Confidence lost and - partially - regained:: consumer response to food scares

In a model of individual information processing a two step risk perception process is proposed. First, differences in the reliability between single types of suppliers are captured by subjective failure probabilities. Second, trust in an individual supplier is defined as the subjective probability that he is a reliable one. This contrasts the standard assumption of a single step risk perception process based on 'objective' probability information. The analysis shows that the typically observed consumer response to food scares, i.e. a sharp decline in demand, followed by a slow and often incomplete recovery, may thus be explained. Furthermore, implications concerning the information strategies of suppliers with respect to food safety are derived. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.