National Chung Hsing University, Taiwan (Hsu and Lee); National Chung Cheng University, Taiwan (Liu); National University of Kaohsiung, Taiwan (Huang)

This study examined consumer risk perceptions and knowledge of avian influenza and its linkage to behavioural changes in chicken consumption in Taiwan. It was designed to assess an area where a pandemic situation like avian influenza has not yet occurred but where the consumers in the area may feel a possible threat. Contributions of this study are intended to provide new insights into knowledge and risk perceptions of avian flu and to reveal behavioural changes in chicken consumption.

A consumer survey was administered in 3 metropolitan areas in Taiwan in 2007. Multivariate analyses were utilised in this study to analyse data. Findings in this study indicate that respondents who were more knowledgeable of avian flu and had relatively high levels of risk perceptions would be likely to stay away from birds (responding to the possible animal-to-human transmission risk) and crowds (responding to the possible human-to-human transmission risk). Respondents with relatively low levels of avian flu knowledge were likely to prefer not eating chicken at all during a possible threat of avian flu outbreaks. According to the research, respondents with low risk perception levels would be more likely to maintain usual chicken consumption than those with high risk perception levels if outbreaks of avian flu were to occur.

The contributions of this study are intended to provide new insights into knowledge and risk perceptions of avian flu and to reveal behavioural changes in chicken consumption in an area where a pandemic situation like avian flu has not occurred but is under a possible threat of an outbreak. Findings in this study might be beneficial to government administration and industry managers in designing effective information communication for educational purposes to ease the possible effect on the poultry industry, as well as the consumer market, if outbreaks occur in Taiwan.

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Avian Influenza Daily Digest, July 30 2008, and the Poultry Science, 2008, issue 87: pages 1526-1534.