Risk perception towards emerging food safety risks on fresh produce: the impact of governmental trust on evoked fear

Introduction: Fresh produce is an important part of a healthy diet. However, due to recent disease outbreaks and rapid alerts attributed to fresh produce and derived food products, concerns emerged with regard to food safety. The EU Veg-i-Trade project conducts research on emerging food safety risks related to fresh vegetables and fruit due to climate change and global sourcing. Some of these risks cannot be prevented by the consumers (e.g., pesticide residues, mycotoxins,…) which stresses the importance of governmental trust. Purpose: Risk communication is necessary to prevent people starting a scare when a food-borne outbreak might occur. The Extended Parallel Processing Model (EPPM) of Witte (1992) is the most appropriate threat/risk related model to explain consumers’ reactions to health risk messages. Threat appeals trigger a process by which individuals appraise two perceptions: the perceived threat (susceptibility and severity) and the perceived (self- or response) efficacy of the hazard which may result in either message acceptance or avoidance. Method: In November 2010 a survey was conducted among 456 participates in Belgium. This survey measured general risk perception, problem awareness, evoked emotions, behavioral intentions and socio-demos. Results: Beside descriptive results related to socio-demographic differences, a significant interaction effect between susceptibility and governmental trust on the evoked level of fear (F (1, 452) = 3.854, p=0.05) appeared. Only when the governmental trust is low, susceptibility increases the level of fear. When trust is high, there appeared no effect of susceptibility of the threat. Significance: This study stresses the importance of governmental trust. In addition, these results show that evoked fear has a significant positive effect on risk perception. This risk perception has subsequently an impact on the intention to rinse fresh produce better (r= .388, p<.001), but not on the intention to eat it less. Based on these findings further research and risk communication strategies are suggested

A cross-cultural comparison of emotional and cognitive reactions toward new food safety risks as a consequence of climate change and globalization

Climate change and globalization increase the possible occurrence of new food safety risks on fresh produce. Hence, food risk communication needs to be carried out worldwide. This research investigates how consumers in different European countries respond to communication about these new food safety risks. Cross cultural differences between Serbia, Spain, Norway and Belgium, with regard to affective reactions, risk perception, trust, and behavioral intentions are analyzed. Both the emotional and cognitive reactions differ significantly between the countries, as well as the interplay between them, and the behavioral intentions. Hence, the communication strategy needs to be adapted on a national level

Self-discrepancy and MMORPGs: testing the moderating effects of avatar identification and pathological gaming in world of warcraft

