The Effect of Safety Claims on Consumer Chemical Product Perceptions and the Role of Warnings

Objective To assess the effect of safety claims and warnings on perceptions of consumer chemical products. Background Manufacturers have two contradictory objectives: to increase sales by emphasizing the positive aspects of a product and to protect consumers from hazards of the product. One of the strategies that some manufactures have devised to achieve these goals is to use anti-warnings. Safety claims placed on consumer chemical products were examined to determine if anti-warnings influenced product perceptions. Method Two experiments were conducted. In Experiment 1, three consumer chemical products with manipulated safety claims were presented to 300 participants, who completed a survey to rate their perceptions of the products. In Experiment 2, the same products with the safety claims and added warnings were presented to 600 participants and were rated using the same measurements as Experiment 1. Results Safety claims on product labels decreased perceived hazards compared to no safety claims on products in both Experiments 1 and 2. In Experiment 2, added warnings raised the perceived hazards. Conclusion The use of safety claims on consumer chemical products had an effect on product perceptions by decreasing hazard perceptions. The addition of strong warnings on product labels mitigated this effect. Application This research provides empirical evidence suggesting that the use of safety claims decreased hazard perceptions of potentially hazardous consumer chemical products and can serve as a possible form of anti-warnings.