title: Modeling improvements in booster seat use: a discrete choice conjoint experiment.
abstract: Automobile crashes are the leading cause of death in children aged 1-14 years. Many children, however, are not properly restrained in safety seats that reduce serious injury and death. This study used a discrete choice conjoint experiment to study factors influencing the decision to use booster seats. Parents of 1714 children aged 4-9 years from nine Canadian provinces completed choice tasks presenting experimentally varied combinations of 15 4-level booster seat promotion attributes. Latent class analysis yielded three segments of parents. The choices of the Benefit Sensitive segment (50%) were most sensitive to the injury prevention benefits of booster seats. The choices of parents in the Context Sensitive segment (33.5%) were more likely to be influenced by installation complexity, oppositional behavior, and the prospect that their child may be teased for riding in booster seats. Parents in the High Risk segment (16.5%) were younger, less educated, and less knowledgeable about vehicle safety legislation. They anticipated fewer benefits, expected more barriers and were less likely to use booster seats. Simulations suggest that consistent enforcement coupled with advertising focusing on injury prevention and the use of booster seats by other parents would increase adoption.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Health Sciences, Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario L9C 7N4, Canada. Electronic address: cunnic@hhsc.ca.
authors.forename: Charles E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Cunningham
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Health Professions, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada.
authors.forename: Beth S
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Bruce
authors.affiliation: Odette School of Business, University of Windsor, Windsor, Canada.
authors.forename: Anne W
authors.initials: AW
authors.lastname: Snowdon
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Health Sciences, Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario L9C 7N4, Canada.
authors.forename: Yvonne
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: St. Clair College, Windsor, Canada.
authors.forename: Carol
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kolga
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Social Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada.
authors.forename: Caroline
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Piotrowski
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada.
authors.forename: Lynne
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Warda
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, University of Northern British Columbia, British Columbia, Canada.
authors.forename: Heather
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Correale
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, University of Northern British Columbia, British Columbia, Canada.
authors.forename: Erica
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Clark
authors.affiliation: The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada.
authors.forename: Melanie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Barwick
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000329:Advertising; D058445:Bullying; D002170:Canada; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002648:Child; D057207:Child Restraint Systems / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002755:Choice Behavior; D004867:Equipment Design; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D015233:Models, Statistical; D010290:Parents; D010379:Peer Group