Previous research has shown that MMORPG players create avatars that are considered to possess more ideal personality traits than their actual selves. More specifically, Bessière, Seay and Kiesler (2007) have demonstrated that for the personality traits conscientiousness, extraversion and neuroticism, the mean discrepancies between gamers' ideal self and avatar are significantly smaller than those between the gamers' ideal and actual self. These findings are automatically attributed to the assumption that gamers use their avatars to alleviate self-discrepancy. This line of reasoning is supported by a recent theoretical account by Klimmt, Hefner and Vorder (2009). They argue that video games enable an experiential merger of the player with their game avatar, which affords a temporary reduction of the psychological distress that is associated with a discrepancy between the self and the ideal self. Unfortunately, Bessière et al.'s (2007) study fails to provide definitive evidence for this assumption. Whereas the smaller distance between avatar and ideal self indicates that players see their avatar as more ideal, this does not mean that they identify with their avatar and use it to temporarily relieve self-discrepancy. In fact, there are several alternative explanations. First of all, fantasy game characters by default possess characteristics that can be deemed more ideal. Moreover, gamers may assemble an avatar with ideal characteristics to facilitate their game play rather than because they relate these characteristics to themselves. Consequently, a meaningful association, i.e. identification, between WoW players and their avatars is a prerequisite for supporting the self-discrepancy thesis. Hence our first hypothesis posits that (H1) in comparison to gamers with a low level of avatar identification, gamers with a high level of avatar identification perceive the distance between their ideal self and avatar as smaller than the distance between their ideal self and actual self. Secondly, we explore the possibility that pathological gaming can be related to a desire to reduce self-discrepancy by evaluating whether gamers with a tendency towards pathological gaming have a stronger desire to reduce self-discrepancy. Research has indicated that the activity of advancing an avatar, making it as ideal as possible, requires a significant amount of commitment and thus can be expected to be a factor in explaining pathological gaming (Ducheneaut, Yee, Nickell, & Moore, 2006; Hsu, Wen, & Wu, 2009). Withal, previous studies have confirmed the relation between pathological gaming and lower levels of psychological well-being (Lemmens, Valkenburg, & Peter, 2009; Lo, Wang, & Fang, 2005). Given these findings, we propose a second hypothesis (H2), stating that in comparison to gamers with a weak tendency towards pathological gaming, gamers with a strong tendency towards it perceive the distance between their ideal self and avatar as smaller than the distance between their ideal and actual self. Yet, the question arises whether the experience of a temporary reduction of self-discrepancy through gaming is a factor in explaining the process of pathological gaming. Perhaps gamers use their avatars to make up for their perceived shortcomings and to experience a more idealized self. On the other hand, pathological gamers might be caught up in the game, advancing their character, without the player identifying with it and thus without the mechanism of self-discrepancy reduction playing a role. However, previous research by Smahel, Blinka and Ledabyl (2008) found a small correlation between ad hoc measures of identification and pathological gaming. Therefore, our third and final hypothesis states that (H3) in comparison to other gamers, gamers with high scores for both pathological gaming and identification perceive the distance between their ideal self and avatar as smaller than the distance between their ideal self and actual self. The present research draws on a sample of 304 WoW players, gathered through an online survey (Mage = 24.54, SD = 13.91, 84% male). The survey contained BFI personality measures of: (a) gamers' actual self, (b) gamers' ideal self and (c) main avatar (John & Srivastava, 2008). Furthermore, measures of avatar identification (Van Looy, Courtois, & De Vocht, 2010) and pathological gaming (Lemmens, et al., 2009) were included. These two measures' scores were split in half, using the median as a cut-off point to divide into high and low levels. Mixed model analysis of variances was used to test for the proposed hypotheses. First of all, the results indicate that players with a high avatar identification have a character that is closer to their ideal self for conscientiousness, neuroticism, openness and extraversion than those who score low for avatar identification. Except for openness, the ideal self - avatar discrepancies are consistently smaller than the ideal self - actual self discrepancies. As such, evidence is found for the first hypothesis. The second hypothesis, predicting a moderating effect of pathological gaming, is confirmed for neuroticism, openness and extraversion. Except for openness, it shows that for gamers with high pathological gaming scores demonstrate a larger distance between the self and actual self and a smaller distance between the avatar and the ideal self. Finally, the third hypothesis is confirmed for neuroticism and openness. It shows that gamers who combine a high score for pathological gaming with a high degree identification have much smaller discrepancies between their ideal self and avatar than between their ideal self and actual self. As such, these findings provide direct evidence for the self-discrepancy hypothesis proposed by Klimmt, Heffner and Vorderer. By implementing a direct measure of identification into Bessière, Kiesler and Seay's design, we were able to rule out the possibility that gamers do not meaningfully associate themselves with their avatar and just see it as more ideal because the game depicts a more ideal world or because creating a more ideal avatar is necessary for being successful in the game. As such, it is effectively shown that WoW players maintain a meaningful relationship with their avatar, which in turn provides further evidence for the self-discrepancy hypothesis in relation to the playing of MMORPGs. Finally, based on the idea that pathological gaming could be accompanied by a stronger desire to reduce self-discrepancy and thus alleviate psychological tension, we compared pathological gaming scores and discrepancies. Our findings indicate that WoW players with a tendency towards pathological gaming create and identify with avatars that are much more emotionally stable than their actual selves. In other words, they create an avatar that is more ideal on the dimension of neuroticism and then identify with it more strongly. References: Bessière, K., Seay, F., & Kiesler, S. (2007). The Ideal Elf: Identity Exploration in World of Warcraft. Cyberpsychology & Behavior, 10(4), 530-535. Ducheneaut, N., Yee, N., Nickell, E., & Moore, R. J. (2006). Building an MMO with Mass Appeal: A look at gameplay in World of Warcraft. Games and Culture, 1(4), 281-317. Hsu, S. H., Wen, M. H., & Wu, M. C. (2009). Exploring user experiences as predictors of MMORPG addiction. Computers & Education, 53(3), 990-999. John, O. P., & Srivastava, S. (2008). The Big Five Trait Taxonomy: History, Measurement, and Theoretical Perspectives. In J. O.P., R. W. Robins & L. A. Pervin (Eds.), Handbook of Personality (pp. 102-139). New York: Guilford Press. Klimmt, C., Hefner, D., & Vorderer, P. (2009). The Video Game Experience as "True" Identification: A Theory of Enjoyable Alternations of Players' Self-Perception. Communication Theory, 19(4). Lemmens, J. S., Valkenburg, P. M., & Peter, J. (2009). Development and Validation of a Game Addiction Scale for Adolescents. Media Psychology, 12(1), 77-95. Lo, S. K., Wang, C. C., & Fang, W. (2005). Physical Interpersonal Relationships and Social Anxiety among Online Game Players. Cyberpsychology & Behavior, 8(1), 15-20. Smahel, D., Blinka, L., & Ledabyl, O. (2008). Playing MMORPGs: Connections between Addiction and Identifying with a Character. Cyberpsychology & Behavior, 11(6), 715-718. Van Looy, J., Courtois, C., & De Vocht, M. (2010). Player Identification in Online Games: Validation of a Scale for Measuring Identification in MMORPGs. Paper presented at the Fun & Games, Leuven, Belgium

