Determining motivation to engage in safe food handling behaviour

Purpose: To apply the protection motivation theory to safe food handling in order to determine the efficacy of this model for four food handling behaviours: cooking food properly, reducing cross-contamination, keeping food at the correct temperature and avoiding unsafe foods. Design: A cross-section...

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Main Authors: Mullan, Barbara, Allom, Vanessa, Sainsbury, Kirby, Monds, L.
Format: Journal Article
Published: Elsevier Ltd 2016
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/23204
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author Mullan, Barbara
Allom, Vanessa
Sainsbury, Kirby
Monds, L.
author_facet Mullan, Barbara
Allom, Vanessa
Sainsbury, Kirby
Monds, L.
author_sort Mullan, Barbara
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Purpose: To apply the protection motivation theory to safe food handling in order to determine the efficacy of this model for four food handling behaviours: cooking food properly, reducing cross-contamination, keeping food at the correct temperature and avoiding unsafe foods. Design: A cross-sectional approach was taken where all protection motivation variables: perceived severity, perceived vulnerability, self-efficacy, response efficacy, and protection motivation, were measured at a single time point. Findings: Data from 206 participants revealed that the model accounted for between 40 and 48% of the variance in motivation to perform each of the four safe food handling behaviours. The relationship between self-efficacy and protection motivation was revealed to be the most consistent across the four behaviours. Implications: While a good predictor of motivation, it is suggested that protection motivation theory is not superior to other previously applied models, and perhaps a model that focuses on self-efficacy would offer the most parsimonious explanation of safe food handling behaviour, and indicate the most effective targets for behaviour change interventions. Originality: This is the first study to apply and determine the efficacy of protection motivation theory in the context of food safety.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-232042017-09-13T13:57:03Z Determining motivation to engage in safe food handling behaviour Mullan, Barbara Allom, Vanessa Sainsbury, Kirby Monds, L. Purpose: To apply the protection motivation theory to safe food handling in order to determine the efficacy of this model for four food handling behaviours: cooking food properly, reducing cross-contamination, keeping food at the correct temperature and avoiding unsafe foods. Design: A cross-sectional approach was taken where all protection motivation variables: perceived severity, perceived vulnerability, self-efficacy, response efficacy, and protection motivation, were measured at a single time point. Findings: Data from 206 participants revealed that the model accounted for between 40 and 48% of the variance in motivation to perform each of the four safe food handling behaviours. The relationship between self-efficacy and protection motivation was revealed to be the most consistent across the four behaviours. Implications: While a good predictor of motivation, it is suggested that protection motivation theory is not superior to other previously applied models, and perhaps a model that focuses on self-efficacy would offer the most parsimonious explanation of safe food handling behaviour, and indicate the most effective targets for behaviour change interventions. Originality: This is the first study to apply and determine the efficacy of protection motivation theory in the context of food safety. 2016 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/23204 10.1016/j.foodcont.2015.09.025 Elsevier Ltd fulltext
spellingShingle Mullan, Barbara
Allom, Vanessa
Sainsbury, Kirby
Monds, L.
Determining motivation to engage in safe food handling behaviour
title Determining motivation to engage in safe food handling behaviour
title_full Determining motivation to engage in safe food handling behaviour
title_fullStr Determining motivation to engage in safe food handling behaviour
title_full_unstemmed Determining motivation to engage in safe food handling behaviour
title_short Determining motivation to engage in safe food handling behaviour
title_sort determining motivation to engage in safe food handling behaviour
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/23204