Current activites in the field of child safety within CEN aand ISO

Abstract

Many countries have implemented safety and performance requirements for children's products. There is, however, a need to harmonize existing legislation and standards to facilitate a uniform flow of trade. At the same time, it is essential to extend existing requirements to restrict certain hazards which have not been covered in the past.

In CEN, the European Committee for standardization, several technical committees are developing European Standards for products to be used by or for children. On a global level as well, within ISO, there are standardization projects covering such products.

Child safety is the main objective for the standardization work on:

?Safety of toys (CENATC 52, ISO/TC 181)

? Child use and care articles (CEN/TC 252)

?Playground equipment for children LCEN/TC 136/SC 1)

? Children's furniture (CEN/TC 207, ISO/TC 136(

?Child-resistant packaging (CEN/TC 261/SC 2, ISO/TC 122) Children's products constitute a group of consumer products with large variations between the different products. Nevertheless, since they all come in contact with children (and their parents), several hazards associated with these products are similar for the various products. This is reflected in the work of CEN/TC 252, Child use and care articles, established in 1990.

To establish a horizontal framework for the hazard-based approach, CEN/ TC 252 created a working group with the task to specify general and common safety requirements (WG 6). Five working groups started the elaboration of product standards in parallel.

The traditional concept of a standardization project was found inadequate and other solutions were sought. Finally, it was decided to combine the results from working group 6 into one guidance document, to be published as a CEN Report.     

Perceived hazardousness of child-care products and the effectiveness of safety information

Abstract

In the present study, the hazardousness of child-care products as perceived by parents of young children between o and 4 years of age was investigated. Some related factors, such as perceived likelihood of injury, perceived severity of injury, and familiarity with the product, were also studied. Perceived hazardousness is strongly related to the effectiveness of safety information. The results indicate that parents do not think of child-care products as hazardous, and they appear to be very familiar with most of the products investigated. Perceived hazardousness was found to be most strongly related to perceived likelihood of injury and somewhat less strongly to perceived severity of injury. No relationship was found between either perceived hazardousness and familiarity or between perceived hazardousness and objective accident frequencies. It was concluded from this study that, because the perceived hazardousness of child-care products is low, the effectiveness of safety information provided with these products will also be low. Recommendations for improving the effectiveness of safety information are provided.     

The Use of Vivid Stimuli to Enhance Comprehension of the Content of Product Warning Messages

Thousands of consumers are injured annually using consumer products. It is intuitively plausible that vivid product warnings may improve communication of the hazards associated with product use, yet vividness effects have been difficult to demonstrate empirically. Vivid product warnings are shown to increase accurate memory of the hazards associated with product use by enhancing cognitive elaboration on the content of a product warning message. Moreover, vivid product warnings may not, in and of themselves, generate negative elaborations regarding the safety of the product in question.     

What information belongs in a warning?

A general approach is described for determining the information content of warnings. It begins with a formal analysis of the magnitudes of the risks arising from misuse (or even from proper use) of a product. It proceeds with structured, open-ended interviews intended to elicit consumers' naive conceptualizations of the processes creating and controlling those risks. Communications are then focused on information filling the most consequential gaps in their knowledge. The implementation of those warnings will depend on the extent of the knowledge gaps, and the opportunities for closing them. This approach allows for an estimate of the residual problems to be expected, if a warning program is implemented. It can also help to focus the policy debate over whether a product warning will achieve an acceptable level of misunderstanding. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Designing warnings to compensate for age-related changes in perceptual and cognitive abilities

A variety of individual difference variables affect whether or not someone notices, encodes, comprehends, and complies with a warning. Failures at any of these stages reduce the effectiveness of warnings. Development of effective warnings must be based on understanding the characteristics of the product user. As the population grows older, consideration of age-related changes in perceptual and cognitive abilities becomes more relevant to the warning designer. For example, aging researchers have identified a variety of changes in the visual system (e.g., acuity, contrast sensitivity, and color discrimination) and cognitive function (e.g., working memory and reading comprehension). By considering the abilities of the product user, the impact of these age-related changes may be minimized. The goal of this article is to describe findings from research on aging and to make recommendations about how designers can increase the effectiveness of warnings for the older adult. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Comprehension of Warnings and Resulting Attitudes

This study demonstrates that education level and warning vocabulary affect consumer reactions to warnings. Consumers who did not complete high school were not able to comprehend warnings that contained difficult vocabulary as well as warnings with simple words. They perceived products that carry warnings with simple words as safer than products labeled with warnings containing difficult words. Finally, consumers with more education were found to have more negative attitudes toward warnings with difficult words than warnings with simple words despite understanding the warnings equally well.     

