Consumers' Response to the Information Provided about Contamination of the Food by Radioactive Materials

The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident brought about extensive diffusion of radioactive materials. Although the contamination by the radioactive material of food has been suppressed to a low level, since the radioactive material is a hazard which had not been faced until now, consumers are worried and confused. The scientific information about the radioactive material in food was summarized as a slide show, and how consumers' behavior would change with these slide shows was analyzed. The cucumber was chosen as the representative of agricultural products for the consumers who live in Fukushima Prefecture, the metropolitan area, and the Kansai region, and the research was done by the Internet. The agricultural products from Fukushima are avoided by consumers and the slide show was changing consumers' preference. Although this paper shows the validity of scientific information dissemination, the fact that consumers' evaluation to a slide show was divided shows the difficulty of such communication about a radioactive material. It will be effective to offer objective data to the consumers whose anxiety grade is comparatively small.