Who is at risk and what do they know? Segmenting a population on their food safety knowledge

Food Quality and Preference

Volumn 18, Issue 2, 2007, Pages 205-217

  McCarthy, M ^a   Brennan, M ^b   Kelly, A L ^a   Ritson, C ^b   de Boer, M ^a   Thompson, N ^b  

^a UNIVERSITY COLLEGE CORK   (Ireland)

^b NEWCASTLE UNIVERSITY   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

Consumer segmentation; Food safety knowledge; Island of Ireland

Indexed keywords

EID: 33749983646     PISSN: 09503293     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/j.foodqual.2005.10.002     Document Type: Article

References (41)

1. Andreasen A.R. Marketing social change: changing behaviour to promote health, social development and the environment (1995), Jossey Bass
2. Anonymous (2003). Acute gastroenteritis in Ireland, north and south, a telephone survey. Communicable disease surveillance centre-Northern Ireland. Department of Public Health Medicine and Epidemiology, University College Dublin, Food Safety Authority of Ireland, Food Safety Promotion Board, Food Standards Agency-Northern Ireland, pp. 1-67.
3. Bredahl, L. (2000). Determinants of consumer attitudes and purchase intentions with regard to genetically modified foods: Results of a cross-national survey. MAPP Working Paper, 69, Aarhus, Denmark.
4. De Boer, M., McCarthy, M., Brennan, M., Kelly, A. L., & Ritson, C. (2004a). Public understanding of food risk issues and food risk messages on the island of Ireland: the view of food safety experts. Interim report submitted to Safefood, the Food Safety Promotion Board, Ireland. August.
5. De Boer, M., McCarthy, M., Brennan, M., Kelly, A., & Ritson, C. (2004b). Differences in the perception of food risk issues and food risk messages between various demographic groups on the island of Ireland: a Qualitative study. Interim report submitted to Safefood, the Food Safety Promotion Board, Ireland. August.
6. Department of Health (1997). Communicating about risks to public health: pointers to good practice. Department of Health, London.
7. Food and Drink Federation (1996). National Food Safety Report: Foodlink, London.
8. Fife-Schaw C., and Rowe G. Public perceptions of everyday food hazards: a psychometric study. Risk Analysis 16 4 (1996) 487-500
9. Flynn J., Slovic P., and Mertz C.K. Decidedly different: expert and public views of risks from a radioactive waste repository. Risk Analysis 13 6 (1993) 643-648
10. Frewer L.J., Shepherd R., and Sparks P. The interrelationship between perceived knowledge, control and risk associated with a range of food-related hazards targeted at the individual, other people and society. Journal of Food Safety 14 (1994) 19-40
11. FSAI (2003). Consumer attitudes to food safety in Ireland. Food Safety Authority of Ireland, October.
12. FSAI (2004). Report on zoonoses in Ireland 2000 and 2001. The Food Safety Authority of Ireland. Available from .
13. Green J.M., Draper A.K., and Dowler E.A. Short cuts to safety: risk and 'rules of thumb' in accounts of food choice. Health, Risk and Society 5 1 (2003)
14. Griffith C.J., Worsfold D., and Mitchell R. Food preparation, risk communication and the consumer. Food Control 9 4 (1998) 225-232
15. Hair J., Anderson R., Tatham R., and Black W. Multivariate data analysis. 5th ed. (1998), Prentice Hall, New Jersey
16. HMSO (Her Majesty's Stationery Office) (1995). A guide to risk assessment and risk management for environmental protection, Department of the Environment, HMSO, pp. 77-78.
17. Kidd M. Food safety-consumer concerns. Nutrition and Food Science 30 2 (2000) 53-55
18. Kunreuther H. Mitigating disaster losses through insurance. Journal of Risk and Uncertainty 12 (1996) 171-187
19. Kotler P., and Zaltman G. Social marketing: an approach to planned social change. Journal of Marketing 35 (1971) 3-12
20. Lechowich R.V. Current concerns in food safety. ACS Symposium Series 484 (1992) 232-242
21. Macfarlane R. Integrating the consumer interest in food safety: the role of science and other factors. Food Policy 27 (2002) 65-80
22. MacIntyre S., Reilly J., Miller D., and Eldridge J. Food choice, food scares and health: the role of the media. In: Murcott A. (Ed). The nation's diet: the social influence of food choice (1998), Longman, London
23. Maibach E. Explicating social marketing: what is it, and what isn't it?. Social Marketing Quarterly 8 4 (2002) 7-13
24. Maibach E.W. Recreating Communities to Support Active Living: A New Role for Social Marketing. American Journal of Health Promotion 18 1 (2003) 114-119
25. McCarthy, M. (2000). An investigation into consumer perceptions of meat hazards. Agribusiness Discussion Paper, 26, January. Department of Food Business and Development, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland.
26. Miles S., Brennan M., Kuznesof S., Ness M., Ritson C., and Frewer L.J. Public worry about specific food safety issues. British Food Journal 106 1 (2004) 1-9
27. Miller Jones J. Risk Benefit. In: Miller Jones J. (Ed). Food safety (1992), Eagan Press, Minnesota, USA
28. Nugent (2005). Risky Business, Irish Farmers Monthly, (June), 61-61.
29. O'Keeffe, L. A. M. (2000). Consumer perceptions of food hazards and attitudes towards information. Internal publication, Masters Thesis, Department of Food Business and Development, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland.
30. O'Riordan N., Cowan C., and McCarthy M. Safety of Irish beef-concerns, awareness and knowledge of Irish consumers. Journal of Food Safety 22 1 (2002) 1-16
31. Redmond E.C., and Griffith C.J. Consumer food handling in the home: a review of food safety studies. Journal of Food Protection 66 1 (2002) 130-161
32. Rothschild M.L. Carrots, sticks and promises: a conceptual framework for the management of public health and social issues behaviours. Journal of Marketing 63 (1999) 24-37
33. Safefood (2002). Food borne infections and gastroiontestinal diseases on the island of Ireland in 2002. Safefood.
34. Sandman P.M. Risk communication: facing public outrage. EPA Journal 13 (1987) 21-22
35. Shaw A. (2003). Public understanding of food risks: expert and lay views. FoodInfo Online, pp. 2-3. Science Central from IFIS publishing. Available from .
36. Shaw A. Discourses of risk in lay accounts of microbiological safety and BSE: a qualitative interview study. Health, Risk and Society 6 2 (2004) 151-171
37. Slovic P., Fischhoff B., and Lichtenstein S. Facts and fears: understanding perceived risk. In: Schwing R.C., and Albers Jr. W.A. (Eds). Societal risk assessment: how safe is safe enough? (1980), Plenum Press, New York
38. Sparks P., and Shepherd R. Public perceptions of the potential hazards associated with food production and food consumption: an empirical study. Risk Analysis 14 5 (1994) 799-806
39. Wandel M. Understanding consumer concern about food-related health risks. British Food Journal 96 7 (1994) 35-40
40. Whelan B. Social marketing for behaviour change. MII Quarterly 3 (2004) 21-24
41. WHO (2001). WHO Surveillance Programme for Control of Foodborne Infections and Intoxications in Europe 8th Report 1999-2000, Country Reports: Ireland. World Health Organisation .