Communicating emerging food risks: the impact of 1- or 2-sidedness, vividly presented information and spatial distance on message credibility

Emerging food safety risks on fresh produce, due to climate change and globalization, represent a new challenge within risk communication. The goal of this study is to investigate how a risk message should be designed to increase message credibility. Defined as ‘the perception of the message being credible, clear, understandable and likely’, message credibility is an essential variable in risk communication as it is an important prerequisite to message acceptance (Mackenzie & Lutz, 1989; Renn et al., 1991). According to the Extended Parallel Processing Model (Witte 1992), a risk message should evoke a perceived threat and perceived efficacy in order to achieve message acceptance, leading to increased awareness about the risks. Research showed that vividly presented information can increase the perceived threat (e.g., Cauberghe et al., 2009). Furthermore, research indicated that the spatial distance of where the risk could occur, can influence people’s reactions to the message (Liberman & Trope, 2008). Moreover, when communicating risks related to food, both the benefits and the risks of eating fresh produce can be presented (2-sided), or only the risks (1-sided). Both strategies can impact message acceptance (Eisend, 2006). Using a 2 (Picture of grapes and bacteria vs. Picture of grapes) X 2 (Occurrence in Flanders vs. Occurrence worldwide) X 2 (1-sided vs. 2-sided) between subjects factorial design, this study investigated the impact of these manipulations on message credibility. A leaflet was designed for every condition and 390 respondents (Mage=38.54 years (SD=14.47), 46,1% male) were randomly shown one of the eight leaflets, followed by a paper-and-pencil survey. Every leaflet contained the same information about recommended measures that consumers may take and measures that the government is taking. A significant third-order interaction effect was found using the manipulations as independent variables on message credibility (F(1,372)=9.501,p=.002). Simple effects showed that when the risk could occur in Flanders and the risk is very vividly presented, the message credibility is significantly higher when the information is presented 1-sided (M=6.09, SD=.76) instead of 2-sided (M=5.45, SD=1.50). However, when the risk could occur worldwide and the risk is very vividly presented, then the message credibility is significantly higher when 2-sided information is given (M=5.92, SD=.76), than when 1-sided information is presented (M=5.50, SD=1.17). These results have important managerial implications for international risk communication, which will be discussed together with more results

'/Y WoW': een exploratief onderzoek naar de motivaties voor het spelen van MMORPG's bij 1691 World of Warcraft spelers

