Information interventions and health promotion behavior: evidence from China after cadmium rice events

Based on the panel data of 777 consumers before and after the information intervention, this paper explores the effectiveness of information intervention methods that enable consumers to adopt health promotion behavior. Using the intervention methods of real testing-information, general news information, and integrated information, a difference-in-difference method is used to conduct an empirical research on the rice consumption behavior of Chinese residents. It is evident from the analysis that the three information interventions do not change the quantity of rice consumed by Chinese residents, consumers only can reduce risks by avoiding purchasing rice from where cadmium rice incidents have occurred frequently. Results of regression analysis indicate that the effect of the integrated information intervention is more effective. Consumers’ responses to information interventions are highly heterogeneous, and the effects of interventions are mainly reflected in consumers with a high degree of risk for eating cadmium rice. The value of this paper is that it not only fills the research gap in the literature on the impact of food testing information on consumer behavior, but also supplements the research on consumer behavior after the food safety crisis related to staple foodstuffs.