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Human Factors: The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society
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Linguistic and Location Effects in Compliance with Pesticide Warning Labels for Amateur and Professional Users

Judy Edworthy

University of Plymouth, Plymouth, United Kingdom

Elizabeth Hellier

University of Plymouth, Plymouth, United Kingdom

Nicola Morley

University of Lancaster, Lancaster, United Kingdom

Clare Grey

University of Plymouth, Plymouth, United Kingdom

Kirsteen Aldrich

University of Plymouth, Plymouth, United Kingdom

Andrew Lee

University of Plymouth, Plymouth, United Kingdom

Three studies explored amateur and professional users' compliance with pesticide warning labels. Professionals were classified as people working in a profession in which the use of pesticides is a necessary part of their job. Amateurs used pesticides only in their leisure time. The first study showed that the wording used affected perception of the appropriateness of hazard statements, one of the most effective variations being the use of the personal pronoun (statements beginning "You should..."). The location of warning information was also found to affect actual compliance: Compliance increased when warning information was presented in the directions for use section. A supplemental directive increased compliance only for professional users. In a final study, "best-case" and "worst-case" linguistic variations were combined with best-case and worst-case locations for safety information. Instruction statements using the personal pronoun and presented in the directions for use section resulted in the highest levels of compliance. The differences in compliance between amateur and professional users are interpreted within the framework of Rasmussen's (1986) distinction among skill-, rule-, and knowledgebased behavior. Actual or potential applications of this research include the design of warning labels and safety information.

Human Factors: The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, Vol. 46, No. 1, 11-31 (2004)
DOI: 10.1518/hfes.46.1.11.30383
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