Beyond risk perception: How trust in government dominates willingness to purchase Japanese seafood after Fukushima radioactive wastewater release

Abstract

The 2023 Fukushima radioactive wastewater release announcement reignited seafood safety fears in South Korea, prompting widespread opposition to Japanese seafood imports. This study investigated factors associated with South Koreans’ willingness to purchase Japanese seafood, focusing on the multidimensional role of domestic government trust. Using text mining of YouTube comments and logistic regression analysis of nationwide survey data, we found that trust in the South Korean government was a stronger statistical predictor of purchase intention than consumers’ own risk perception. Among the dimensions of government trust, both benevolence—the belief in the government’s goodwill to protect its citizens—and trust in the information it provides emerged as significant predictors of purchase intention. This study demonstrates that during international food safety crises, public trust in their own government’s protective intent is a crucial factor in consumer behavior, potentially outweighing perceived risk itself. This study underscores the importance of domestic trust-building in mitigating the socio-economic consequences of international marine environmental crises. Such efforts are key to ensuring the stability of the international seafood trade.