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Risk perceptions of arsenic in tap water and consumption of bottled water
Author(s) -
Jakus Paul M.,
Shaw W. Douglass,
Nguyen To N.,
Walker Mark
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
water resources research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.863
H-Index - 217
eISSN - 1944-7973
pISSN - 0043-1397
DOI - 10.1029/2008wr007427
Subject(s) - bottled water , tap water , consumption (sociology) , risk perception , water consumption , business , environmental health , environmental science , environmental engineering , perception , medicine , psychology , neuroscience , sociology , social science
The demand for bottled water has increased rapidly over the past decade, but bottled water is extremely costly compared to tap water. The convenience of bottled water surely matters to consumers, but are others factors at work? This manuscript examines whether purchases of bottled water are associated with the perceived risk of tap water. All of the past studies on bottled water consumption have used simple scale measures of perceived risk that do not correspond to risk measures used by risk analysts. We elicit a probability‐based measure of risk and find that as perceived risks rise, expenditures for bottled water rise.