Áine Regan

Food crisis coverage by social and traditional media: A case study of the 2008 Irish dioxin crisis.

The world of communication has changed significantly in the last decade as a result of the evolution of social media. Food crisis managers and communicators should be cognizant of the messages presented to the public by all media channels during a crisis. Using the 2008 Irish dioxin contamination incident as an example, a quantitative content analysis was carried out to investigate the relationship between social and traditional media. Messages published in printed newspapers (n = 141), blogs and forums (n = 107), and Twitter (n = 68) were analysed to investigate sourcing practice, story topic and use of tone. Results revealed that traditional media relied on diverse offline sources in reporting a wide range of topics. In comparison, social media responded faster and diminished faster, using offline and online media news messages as the primary sources in reporting very limited topics. No significant difference was found in the presence of negative tone across media.

Strategies for dismissing dietary risks: Insights from user-generated comments online

Communication around chronic dietary risks has proved challenging as dietary health risks are ostensibly met with attenuated perceptions of their likelihood and consequences. In this article, we examine the strategies that an online public use to negotiate risk messages from expert stakeholders that may be incongruent with their own position on a risk. Progressing from conceptualisations of amplification as laid out in the social amplification of risk framework, we are particularly interested in understanding whether and how amplifications of risk may be attributed towards other stakeholders. The article presents an analysis of comments posted on a website oriented to a British audience. These comments were left by members of the public in reply to two online media articles published in 2012 reporting on an epidemiological study carried out in the United States on the risks of red meat consumption. We found that the comments generally expressed resistance to the risk message, embodied in two main strategies. The first strategy was to discount the message itself by deploying rules of thumb that undermined the applicability of the general risk message to the particularities of the individual. The second strategy was to undermine the risks by casting doubt on the credibility of the message source. Together, these strategies allowed the commenters to argue that the risks and the process of communicating them resulted in an exaggerated picture. These findings highlight that by attributing amplification to others, further polarisation of risk views between stakeholders may occur. Thinking about amplification as an attribution provides a distinct and significant conceptual contribution to the study of incongruent risk responses.

A framework of social media engagement

Social media engagement has potential to improve organisational responsiveness.We develop a framework based on case studies with UK and Irish organisations.The framework facilitates a more interactive and proactive view of responsiveness.Social interactions, content strategies and information sources are key elements. For organisations that interface with a large audience (i.e. governments, businesses, consumer bodies, non-profits), there are expectations that engagement on social media can improve responsiveness. The paper develops a framework of social media engagement based on a case study with food governance and consumer organisations in the UK and Ireland. Application of the framework identifies three key capabilities that can frame the contribution of social media engagement in this context: (1) consistency in managing social interactions, (2) creating content to engage with specific audiences and (3) using social media as information sources to develop network alertness. Moving beyond simply characterising social media engagement in terms of the speed and volume of social interactions, this study contributes to a more systematic examination of the concept as an enabler of organisational responsiveness.

Risk communication and social media during food safety crises: a study of stakeholders’ opinions in Ireland

Social media is a particular communication platform which has witnessed an exponential growth in use and influence in recent years, democratising the communication process, and offering risk communicators a way of putting into practice those principles which are advocated to be at the core of risk management and communication. However, little is known about stakeholders’ willingness to embrace this new form of communication in a food crisis. The current study presented an exploratory investigation of the opinions of Irish stakeholders on the position of risk communication in a crisis, with a particular focus on understanding what application social media may have. In-depth one-to-one interviews were carried out with key stakeholders holding frontline positions in managing and communicating about risk in the food sector in Ireland. The stakeholders identified risk communication as a central activity in a food safety crisis, driven by an obligation to protect both consumer health and the reputation of the Irish food sector. Stakeholders relied primarily on risk communication to disseminate information in a crisis so to educate and inform the public on a risk and to prevent confusion and alarmism; most did not explicitly value two-way risk communication in a crisis. The ability to effectively manage future crises may depend on stakeholders’ willingness to adapt to the changing communication landscape, namely – their willingness to adopt social media and use it effectively. The findings indicate that the stakeholders interviewed are appreciative of the need to engage with social media in times of a food safety crisis. However, most valued social media as a one-way channel to help spread a message and there was little reference to the interactive nature of this medium. Implications for integrating social media into crisis risk communication strategies are discussed.

Conceptualising responsibility in the aftermath of the horsemeat adulteration incident: an online study with Irish and UK consumers

Understanding how consumers react to what is happening as a crisis evolves is crucial for those charged with risk management and risk communication. Responsibility, blame and accountability are important concepts in any crisis, particularly when consumer confidence has been damaged. In this article, we examine to what extent, and to what effect, responsibility, blame and accountability figure in consumer reactions in the immediate aftermath of a food crisis. The data we draw on in this article is derived from an online engagement study that took place in ‘real time’ as the crisis unfolded. Through this study, we were able to explore how consumers responded to the adulteration of processed beef products with horsemeat in early 2013 in Ireland and the UK. We found that consumers attributed causal responsibility and allocated blame for the adulteration to three factors: the deliberately deceitful practices of the food industry, the complexity of the food supply chain and demand from (other) consumers for cheap food. We found that consumers were willing to begin the process of rebuilding their confidence in the food system and accountability was viewed as the primary means for restoring confidence.

