The Impact of Risk Communication on Consumption and Consumer Well-Being

Ingrid M. Martin and David W. Stewart

Foundations and Trends(R) in Marketing, 2019, vol. 12, issue 3, 167-277

Abstract: In this monograph, we build on the risk communication and the psychology of information processing and decision-making literatures, while extending this work through an explicit discussion of the philosophical foundations of risk communication, regulations, and the implications for communication and policy decisions. In addition, we explore the multidimensional context in which individuals confront risks and make trade-offs with respect to the costs and benefits in specific situations. We discuss various examples of risk-related products and behaviors, which are offered to illustrate the issues that arise when addressing risk in a multidimensional context where scientific information is incomplete and/or ambiguous and there are economic and social costs, as well as benefits, associated with any policy related to communicating and managing risk. Questions remain about how government and policy can respond to the increasing pace of technology change. The regulatory process is, by definition, slow and has difficulty keeping up with the accelerating dynamics of the environment. Are there more responsive market mechanisms that can substitute for government regulation, while still providing protection to individuals? Finally, as society creates “safer” products and processes, there is the potential for triggering more severe risks as a result of the feeling of safety and security.

Keywords: risk communication; risk behavior; risky consumption; consumer well-being (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: M31 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://dx.doi.org/10.1561/1700000051 (application/xml)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:now:fntmkt:1700000051

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Foundations and Trends(R) in Marketing from now publishers
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Lucy Wiseman ().