Detrimental impact of contagious disease cues on consumer preference for anthropomorphic products.
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ABSTRACT: Supplementary information
The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11002-022-09614-x.
SUBMITTER: Ding Y
PROVIDER: S-EPMC8761840 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:While nutrition-sensitive value-chain approaches are strongly advocated, studies on consumer preferences for such interventions are lacking. This study aims to fill this gap by examining a nutrition-sensitive chain labeling scheme, using the Ugandan dairy sector as a case. A survey was conducted among 250 consumers, primarily eliciting perceptions of the importance of a nutrition-sensitive chain label compared to nutrition claims/facts. In addition, a choice-based conjoint experiment was designed with nutrition label, brand, fat content, and price as attributes. Findings show that nutrition-sensitive chain labeling was more positively perceived by consumers than by nutrition claims/facts. Ordered logistic regression analysis indicated that BMI, nutrition knowledge, and label use influenced consumers' perceived importance of a nutrition-sensitive chain label relative to sex, age, children, and milk purchase frequency for nutrition claims/facts. This is confirmed by the higher utilities for the nutrition-sensitive chain label in our conjoint experiment. Future research should focus on the integration of nutrition-sensitive chain labeling with existing labels in a way that promotes candid interpretation by consumers. Industrial and policy actors in the agri-food sector can use these findings to innovate and regulate appropriate labeling schemes in the context of nutrition-sensitive value chains.
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Project description:The ubiquitous presence of more than 80,000 chemicals in thousands of consumer products used on a daily basis stresses the need for screening a broader set of chemicals than the traditional well-studied suspect chemicals. This high-throughput screening combines stochastic chemical-product usage with mass balance-based exposure models and toxicity data to prioritize risks associated with household products. We first characterize product usage using the stochastic SHEDS-HT model and chemical content in common household products from the CPDat database, the chemical amounts applied daily varying over more than six orders of magnitude, from mg to kg. We then estimate multi-pathways near- and far-field exposures for 5,500 chemical-product combinations, applying an extended USEtox model to calculate product intake fractions ranging from 0.001 to ∼1, and exposure doses varying over more than nine orders of magnitude. Combining exposure doses with chemical-specific dose-responses and reference doses shows that risks can be substantial for multiple home maintenance products, such as paints or paint strippers, for some home-applied pesticides, leave-on personal care products, and cleaning products. Sixty percent of the chemical-product combinations have hazard quotients exceeding 1, and 9% of the combinations have lifetime cancer risks exceeding 10-4 . Population-level impacts of household products ingredients can be substantial, representing 5 to 100 minutes of healthy life lost per day, with users' exposures up to 103 minutes per day. To address this issue, present mass balance-based models are already able to provide exposure estimates for both users and populations. This screening study shows large variations of up to 10 orders of magnitude in impact across both chemicals and product combinations, demonstrating that prioritization based on hazard only is not acceptable, since it would neglect orders of magnitude variations in both product usage and exposure that need to be quantified. To address this, the USEtox suite of mass balance-based models is already able to provide exposure estimates for thousands of product-chemical combinations for both users and populations. The present study calls for more scrutiny of most impacting chemical-product combinations, fully ensuring from a regulatory perspective consumer product safety for high-end users and using protective measures for users.
