Testing the Effect of Different Risk Messages on Intention to Consume Animal‐Based Medicinal Wine

Owing to the high demand for animal parts for traditional medicines in Asia, the unsustainable wildlife trade remains a major threat to regional conservation efforts. We presented a video‐based randomized controlled trial intervention to over 1000 Chinese residents with medicinal needs in a Mekong region seaport. Our results showed that two intervention messages, compared to control, significantly reduced the intention of consumers to use animal‐based medicinal wine. Although structural equation models showed that both interventions directly influenced the capability, opportunity, and motivation (COM) not to purchase animal‐based medicinal wine, their indirect effects through the COM variables varied across the two treatments. Notably, the health‐risk message indirectly affected consumption intention by mediating both health‐related and legal‐related capabilities not to purchase animal‐based medicinal wine, whereas this was not observed for the legal‐risk message. Overall, our experiment provided insights into the effective design of campaigns to reduce intention to consume animal‐based medicinal wine.