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The relationship between tap water and health has been a topic of public concern and calls for better management in Canada since well-publicized contamination events in two provinces (Ontario and Saskatchewan) in 2000–2001. This study reports the perspectives on health risks from tap water and corresponding use of, and spending on, bottled water in a number of different communities in Canada. In 2009–2010, four First Nations communities (three from Ontario and one from Saskatchewan) and a geographically diverse sample of non-First Nations Canadians were surveyed about their beliefs concerning health risks from tap water and their spending practices for bottled water as a substitute. Responses to five identical questions were examined, revealing that survey respondents from Ontario First Nations communities were more likely than non-First Nations Canadians to believe bottled water is safer than tap water (OR 1.6); more likely to report someone became ill from tap water (OR 3.6); more likely to express water and health concerns related to tap water consumption (OR 2.4); and more likely to spend more on bottled water (OR 4.9). On the other hand, participants from one Saskatchewan First Nations community were less likely than non-First Nations Canadians to believe that someone had become ill from drinking tap water (OR 3.8), less likely to believe bottled water is safer than tap (OR 2.0), and less likely to have health concerns with tap water (OR 1.5). These differences, however, did not translate into differences in the likelihood of high bottled water expenditures or being a 100% bottled water consumer. The paper discusses how the differences observed may be related to water supply and regulation, trust, perceived control, cultural background, location, and past experience.

Lay illness risk beliefs are commonly held philosophies about how risk works. These include beliefs that one’s personal illness risk is unknowable and beliefs that thinking about one’s risk can actually increase that risk. Beliefs about risk may impact risk behaviors and thereby subsequent health status. However, limited research examines the relation between lay risk beliefs and health behavior. This paper explores this possible relation. A nationally representative sample of adults (N = 1005) recruited from an internet panel were surveyed about lay risk beliefs and risk perceptions regarding diabetes and colorectal cancer, psychosocial factors (i.e., health literacy, need for cognition, locus of control), demographics, and current health behaviors (i.e., cigarette smoking, red meat intake, physical activity). In separate sets of regressions controlling for either demographics, psychosocial factors, or risk perceptions, lay risk beliefs remained significantly related to health behaviors. It may be important to consider how to address lay risk beliefs in intervention content and targeting in order to increase adaptive health behaviors and thereby prevent chronic disease.

Data from three surveys before and after the 2022 mass shootings in Buffalo and Uvalde provide a natural experiment to assess perceptions and valuations of mass shootings. The degree of overestimation of mass shooting risks surged following these tragedies. The odds of believing that mass shooting risks exceeded other firearm homicide risks more than doubled after these shootings. More than one-third of respondents viewed mass shootings as a greater threat to themselves than other firearm homicide risks, and a similar number viewed them as a greater threat to the public. A risk–risk choice experiment examined the tradeoff rate between deaths from mass shootings and from other firearm homicides. People generally viewed prevention of deaths from mass shootings as being equivalent to preventing other firearm homicides. However, respondents who believed that mass shooting risks were a greater threat both to themselves and to the public than other firearm homicide risks treated mass shooting deaths prevented as if they were 37.5% greater than the stated amounts. Risk–risk tradeoff studies and stated preference studies more generally should account for whether respondents’ perceived risk levels differ from the risk values stated in the survey. The principal manifestation of dread for mass shootings is through risk beliefs. Irrational fears may intrude on elicitation of risk preferences, making it essential to account for perceptional biases in stated preference studies of risks.

Objective Plain packaging and graphic warning labels are two regulatory strategies that may impact cigarette risk beliefs and reduce consumption, but data are needed to better understand how smokers respond to such regulations. Methods Adult, daily, Marlboro non-menthol smokers (Red [ n  = 141] or Gold [ n  = 43]) completed a mixed factorial randomized trial. Participants smoked their usual cigarettes during baseline (5-days) and were randomized to receive cigarette packs with a warning label manipulation (graphic vs. text-only). Within each warning label condition, participants completed three within-subjects pack color manipulations (red, gold, plain), each lasting 15 days. Participants were blinded to the fact that all packs contained their usual cigarettes. Mixed-effects models examined between- and within-subject differences on risk beliefs, product perceptions, and smoking behavior. Results Warning type and package color did not impact cigarette consumption or subjective ratings. However, use increased in all conditions (2.59–3.59 cigarettes per day) relative to baseline. While smokers largely held correct risk beliefs at baseline (Mean = 6.02, SE = 0.17, Range:0–8), the cumulative number of incorrect or uncertain cigarette risk beliefs increased from baseline in all pack color manipulations in the text (IRR range = 1.70–2.16) and graphic (IRR range = 1.31–1.70) warning conditions. Across all pack color periods, those in the graphic (vs. text) warning condition had reduced odds of reporting their study cigarettes as ‘safer’ than regular cigarettes (OR range = 0.22–0.32). Conclusions Pack color modification may increase uncertainty about several key cigarette risk beliefs, though graphic warnings may attenuate these effects. Regulatory agencies could consider supporting policy changes with information campaigns to maximize public knowledge. Trial registration November 25, 2014; Registration number: NCT02301351.