前景性高技术产品项目开发与风险分析

本文认为,前景性高技术产品是具有先进性、市场优势及产业化前景的高技术成果,其生产技术具有先进性、成熟性和规模经济性等特征,其开发风险大,成功率低,是企业培植核心竞争力的关键所在。文章指出,人力资源、标准化工作程序、有效合理的授权体系、矩阵式组织结构、有效沟通、项目成功标准是实施前景性高技术产品项目开发必须具备的基础条件。为控制前景性高技术产品项目开发中存在的技术风险、市场风险、财务风险、法律风险、组织风险等一系列风险,必须建立良好的风险管理机制以及风险预测应对机制,保证前景性高技术产品项目开发的顺利进行。     

Alcohol Warning Labels in the UK

Abstract

In July 2003, it was reported that twelve alcoholics were attempting to sue drink manufacturers for failing to warn them of the dangers of drinking alcohol. This alleged failure to warn is remarkably similar to the alleged failure to warn on which the flood of tobacco claims in the United States and Europe was based, resulting in a dramatic increase in regulation, including the requirement that tobacco products must carry health warnings.

Could this gentle trickle of interest in litigating against alcoholic drinks manufacturers be the beginning of a torrent of tobacco-style regulation and litigation?

This article examines the history of the health warning and asks whether it is likely that alcohol health warnings will become mandatory in Europe and, more specifically, the United Kingdom.     

Revisions of labeling for personal watercraft: Part 1 – label development

This two-part paper presents a comprehensive case study related to the development and evaluation of warning labels. In particular, this two-part paper describes the development and evaluation of revised warning labels applicable to a class of products known as personal watercraft (PWCs), and serves as an example application of a general warnings design process described by Frantz et al. Part 1, presented in this paper, includes the process of project planning, identifying and analyzing hazards, and developing two preliminary warning labels to address PWC operational hazards. Included are discussions regarding the methods used to address problems frequently encountered in the development of warning labels. Topics of these discussions include the prioritization and selection of hazards to be addressed, message development strategies, avoiding information overload, and organizing the presentation of information using human factors models and concepts. The work conducted in Part 1 resulted in two preliminary labels: one label dealing with issues related to Collision Avoidance and a second label dealing with General Operational Hazards. Part 2, the companion article, describes the process of evaluating and revising the preliminary labeling to produce the final labels. Discussions regarding the methods used to address challenges related to the evaluation and revision of warning labels are provided. As a result of the entire process, revised labels for PWCs with increased uniformity will be used by PWC manufacturers, although flexibility for specific model features or future changes in design will be retained.     

Adolescents’ Assessments of Advertisements for Unhealthy Food: an Example of Warning Labels for Soft Drinks

The potential of advertising to deceive young adolescents is problematic especially when it results in unhealthy food choices. Health warnings are supposed to raise awareness of the risky nature of a food product. However, these warnings compete for consumer’s attention with other advertising components set by marketers, such as product claims, visual frames, and images. To examine perception, attitudes, and behavioural intentions towards an ad, adolescents were exposed with fictitious soft drink advertisements in an experimental design. Hereby, we systematically varied warning labels and visual frames as key design elements of the advertisement. Results suggest that the effects of warnings on attitudes and purchase intention are mitigated by accompanying advertising elements. A single positive visual cue is sufficient to provoke purchase intentions. Overall, distraction from health warnings peaks in the youngest age groups and decreases with age. Findings raise concerns about how public health regulations on advertisements should be designed when the purpose is to inform especially younger adolescents of possible health risks. We discuss several implications for ethical marketing techniques of food products.     

Improving product instruction compliance: “If you tell me why,I might comply”

Although prior research into product instructions has been limited to investigating the effect of warnings such that people might avoid possible product dangers by heeding warnings, this research considers methods of improving consumer product instruction compliance when noncompliance with a product instruction does not necessarily lead to a hazardous situation. In particular, this research investigates the impact of providing instructions that specify the process by which compliance with the instructions will lead to the desired end state (e.g., product outcome), called process‐cause information. The results of a first field experiment indicate that intention to comply with product instructions is enhanced when people are told how compliance with the instructions will lead to the desired outcome (i.e., when process‐cause information is included in a product instruction). This finding is substantiated by results of a follow‐up laboratory experiment where subject compliance with an instruction‐based behavior was observed. The importance of the present research is discussed in terms of the potential impacts on customer satisfaction, service recovery, product returns, product liability, and warranties. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals.     

