YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED : The Effect of California's Proposition 65 Warning on Consumer Perceptions and Evaluations

With cancer rates projected to rise sharply in the coming years, identifying effective preventative health measures to address the issue has become critically important. By adopting perceived risk and signaling theory as the theoretical lens, the current research examines one such unique and underexplored intervention—the Proposition 65 warning. Across four studies, the findings show that consumers' sensitivity to the Proposition 65 warning varies by product category and geographic location. The findings also reveal that the presence (vs. absence) of the Proposition 65 warning negatively affects evaluations of not only the product, but also the retailer that sells the product. In sum, the current research aims to draw greater attention to the Proposition 65 warning as a powerful intervention and calls for policy improvement by highlighting the practical implications for manufacturers and retailers.