Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Irrational reputational damage on wakame seaweed in Sanriku district after the Fukushima nuclear disaster: revealed preference by auction experiment

  • Original Article
  • Social Science
  • Published:
Fisheries Science Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This study investigated the Japanese consumer's willingness to pay for wakame seaweed produced along the Sanriku coastal area located north of Fukushima, which suffered irrational reputational damage owing to concerns about radioactive contamination of seafood after the 2011 disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. An auction experiment was conducted with and without information treatment on both literal and visual information on radioactive contamination for the purpose of reducing irrational reputational damage. The results show no statistically significant premium on willingness to pay for wakame when the information on radioactive contamination was provided. However, an information effect is revealed in terms of the change in purchasing decision, from no-purchase to purchase. Hence, counterpropaganda against the irrational reputational damage of radioactive contamination is effective not for price but for purchasing decisions. The information turned out to be ineffective for consumer preference possibly because a basis price under consumer preference blocks effective promotion.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. National Federation of Fisheries Cooperative Associations (2014) Zengyoren Joho No. 1876, pp 2–3 (in Japanese)

  2. Fox JA, Hayes DJ, Shogren JF (2002) Consumer preferences for food irradiation: how favorable and unfavorable descriptions affect preferences for irradiated pork in experimental auctions. J Risk Uncertain 24:75–95

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Wada T, Nemoto Y, Shimaura S, Fujita T, Mizuno T, Sohtome T, Kamiyama K, Morita T, Igarashi S (2013) Effects of the nuclear disaster on marine products in Fukushima. J Environ Radioact 124:246–254

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Tateno S, Yokoyama HM (2013) Public anxiety, trust, and the role of mediators in communicating risk of exposure to low dose radiation after the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant explosion. J Sci Commun 12:1–22

    Google Scholar 

  5. Sugita M, Miyakawa M (2013) Economic damage caused by lowered prices in the agro-food sector in areas contaminated by radioactive materials leaked from the nuclear power plant severely damaged by the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake. Environ Health Prev Med 68:207–214 (in Japanese)

    Google Scholar 

  6. Frank B, Schvaneveldt SJ (2014) Self-preservation vs. collective resilience as consumer responses to national disasters: a study on radioactive product contamination. J Conting Crisis Manag 22(4):197–208

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Bachev H, Ito F (2014) Implications of Fukushima nuclear disaster for Japanese agri-food chains. Int J Food Agric Econ 2:95–120

    Google Scholar 

  8. Bachev H, Ito F (2013) Fukushima nuclear disaster—implications for Japanese agriculture and food chains. MPRA paper 49462

  9. Koyama R, Ishii H (2014) The systemization of radioactivity inspection for food products and steps to counteract reputational damage in Fukushima, Japan. Syougaku Ronsyu 82:15–22

    Google Scholar 

  10. Ujiie K (2012) Consumer’s evaluation on radioactive contamination of agricultural products in Japan—decomposition of WTA into a part due to radioactive contamination and a part due to area of origin. Food Syst Res 19:142–155 (in Japanese)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Peterson HH, Yamaura K (2014) Ambiguity aversion and preferences for food origin post Fukushima nuclear disaster. Selected Paper prepared for presentation at the Agricultural & Applied Economics Association’s 2014 Annual Meeting, 27–29 May

  12. Miyata T, Lou X, Onodera M (2008) The competitive power of domestic seafood in a globalized Japanese market: a case of Japanese wakame. J Reg Fish 48(1–2):1–17

    Google Scholar 

  13. Vickrey W (1961) Counterspeculation, auctions, and competitive sealed tenders. J Financ 16:8–37

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Krishna V (2009) Auction theory. Academic Press, San Diego

    Google Scholar 

  15. List JA, Shogren JF (1999) Price information and bidding behavior in repeated second-price auctions. Am J Agric Econ 81:942–949

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Lusk JL, Shogren JF (2007) Experimental auctions: methods and applications in economic and marketing research: quantitative methods for applied economics and business research series. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Book  Google Scholar 

  17. Uchida H, Roheim CA, Wakamatsu H, Anderson CM (2013) Do Japanese consumers care about sustainable fisheries? Evidence from an auction of ecolabelled seafood. Aust J Agric Resour Econ 58:263–280

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This study is funded mainly by the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Council as part of the “Development research of sustainable production system in fisheries and aquacultures” project. The Federation of Iwate Fisheries Association provided us with useful information and permission to use labels. The Iwate Prefecture Fisheries Technology Center cooperated with us to make Table 1, as well as products for the auction. We are grateful for the cooperation of these organizations.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Research Institute of Fisheries Science, Fisheries Research Agency Japan, 2-12-4 Fukuura, Kanazawa, Yokohama, 236-8648, Japan

    Tsutom Miyata & Hiroki Wakamatsu

Authors
  1. Tsutom Miyata
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Hiroki Wakamatsu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Tsutom Miyata.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Miyata, T., Wakamatsu, H. Irrational reputational damage on wakame seaweed in Sanriku district after the Fukushima nuclear disaster: revealed preference by auction experiment. Fish Sci 81, 995–1002 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12562-015-0903-6

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12562-015-0903-6

Keywords

Search

Navigation