Coral Safe or Skin Safe?: Risk Information Behaviors and Green Purchase Decisions

Abstract

Coral bleaching threatens coral safety and the marine environment. Coral-safe sunscreens are encouraged as a green product to protect coral reefs by many U.S. states and other nations. This study cited key variables from the planned risk information seeking and processing (PRISM) model to explore the connection between risk information behaviors and pro-environmental purchase decisions. We surveyed a sample of 409 U.S. respondents, and employed structural equation modeling for analysis. Results showed that both information seeking and processing were precursors to consumers’ product information seeking during purchasing, thereby impacting the purchase intent of coral-safe sunscreens. Systematic processing is also directly related to the purchase intent. Implications are further discussed.