This paper builds a prediction model with four predictor variables and one dependent variable. The predictor variables are users' concerns about IoT privacy, users' concerns about IoT security, users' concerns about IoT awareness, and users' concerns about IoT device use. The dependent variable is users' IoT risk beliefs. The prediction model determines the influential predictor variables that predict the users' IoT risk beliefs. An instrument with five constructs was designed and administered to subjects working in various organizations in the USA. Collected data from 386 usable data were analyzed through multiple regression analysis. The analysis was used to answer the study's research question, which asked which of the four independent/predictor variables are influential in predicting the dependent variable. Results indicated that all four predictor variables were influential in predicting users' IoT risk beliefs, with IoT security concerns more influential than the other three. The findings, theoretical implications, practical implications, and future work are discussed.

Building on the work by Volkman-Wise Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, 51, 267-290 (2015) and Dumm et al. (The Geneva Risk and Insurance Review, 42, 117-139 (2017), we examine behavioral aspects of risk through the representative heuristic's impact on catastrophe-related probability assessment and insurance demand of Florida homeowners. The representative heuristic models individuals as underweighting prior probabilities and overweighting posterior probabilities, thereby overweighting the probability of a loss from a disaster after a disaster occurs. Using data for homeowners' insurance purchases through Florida's residual market over a time period (2003-2008) that includes a sub-period of many losses (2004-2005) and sub-period of few catastrophic losses (2003, 2006-2008), we find increases in demand at the individual policyholder level for coverage following losses. Also consistent with the representative heuristic, we find that the effect attenuates as the losses fade from memory. That is, the effect of losses on demand is much higher for more recent losses. We also are able to parameterize the representative heuristic model showing that individual policy holders overweight the probability of another catastrophic event occurring by nearly 50%, after one has occurred.

PurposeDigital advertising enables retailers to rely on large volumes of data on consumers and even leverage artificial intelligence (AI) to target consumers online with personalised and context-aware advertisements. One recent example of such advertisements is programmatic advertising (PA), which is facilitated by automatic bidding systems. Given that retailers are expected to increase their use of PA in the future, further insights on the pros and cons of PA are required. This paper aims to enhance the understanding of the implications of PA use for retailers.Design/methodology/approachA theoretical overview is conducted that compares PA to traditional advertising, with an empirical investigation into consumer attitudes towards PA (an online survey of 189 consumers using an experimental design) and a research agenda.FindingsConsumer attitudes towards PA are positively related to attitudes towards the retailer. Further, perceived ad relevance is positively related to attitudes towards PA, which is moderated by (1) consumer perceptions of risks related to sharing their data with retailers online and (2) consumer perceptions of AI's positive potential. Surprisingly, the disclosed use of AI for PA does not significantly influence consumer attitudes towards PA.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to the literature on technology-enabled services by empirically demonstrating that ad relevance drives consumer attitudes towards PA. This paper further examines two contingencies: risk beliefs related to data (i.e. the source of PA) and perceptions of AI (i.e. the somewhat nebulous technology associated with PA) as beneficial. A research agenda illuminates central topics to guide future research on PA in retailing.

This paper examines the causal impact of natural disasters on property insurance take-up of firms. Using the data of industrial firms in China, we find that a one-standard-deviation increase in typhoon damage leads to a 2.6% increase in the purchase of property insurance the following year. This increase gradually declines and returns to the previous level three years later. Our results demonstrate that this impact is driven not by changes in risk preferences or supply-side variation but by the updated risk beliefs learned from the typhoon experience. Unlike household insurance decisions, the learning effect of firms demonstrates an indirect but positive effect of typhoons on the firm’s insurance decisions from its related firms in the upstream or downstream sectors, but not from competitors.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to build a research model that examines social media privacy concerns (SMPC) in relation to users’ trusting beliefs and risk beliefs. Design/methodology/approach An instrument with eight constructs (SMPC: collection, SMPC: secondary usage, SMPC: errors, SMPC: improper access, SMPC: control, SMPC: awareness, trusting beliefs and risk beliefs) was developed and administered to subjects from a mid-sized university in the USA. Collected data were analyzed using partial least square structural equation modeling. Findings The results showed that three of the six SMPC (i.e. secondary usage, improper access and awareness) were negatively and significantly associated with users’ trusting beliefs. In addition, three of the six SMPC (i.e. collection, errors and improper access) were positively and significantly associated with users’ risk beliefs. Practical implications Practical implications were aimed at the social media sites to design simple and straightforward privacy policy statements that are easy to understand; to safeguard users’ online privacy behaviors; and to develop mechanisms to protect personal information. Originality/value This study enhances the literature by contributing to a generalized knowledge of SMPC of users as they relate to their trusting beliefs and risk beliefs.

In the e-commerce environment, individuals’ concerns for online information privacy play critical roles in determining their intention to use the Internet to provide personal information for services and transactions. Understanding this relationship has important implications for e-commerce. Despite much research in this area, an overarching picture of the relationship between information privacy concerns and the antecedent and consequence factors is yet to be drawn. Based on a review on empirical studies in this area, this research summarizes the conceptualizations of privacy concerns and the antecedents and consequences. An integrative framework is developed to illustrate the relationships between the factors. In this framework, a person’s concern for information privacy regarding a specific e-commerce website is distinguished from his/her concern for information privacy regarding the general e-commerce environment. These two forms of privacy concerns have distinct impacts on a person’s online behavior. Their relationships with multiple antecedent and consequence factors are analyzed.