In het voorbije decennium zijn Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPG) uitgegroeid tot een wereldwijd fenomeen. De populairste MMORPG is World of Warcraft (WoW) waarin miljoenen gamers elkaar elke dag ontmoeten (GameOgre.com, 2009). In deze paper wordt een onderzoek beschreven naar de motivaties voor het spelen van WoW. Het dominant paradigma in mediamotivatieonderzoek is de âÂÂUses & Gratificationsâ benadering waarbij wordt nagegaan op welke manier het gebruik van media tegemoet komt aan bepaalde noden en wensen van het publiek (Ruggiero, 2000; Rubin, 2000). Hieruit bleek dat er geen standaardmotivaties zijn voor alle mediagebruik (Sherry et al., 2003). In eerder onderzoek naar gaming (De Pauw et al., 2008; Jansz, 2006; Kolo et al., 2004; Yee, 2007; Schuurman et al., 2008; Vandebosch et al., 2006; Sherry, 2004; Schultheiss, 2007; Sherry en Lucas, 2003; Cole en Griffiths, 2007) kwamen de volgende motivaties naar voor: competitie, uitdagingen op het juiste niveau, spanning, mogelijkheden tot actieve controle, escapisme, identificatie, sociale interactie, fantasie, interesse, tijdverdrijf, emotionele ervaring, zichzelf uitdagen, een manier om nieuwe en onbekende werelden te ontdekken, entertainment, personageontwikkeling, zichzelf uitleven, vrijheid en opwinding. In deze paper gaan we na welke van deze motivaties van toepassing zijn op de spelers van WoW. In de literatuur maakten reeds verscheidene auteurs een onderscheid tussen soorten gamers o.b.v. motivaties (Bartle, 1996; Utz, 2000; Kolo en Baur, 2004; Schuurman et al., 2009). In dit onderzoek gaan we na of een gelijkaardige segmentatie mogelijk is voor WoWâÂÂers. De vragenlijst werd opgesteld a.d.h.v. reeds bestaande vragenlijsten (Sherry et al., 2003; Yee, 2006; Schuurman et al., 2009) en zelf geformuleerde vragen. Naast de items om de motivaties te meten en socio-demografische vragen werden zeven vragen toegevoegd over de avatar. Deze hadden betrekking op de mate van identificatie van de gamer met de avatar en hoeveel belang er wordt gehecht aan de avatar. De online survey werd volledig ingevuld door 1691 WoWâÂÂers. Van de respondenten bleek 19,9% afkomstig te zijn uit België. Andere nationaliteiten die sterk vertegenwoordigd zijn in de data zijn Nederland, Noorwegen, Zweden, U.K., Denemarken en Finland. De gemiddelde leeftijd bedroeg 22,8 jaar. De vrouwelijke gamer is gemiddeld 3 jaar ouder dan de mannelijke gamer die een gemiddelde leeftijd heeft van 22,7 jaar. Zoals bij de meeste onderzoeken naar gamers (Griffiths et al., 2003; Yee, 2006; Schuurman et al., 2009) zijn er veel meer mannelijke respondenten (94,1%). Wat betreft de burgerlijke stand van de respondenten is 62% vrijgezel en slechts 5,2% van de gamers heeft kinderen. Bijna de helft van de respondenten is student en 9,1% is werkloos, dit i.t.t. de resultaten van Yee (2006) waar bijna de helft voltijds werkt. Na het toepassen van een factoranalyse kwamen uit de data acht motivaties naar voor: âÂÂescapismeâ (M= 3,47, ñ= 0,694), âÂÂopwindingâ (M= 3,38, ñ= 0,654), âÂÂsociaal contact in WoWâ (M= 3,19, ñ= 0,794), âÂÂzelfvoldoeningâ (M= 2,91, ñ= 0,758), âÂÂimmersieâ (M= 2,91, ñ= 0,765), âÂÂvaardighedenâ (M= 2,88, ñ= 0,907), âÂÂsociaal contact in real lifeâ (M= 2,66, ñ= 0,739) en als laatste âÂÂharde competitieâ (M= 2,10, ñ= 0,771). De motivatie âÂÂsociale contacten in WoWâ komt pas op de derde plaats doch 89% van de respondenten vindt het multiplayeraspect belangrijk. Daarenboven zou 67,4% van de respondenten niet deelnemen aan WoW indien er geen mogelijkheid tot ingame communicatie was. Meer dan 90% van de gamers is lid van een guild. Hoewel de sociale interactie niet als belangrijkste motivatie wordt aangestipt, blijkt onrechtstreeks het enorme belang van het sociale aspect. De gemiddelde scores voor de motivaties âÂÂharde competitieâÂÂ, âÂÂsociaal contact in WoWâÂÂ, âÂÂopwindingâÂÂ, âÂÂescapismeâ en âÂÂsociaal contact in real lifeâ verschillen significant o.b.v. geslacht. Hierbij is opvallend dat de sociale contacten gemiddeld hoger scoren bij de vrouwelijke respondenten. Er werd een zwak significant verband gevonden tussen de motivaties en het aantal uren gamen. Bij de correlatie met de leeftijd werd duidelijk dat hoe jonger de gamer is, hoe meer belang hij hecht aan de motivaties âÂÂvaardighedenâ en âÂÂharde competitieâ en hoe minder belang hij hecht aan âÂÂsociaal contact in real lifeâÂÂ. Via een K-means clusteranalyse op de gevonden motivaties werd getracht vier soorten gamers te segmenteren. Deze vier clusters verschilden echter alleen op het vlak van de grootte van de motivatie dus er zijn geen duidelijke profielen te vinden. Daarom is er tijdens de analyses verder gezocht naar een andere indeling die in de data naar voor komt bij de vragen die werden opgesteld rond avatars. Door een factoranalyse toe te passen op deze items kwamen twee dimensies naar voor: âÂÂavatar identificationâ (ñ= 0,749) en âÂÂavatar importanceâ (ñ= 0,826). Na een K-means clusteranalyse zijn twee groepen te onderscheiden: âÂÂLow Avatar Involvementâ (groep LI) en âÂÂHigh Avatar Involvementâ (groep HI). Meer dan 70% van de vrouwelijke respondenten behoort tot de groep HI. Een nieuwe wereld leren kennen als reden om WoW te beginnen spelen komt 12% meer voor bij de groep HI. Ook het vinden van een nieuwe uitdaging en nieuwe mensen leren kennen komt meer voor bij de groep HI. De gamers uit de groep HI spelen gemiddeld 3 uur langer WoW per week. De motivatie âÂÂescapismeâ scoort gemiddeld hoger bij deze groep, terwijl de scores op andere motivaties niet significant verschillen per groep

