title: Influence of information about specific absorption rate (SAR) upon customers' purchase decisions and safety evaluation of mobile phones.
abstract: This study investigated whether the SAR value is a purchase-relevant characteristic of mobile phones for laypersons and what effect the disclosure of a precautionary SAR value has on laypersons' risk perception. The study consisted of two parts: Study part 1 used a conjoint analysis design to explore the relevance of the SAR value and other features of mobile phones for an intended buying decision. Study part 2 used an experimental, repeated measures design to examine the effect of the magnitude of SAR values and the disclosure of a precautionary SAR value on risk perception. In addition, the study included an analysis of prior concerns of the study participants with regard to mobile phone risks. Part 1 indicates that the SAR value has a high relevance for laypersons' purchase intentions. In the experimental purchase setting it ranks even before price and equipment features. The results of study part 2 show that providing information of a precautionary limit value does not influence risk perception. This result suggests that laypersons' underlying subjective "safety model" for mobile phones resembles more a "margin of safety" concept than a threshold concept. The latter observation holds true no matter how concerned the participants are.
authors.affiliation: Research Centre Jülich, Institute of Neurosciences and Biophysics, Programme Group Humans, Environment, Technology, Jülich, Germany.
authors.forename: Peter M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Wiedemann
authors.forename: Holger
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Schütz
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Clauberg
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001294:Attitude to Health; D040421:Cell Phone / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003258:Consumer Behavior / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D054626:Consumer Health Information / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003257:Consumer Product Safety; D003625:Data Collection; D003657:Decision Making; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012062:Relative Biological Effectiveness; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012309:Risk-Taking