Consumer Behavior, Institute for Environmental Decisions (IED), ETH Zurich , Zurich, Switzerland.
Global Product Stewardship, Research and Development, Singapore Innovation Center, Procter & Gamble (P&G) International Operations , Singapore.
J Toxicol Environ Health A. 2021 Mar 4;84(5):183-195. doi: 10.1080/15287394.2020.1851834. Epub 2020 Dec 8.
Many consumer products are manufactured or synthesized from chemicals. However, consumers may be hesitant to purchase consumer products that are perceived as synthetic or derived with chemical substances. Prior studies suggested a preference for chemicals of natural origin and an irrational fear of synthetic chemicals, a phenomenon that is referred to as chemophobia. The aim of this study was two-fold as follows: to (1) investigate the levels of knowledge with respect to toxicological principles, chemophobia, and trust in stakeholders in South Korea and (2) experimentally test the effect of information provision on acceptance and willingness-to-buy for the specific case of trace chemicals in consumer products. For this purpose, an online survey and experiment was conducted with consumers in South Korea. Data suggested that in South Korea chemophobia correlated with an individual's knowledge regarding toxicological principles. Accordingly, a small intervention providing information on the dose-response mechanism increased consumers' acceptance of the presence of trace chemicals and subsequent willingness to purchase the products in this study. In conclusion, this investigation stresses the importance of educating the public regarding basic principles of toxicology to avoid chemophobia, while simultaneously discussing other factors that need to be taken into account such as attitudes and trust in communicators.
许多消费品是由化学品制造或合成的。然而，消费者可能不愿意购买被认为是合成的或含有化学物质的消费品。先前的研究表明，消费者更喜欢天然来源的化学品，并且对合成化学品有一种非理性的恐惧，这种现象被称为化学恐惧症。本研究旨在实现以下两个目标：（1）调查韩国消费者在毒理学原理、化学恐惧症和对利益相关者信任方面的知识水平；（2）通过实验测试信息提供对消费者对消费品中痕量化学物质的接受程度和购买意愿的影响。为此，在韩国进行了一项在线调查和实验。数据表明，在韩国，化学恐惧症与个人对毒理学原理的了解程度相关。因此，一项提供关于剂量-反应机制信息的小干预措施增加了消费者对痕量化学物质存在的接受程度，并随后增加了他们购买本研究中产品的意愿。总之，本研究强调了教育公众有关毒理学基本原理的重要性，以避免化学恐惧症，同时讨论了需要考虑的其他因素，如态度和对传播者的信任。
