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

Abstract

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.