Consumer views on “healthier” processed meat

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate consumer attitudes towards and interest in enriching processed meat with healthy ingredients (“functional processed meat”). Design/methodology/approach – Seven focus groups across age and gender were conducted. Discussions were analysed using an inductive thematic approach. Findings – Strategies that participants felt as important for improving the healthiness of processed meat mainly included the use of better quality meat and less salt, fat, preservatives and other additives. “Functional processed meat” was a new concept for participants. Four themes were constructed to reflect participants’ attitudes towards functional processed meat: opposing views on processed meat as a carrier of healthy ingredients; belief in the health benefits of functional processed meat; perceived value of functional processed meat for different consumer groups; and trust and perceived risk surrounding the functional food concept. A large proportion of the participants were ...

Patterns of sedentary behaviours in Irish female adolescents.

Engagement in excessive sedentary behaviour represents a health risk for adolescents. The current study aimed to investigate patterns of sedentary behaviour amongst Irish female adolescents aged between 15 and 19 years old. 314 adolescents completed a questionnaire on their sedentary behaviour habits, health behaviours (physical activity, smoking, and alcohol use), enjoyment of sedentary behaviour, value on health, and sedentary facilitators in their home. Parents provided information on parental education, the childs weight and height, and parental sedentary behaviour habits. Cluster analysis found that five distinct sedentary clusters existed in this sample: Unproductive/Social Sedentary, Reading/Productive Behaviours, Mixed Sedentary Interests, Restricted Interests/High Television, and Academic Sedentary. The clusters differed on smoking and alcohol use, enjoyment of sedentary behaviour, and parental engagement in sedentary behaviour. The findings from this study support the use of a socio-ecological framework for investigating the development of sedentary behaviour patterns.

Consumer preferences towards healthier reformulation of a range of processed meat products: A qualitative exploratory study

In response to increasing public health concerns about processed meat consumption, many innovations in meat technology focus on health-oriented product reformulations. Processed meat is not a homogeneous food category. The purpose of this paper is to explore consumer perception of the “healthier” reformulation of different processed meat products using two approaches: salt and fat reduction; and enrichment with healthy ingredients.,Seven focus group interviews were carried out with 40 Irish regular meat consumers (30 female, ten male) who were solely or jointly responsible for food shopping. Two rounds of card sorting procedures were employed to reveal perceptions on reformulation of 20 different processed meat products. Thematic analysis was used for analysing transcripts.,Health and flavour concerns and product popularity were the main factors influencing participants’ perceptions. Some participants were unsure or had misconceptions about the healthiness of certain meat products. Participants suggested reducing salt and fat content in processed meat products they perceived as the least healthy ones (theme 1) and improving the healthiness of products which were favoured by children (theme 2) and those meat products which people consumed regularly as a source of protein (theme 3). Participants were not in favour of any reformulation of speciality-type products (theme 4).,Consumer insights identified in this study can inform future approaches to making processed meats healthier.

Exploring Coverage of the 2008 Irish Dioxin Crisis in the Irish and UK Newsprint Media

ABSTRACT The 2008 dioxin crisis occurred as a result of contamination of Irish pork. The event had significant implications for Ireland’s economy and the reputation of its agricultural industry, as well as raising concerns for human health. This study describes the results of a content analysis of Irish and UK newspaper coverage of the 2008 Irish dioxin crisis, as this is likely to provide insight into how public perceptions of this issue were shaped. Articles from 16 print publications were systematically sampled for the period December 2008 to February 2009. The resulting data set of 141 articles was examined using a coding protocol developed based on previous research and refined during piloting. Results indicated that the dioxin crisis was primarily portrayed by the media as an industry/economic crisis, dominant in 26.9% of articles in the sample. Within this dominant portrayal, the agricultural industry was frequently cited as being in crisis (42.6%); however, the implications of the crisis on the wider economic environment also received attention (17.7%). Differences between Irish and UK-based media were also examined, revealing that while the Irish media most frequently described the crisis in terms of its impact on the industry and economy, the UK media were more likely to portray the crisis as a risk to health. These dominant media messages and message framings have implications for the public understanding of the issue in each country and potential consequences regarding perception of the adequacy of existing food policy and regulatory oversight.

Applying a Consumer Behavior Lens to Salt Reduction Initiatives

Reformulation of food products to reduce salt content has been a central strategy for achieving population level salt reduction. In this paper, we reflect on current reformulation strategies and consider how consumer behavior determines the ultimate success of these strategies. We consider the merits of adopting a ‘health by stealth’, silent approach to reformulation compared to implementing a communications strategy which draws on labeling initiatives in tandem with reformulation efforts. We end this paper by calling for a multi-actor approach which utilizes co-design, participatory tools to facilitate the involvement of all stakeholders, including, and especially, consumers, in making decisions around how best to achieve population-level salt reduction.