Abstract
The prevention of allergy reactions to food requires communication between individuals with food allergies and restaurant employees. This study investigated the effectiveness of framed messages (gain-framed versus loss-framed) in encouraging food allergy communication and explored factors that influenced customers’ intentions to communicate with restaurant staff about their food allergies. A total of 291 valid survey responses were collected. Approximately 70% of the participants had experienced food allergy reactions in restaurants, but less than 15% of them could always communicate with restaurant employees before placing food orders. Overall, participants perceived dining out as somehow risky. Gain-framed messages were more persuasive than loss-framed messages in encouraging food allergy communication. Fear, attitudes toward the messages, the perceived effectiveness of the messages, and the severity of one’s food allergies were significant predictors of customers’ intentions to communicate. Customers’ attitudes toward the messages mediated the relationship between message format and the behavioral intention to communicate.
Published Version
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