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Project description:BACKGROUND:One prominent barrier faced by healthcare consumers when accessing health services is a common requirement to complete repetitive, inefficient paper-based documentation at multiple registration sites. Digital innovation has a potential role to reduce the burden in this area, through the collection and sharing of data between healthcare providers. While there is growing evidence for digital innovations to potentially improve the effectiveness and efficiency of health systems, there is less information on the willingness of healthcare consumers to embrace and utilise technology to provide data. AIM:The study aims to improve understanding of consumers' preference for utilising a digital health administration mobile app. METHODS:The online study used a stated preference experiment design to explore aspects of consumers' preference for a mobile health administration app and its impact on the likelihood of using the app. The survey was answered by a representative sample (by age and gender) of Australian adults, and sociodemographic factors were also recorded for analysis. Each participant answered eight choice sets in which a hypothetical app (defined by a set of dimensions and levels) was presented and the respondent was asked if they would be willing to provide data using that app. Analysis was conducted using bivariate logistic regression. RESULTS:For the average respondent, the two most important dimensions were the time it took to register on the app and the electronic governance arrangements around their personal information. Willingness to use any app was found to differ based on respondent characteristics: people with higher education, and women, were relatively more willing to utilise the mobile health app. CONCLUSION:This study investigated consumers' willingness to utilise a digital health administration mobile app. The identification of key characteristics of more acceptable apps provide valuable insight and recommendations for developers of similar digital health administration technologies. This would increase the likelihood of achieving successful acceptance and utilisation by consumers. The results from this study provide evidence-based recommendations for future research and policy development, planning and implementation of digital health administration mobile applications in Australia.
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Project description:Fragranced consumer products, such as cleaning supplies, air fresheners, and personal care products, can emit a range of air pollutants and trigger adverse health effects. This study investigates the prevalence and types of effects of fragranced products on asthmatics in the American population. Using a nationally representative sample (n?=?1137), data were collected with an on-line survey of adults in the USA, of which 26.8% responded as being medically diagnosed with asthma or an asthma-like condition. Results indicate that 64.3% of asthmatics report one or more types of adverse health effects from fragranced products, including respiratory problems (43.3%), migraine headaches (28.2%), and asthma attacks (27.9%). Overall, asthmatics were more likely to experience adverse health effects from fragranced products than non-asthmatics (prevalence odds ratio [POR] 5.76; 95% confidence interval [CI] 4.34-7.64). In particular, 41.0% of asthmatics report health problems from air fresheners or deodorizers, 28.9% from scented laundry products coming from a dryer vent, 42.3% from being in a room cleaned with scented products, and 46.2% from being near someone wearing a fragranced product. Of these effects, 62.8% would be considered disabling under the definition of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Yet 99.3% of asthmatics are exposed to fragranced products at least once a week. Also, 36.7% cannot use a public restroom if it has an air freshener or deodorizer, and 39.7% would enter a business but then leave as quickly as possible due to air fresheners or some fragranced product. Further, 35.4% of asthmatics have lost workdays or a job, in the past year, due to fragranced product exposure in the workplace. More than twice as many asthmatics would prefer that workplaces, health care facilities and health care professionals, hotels, and airplanes were fragrance-free rather than fragranced. Results from this study point to relatively simple and cost-effective ways to reduce exposure to air pollutants and health risks for asthmatics by reducing their exposure to fragranced products.
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Project description:ObjectiveTo investigate consumer preference and willingness to pay for mobile teledermoscopy services in Australia.MethodsConsumers who were taking part in a randomised controlled trial comparing mobile teledermoscopy and skin self-examination were asked to complete a survey which incorporated a discrete choice experiment (DCE) and a contingent valuation question. Responses were used to determine their willingness to pay for mobile teledermoscopy services in Australia and their overall service preferences.ResultsThe 199 consumers who responded were 71% female and had a mean age of 42 years (range, 18-73). The DCE results showed that consumers prefer a trained medical professional to be involved in their skin cancer screening. Consumers were willing to pay AUD 41 to change from a general practitioner reviewing their lesions in-person to having a dermatologist reviewing the teledermoscopy images. Additionally, they were willing to pay for services that had shorter waiting times, that reduced the time away from their usual activities, and that have higher accuracy and lower likelihood of unnecessary excision of a skin lesion. When asked directly about their willingness to pay for a teledermoscopy service using a contingent valuation question, the majority (73%) of consumers selected the lowest two value brackets of AUD 1-20 or AUD 21-40.ConclusionConsumers are willing to pay out of pocket to access services with attributes such as a dermatologist review, improved accuracy, and fewer excisions.
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