UNDERSTANDING AND MANAGING CONSUMER RISK BEHAVIOR

We present a conceptual framework for policy makers to analyze consumer behavior in times of crisis. The framework provides policy makers and the agricultural industry with a tool to structure the discussion on how to communicate crises to consumers and serves as a basis for concrete marketing policy. The merits of this conceptualization are illustrated in a field study that examines the reactions of German, Dutch, and American consumers to the BSE (Mad Cow Disease) crisis.