to avoid potential stigmatization. The findings of this study could help to resolve the stigma affecting regional agriculture and the food economy. [EconLit citations: Q11, Q13].

show abstract

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 86%

Food consumption and stigmatization under COVID‐19: Evidence from Chinese consumers’ aversion to Wuhan hot instant noodles

Hao

Wang

2021

Agribusiness

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Disgust associated with reclaimed water has received considerable attention in the economic and policy literature (Po et al, 2003;Alhumoud et al, 2003;Menegaki et al, 2007;Lease et al, 2014;Kecinski and Messer, 2018a). Studies have argued that due to disgust reclaimed water may be most acceptable for uses that involve little human contact with the water itself, such as irrigating parks and lawns and washing clothes, and least acceptable when the water is used for drinking, cooking, and irrigating fresh produce (Po et al, 2005;Toze, 2006;Hurlimann, 2007;Dolnicar and Schäfer, 2009;Dolnicar and Hurlimann, 2010;Rock et al, 2012;Lease et al, 2014;Kecinski et al, 2016;Hurlimann andDolnicar, 2016, Hui andCain, 2017;Savchenko et al, 2018a).…”

Section: Drivers Of Consumer Acceptance or Rejection Of Foods Producementioning

confidence: 99%

Reclaimed water and food production: Cautionary tales from consumer research

Savchenko

Kecinski

et al. 2019

Environmental Research

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Reclaimed water has been identified as a viable and cost-effective solution to water shortages impacting agricultural production. However, lack of consumer acceptance for foods irrigated with reclaimed water remains one of the greatest hurdles for widespread farm-level adoption. Using survey data from 540 adults in the mid-Atlantic region of the U.S., this paper examines consumer preferences for six sources of reclaimed irrigation water and identifies statistically significant relationships between consumers' demographic characteristics and their preferences for each type of reclaimed water. Key findings suggest that consumers prefer rain water to all other sources of reclaimed water. Women are less likely than men to prefer reclaimed irrigation water sources and are particularly concerned about the use of black and brackish water. Consumers who had heard about reclaimed water before are more likely to accept its use. Drawing on evidence from survey and experimental research, this paper also identifies disgust, neophobia and health concerns as the key issues that lead consumers to accept or reject foods produced with reclaimed water. Finally, we identify avenues for future research into public acceptance of reclaimed water based on our analysis and evidence from prior research.

show abstract

“…Consumer stigma has been documented for food produced using pesticides, growth hormones, genetically modified organisms, and recycled water (Scott, Inbar, and Rozin 2016; Messer, Costanigro, and Kaiser 2017). Once developed, it is difficult to reduce stigmatization (Kecinski et al 2016; Kecinski and Messer 2018), and providing information from scientific organizations about safety does not necessarily sway wary consumers (McFadden and Lusk 2015).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

COVID‐19 Induced Stigma in U.S. Consumers: Evidence and Implications

McFadden¹,

Malone

Kecinski³

et al. 2021

American J Agri Economics

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Though both the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration claim that there is no evidence that handling and consuming food causes COVID‐19, many consumers may not be convinced. To assess concerns about potential COVID‐19 transmission from food, we surveyed more than 3,000 consumers in May, June, and July of 2020 using a nationally representative panel. Despite evidence to the contrary, consumers express multiple concerns about their food and how and where it is served and transmission of the virus. Between concerns about transmission of COVID‐19 while shopping for food versus consuming food, more consumers were concerned about exposure while shopping; however, the number of consumers concerned about transmission from consuming food steadily increased over the months of data collection. We also found that Black respondents were more concerned about COVID‐19 transmission from certain staple foods, suggesting that COVID‐19 could intensify standing racial inequities related to nutrition and health. Overall, these findings suggest that we may be observing the early stages of evolving food stigmas that could persist in the future and reshape how U.S. consumers shop for food and the foods they consume.

show abstract

Mitigating Public Concerns About Recycled Drinking Water: Leveraging the Power of Voting and Communication

Cited by 16 publications

References 67 publications

Food consumption and stigmatization under COVID‐19: Evidence from Chinese consumers’ aversion to Wuhan hot instant noodles

Food consumption and stigmatization under COVID‐19: Evidence from Chinese consumers’ aversion to Wuhan hot instant noodles

Reclaimed water and food production: Cautionary tales from consumer research

COVID‐19 Induced Stigma in U.S. Consumers: Evidence and Implications

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About