Risk perception and risk avoidance: The role of cultural identity and personal relevance

With allegations of food contamination rapidly increasing, people face numerous consumption decisions regarding food safety. This paper examines the roles of cultural similarity and personal relevance in consumers' perceptions of the risk of food-borne contamination and their intentions to reduce consumption of this food. We demonstrate that consumers are more concerned by the threat of a likely food-borne illness if the contamination occurred in a culturally similar location, regardless of physical or geographical proximity to the consumer. However, when the event is highly personally relevant, consumers feel threatened, which leads to message denial and a reversal of the facilitating effects of cultural similarity.