Consumer Behavior, Institute for Environmental Decisions, ETH Zurich, Universitaetstrasse 22, 8092, Zurich, Switzerland.
Consumer Behavior, Institute for Environmental Decisions, ETH Zurich, Universitaetstrasse 22, 8092, Zurich, Switzerland.
Appl Ergon. 2022 Apr;100:103676. doi: 10.1016/j.apergo.2021.103676. Epub 2022 Jan 10.
Chemical household products are found in most households. If consumers are to safely handle such products, they need to be aware of the risks posed by the particular product they are using. Although most countries require that chemical household products feature warning labels (e.g. the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals), consumers appear to also use other cues to determine the risks associated with a specific product. Thus, we studied the influence of packaging on consumers' risk perception of chemical household products. More specifically, we examined the effect of the colour of the packaging (black or pink packaging versus the original packaging) as well as the presence of images of flowers or food-imitating elements on the packaging. Significant differences with regard to consumer's risk perception were found in terms of all four studied manipulations. Therefore, we conclude that consumers' risk perception can be influenced by the packaging design. In particular, if elements that lower consumer's risk perception (e.g. featuring flowers on the label and food-imitating elements on the packaging) are omitted from the packaging, consumers might be able to more accurately judge the risks associated with a product and so take appropriate safety precautions.
化学日用品在大多数家庭中都能找到。如果消费者要安全地使用这些产品，他们需要了解他们正在使用的特定产品所带来的风险。尽管大多数国家都要求化学日用品具有警告标签（例如，全球化学品统一分类和标签制度），但消费者似乎也会使用其他线索来确定特定产品的相关风险。因此，我们研究了包装对消费者对化学日用品风险感知的影响。更具体地说，我们研究了包装颜色（黑色或粉色包装与原始包装相比）以及包装上是否有花朵或仿食品元素图像对消费者风险感知的影响。在所有四种研究操作中，都发现了消费者风险感知的显著差异。因此，我们得出结论，包装设计可以影响消费者的风险感知。特别是，如果包装上省略了降低消费者风险感知的元素（例如，标签上有花朵，包装上有仿食品元素），消费者可能能够更准确地判断产品所带来的风险，从而采取适当的安全措施。
