Regulatory focus and food risk perceptions

According to regulatory focus theory (Higgins, 1997), there are two selfregulatory states: promotion focus, for approaching positive stimuli, and prevention focus, for avoiding negative stimuli. People's regulatory states affect their judgments concerning foods and drinks (J Pers Soc Psychol 86, 205-218 & 388-404, 2004). In this study, the effects of regulatory focus on perceptions of food-related risk were investigated for the first time. It was hypothesized that promotion focus increases perceptions of risks indicating "loss of a positive" (e.g. lowered energy level) and that prevention focus increases perceptions of risks indicating "presence of a negative" (e.g. cancer). Seventy-one participants carried out a task of regulatory focus manipulation and evaluated the seriousness and likelihood of 24 nutritional risks - 12 representing "loss of a positive" and 12 representing "presence of a negative". In repeated-measures ANOVAs, there was a main effect of regulatory focus on risk likelihood: participants in prevention focus perceived all risks as more likely. There were no effects on risk seriousness. Promotion and prevention foci seem to affect perceptions of food risks differently, even though they can affect perceptions of positive stimuli in the same way. Apparently, food risks are compatible with prevention but not promotion focus. Perceptions of the likelihood (but not the seriousness) of risk might be affected by manipulating regulatory focus, which could facilitate food risk communication.