Information channel effects on women intention to purchase irradiated food in Korea

Since the first irradiated food was approved and commercialized in 1987, most of Koreans still do not accept the irradiated food until now. It is reasoned that there are the ambiguous fear of nuclear technology and the confusion between irradiated food and radioactive-contaminated food. This investigation was carried out to examine the acknowledgement of irradiated food in Korean housewives and to study how to enhance the intention of purchasing the irradiated food. About 600 Korean housewives participated in the survey on the irradiated food in 2007, more than two-thirds of them were not aware of irradiated food. One hundred and fifty-four women who had known of irradiated food were subjected to an experiment for the source of information about irradiated food (e.g., lecture by an expert, video-watching and book-reading) in order to explore which type of information channel is the most effective in eliciting purchase intention. The result showed that the women group who had heard the lecture by an expert indicated the highest intention to purchase irradiated food, followed by the video-watching and the book-reading groups. In addition, the acceptance of the irradiated food had shown to lead the support for nuclear industry. (C) 2009 Published by Elsevier Ltd.