Injury Severity and Likelihood in Warnings

Abstract

Two experiments examined the influence of injury likelihood and severity in warnings on product hazard perceptions (Experiment 1) and behavioral compliance (Experiment 2). In Experiment 1, participants were given a set of front panel labels for 10 household consumer products. Warnings on the labels were constructed by manipulating the likelihood (low vs. high) and severity (low vs. high) of injury. Labels lacking a warning served as controls. Participants rated the product labels under the guise of a marketing study in which most of the questions concerned product familiarity, cost, and label attractiveness. Only one question was of interest which probed the level of hazard posed by the products. The results showed that (1) the presence of a warning increased the products' judged level of hazard, (2) products with high severity warnings were viewed to be more hazardous than products with low severity warnings, and (3) likelihood of injury in the warnings had no influence on hazard perceptions. Experiment 2 used a chemistry laboratory demonstration task to test the effects of injury likelihood and severity in a warning on compliance behavior (i.e., wearing gloves as directed by the warning). Greater compliance was shown when warned of a more severe injury, but only when the injury was of lower likelihood. In general, both experiments showed that injury severity influences warning effectiveness to a greater extent than injury likelihood. The results suggest that to inform people of a hazard and to motivate them to comply with a directed behavior, product warnings should communicate the severity of consequences.