2001 Volume 41 Issue 1 Pages 26-36
Protection motivation theory (PMT) suggested by Rogers (1983) is one of the theories concerning threat appeal. The purpose of this study was to explore the determinants of preventive intentions for endocrine disrupters (estrogen mimics), by using the PMT framework. Independent variables were (1) threat (high or low), (2) response efficacy (high or low), (3) response cost (high or low), and (4) gender (men or women). Four hundred university students (200 men and 200 women) were assigned to one of 16 experimental groups. After experimental groups were exposed to threat messages, they were asked to respond to questionnaires. The results of ANOVA showed that preventive intentions for endocrine disrupters were promoted by threat and response efficacy, and the intentions of women were higher than those of men. Moreover, supplementary hierarchical regression analysis revealed that severity, vulnerability, response efficacy, self efficacy, intrinsic reward, gender and fear influenced the preventive intentions for endocrine disrupters.
