Michael S. WogalterThis study examined allocations of blamefor injuries sustained from the consumption of a product with a non-obvious hazard. Participants weregiven product-use scenarios that described a girl whose age was manipulated to be from 18 months to 16 years and who suffered serious brain damage after choking on a marshmallow made available to herby hermother. Supplementary information intended to be either positiveor detrimental to the manufacturer and its safety practices was either present or absent from the scenario. When present andpositive,themanufacturer puta warning on the product about the non-obvious hazard. The warning was manipulated by having color or not and a multi-frame or single-frame pictorial. Results replicated findings reported initially by Kalsher et al. (1999). When supplementary information was positive or notprovided, participants directed moreblame toward the parents of the young victim and less to the manufacturer. The opposite pattern was shown when negative supplementary information about the manufacturer and its safety practices was provided, suggesting that peopleperceived themanufacturer as irresponsible in their practices.
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