Informatieve website over gaming

Minister Lieten lanceert informatieve website over computergames Viceminister-president van de Vlaamse Regering en Vlaams minister van Innovatie, Overheidsinvesteringen, Media en Armoedebestrijding, Ingrid Lieten, is verheugd de lancering van de nieuwe website http://www.vlaanderen.be/gaming te kunnen aankondigen. In het kader van een stimulerend beleid rond computergames, is informatieverstrekking één van de belangrijke pijlers. Er bestaat immers nog heel wat onduidelijkheid over games. Dat bleek uit diverse adviezen die vorige legislatuur werden geformuleerd en aanleiding gaven tot de resolutie over de ondersteuning van de gamesector in Vlaanderen. In deze resolutie wordt aan de Vlaamse Regering gevraagd "een informatiecampagne op te starten in samenwerking met de distributiesector om een genuanceerder beeld over games te creëren, het kijkwijzersysteem en het classificatiesysteem PEGI beter bekend te maken en de toepassing ervan te benadrukken". De website is een concreet beleidsinitiatief om tegemoet te komen aan deze adviezen die de noodzaak aankaarten van meer, maar vooral wetenschappelijk onderbouwde en genuanceerde informatie over games. De website is dan ook bedoeld als een richtwijzer voor ouders, opvoeders en gamers. De website bevat onder andere informatie over de gameplatformen, de geschiedenis van gaming, de verschillende gamegenres, leeftijdsclassificaties, de impact van games op de gezondheid en informatie over jobs in de gamesector. Tevens is de website onderaan elke pagina voorzien met een lijst met links naar belangrijke studies, websites en organisaties waar men bijkomende informatie kan vinden of terecht kan met vragen. De website maakt gebruik van de gangbare terminologie en licht deze toe. Er is geopteerd voor wetenschappelijk onderbouwde en genuanceerde informatie. De teksten en afbeeldingen van deze website werden samengesteld door Jan Van Looy & Melanie De Vocht, MICT, IBBT/Universiteit Gent in opdracht van het Departement Cultuur, Jeugd, Sport en Media. Vandaag start ook de bannercampagne rond de website www.vlaanderen.be/gaming

Player Identification in Online Games: Validation of a Scale for Measuring Identification in MMORPGs

In this paper, we present a Player Identification (PI) scale for measuring identification in MMORPGs. Three main dimensions were derived from the literature (1) Avatar (character) Identification, (2) Group (guild) Identification and (3) Game (community) Identification whereby Avatar Identification is a second-order factor consisting of (1a) Perceived Similarity, (1b) Wishful Identification and (1c) Embodied Presence. Based on the results of a cross-sectional survey of 544 World of Warcraft players the measurement instrument’s proposed factorial structure was confirmed. Subsequently, the constructs were successfully tested both for convergent and discriminant validity. Finally, evidence for nomological validity was gathered by testing ten theoretically rooted hypotheses regarding the effects of Player Identification. The results showed that Avatar Identification positively predicts Empathy, Proteus effect and the motivations role-play, customization and escapism. Group Identification predicts socializing and relationship, and Game Identification predicts advancement, mechanics and escapism