基于BP人工神经网络中国光伏产业贸易摩擦预警研究

建立有效的贸易摩擦预警系统有利于中国新兴产业的健康发展,有利于中国实施制造强国战略。将警兆信号法与人工神经网络相结合,从宏观经济形势、产业供给能力、双边贸易状况、市场需求水平等四个维度切入,构建了中国光伏产品出口贸易摩擦预警系统模型。预警分析表明,模型的预警效果与现实拟合较好,具有可行性。从模型的预警结果来看,2019年~2020年中国输美光伏产品贸易摩擦警情均低于轻警级别,仍面临一定的贸易摩擦风险。     

Brand personality inference: The moderating role of product meaning

Abstract

This study draws on categorisation theory to investigate how consumers make brand personality inferences. Its purpose is to determine the basic category at which consumers make brand personality inferences and whether this level varies for functional and symbolic products. Experimental results show that the basic level of categorisation for brand personality inferences is the brand level for symbolic products and the product type level for functional products. These findings suggest that managers may have less latitude to adopt diverse personalities for functional than symbolic products. The study also demonstrates that, in contrast to prior work, future research on brand personality should consider a wider range of sources of personality.     

Do Plain Packaging and Pictorial Warnings Affect Smokers' and Non‐Smokers' Behavioral Intentions?

This research considers how tobacco warnings, plain packaging, and interactions between these measures affect behavioral intentions. While existing literature shows the superiority of pictorial warning labels (PWLs ) vs. text‐only tobacco warnings, few studies have examined the interaction effects of warnings and plain packaging on smoking intentions. Nor has earlier work examined the influence of smoking status (smoker vs. non‐smoker) on both warning and plain packaging effectiveness. Our experimental study addressed this gap by surveying 338 individuals using a factorial design with two manipulated factors (PWLs vs. text‐only warnings; plain pack vs. current branded tobacco pack). Results show that the plain pack and warnings work independently and in unison to influence smokers' and non‐smokers' behavioral intentions. The findings are particularly relevant to the many countries currently considering plain packaging and facing opposition from tobacco companies.     

Eye-tracking evidence that happy faces impair verbal message comprehension: the case of health warnings in direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical television commercials

Risk warning or disclosure information in advertising is only effective in correcting consumers’ judgments if enough cognitive capacity is available to process that information. Hence, comprehension of verbal warnings in TV commercials may suffer if accompanied by positive visual elements. This research addresses this concern about cross-modality interference in the context of direct-to-consumer (DTC) pharmaceutical commercials in the United States by experimentally testing whether positive facial expressions reduce consumers’ understanding of the mandated health warning. A content analysis of a sample of DTC commercials reveals that positive facial expressions are more prevalent during the verbal warning act of the commercials than during the other acts. An eye-tracking experiment conducted with specially produced DTC commercials, which vary the valence of characters’ facial expressions during the health warning, provides evidence that happy faces reduce objective comprehension of the warning.     

Diversity in product symbolism: The case of female executive clothing

Many social roles are associated with and identified by product symbols. Yet, frequently, there is much ambiguity among consumers regarding which products denote a given role, and the specific products which communicate desired role attributes. The study examines factors influencing the diversity of clothing symbols associated with the female executive role. A conceptual framework focusing on role-related variables, aesthetic versus instrumental attitudes towards clothing, and information sources consulted in relation to clothing choice is developed and tested on data from a national survey of female executives.     

The use of visual warnings in social marketing: The case of tobacco

Despite strong interest on the part of tobacco health practitioners, the effect of graphic warnings inserted on cigarette packs is unclear on several levels. First, the most effective themes for such messages have not been clearly identified by researchers. Second, no research has identified the ideal combination of self-efficacy and fear appeal warnings that should be inserted on cigarette packs, according to Protection Motivation Model principles. The exploratory study we conducted with French consumers to test the effectiveness of new graphic warnings proposed by the European Union in 2004 clearly demonstrates that visual messages, as opposed to text warnings, are more effective. This study also enabled us to identify the most effective themes of the European set: health warnings and social messages. Regarding future public health applications, if fear appeals are used, they need to be combined with self-efficacy and cessation support messages since they provoke avoidance reactions.     

Consumer input in standardization: a case study of toy safety

Abstract

Ever since the ‘new approach’ to the achievement of the Internal Market was adopted, the importance of European Standardization has increased. The standardization institutes are now responsible for the technical elaboration of requirements touching upon health and safety of consumers. Therefore, it is of major importance for consumer movements to have an input in the process. In this study, the consumer interest articulation in the ‘new approach’ policy-making process is looked into. The role consumer organizations play in both the pre-standardization and the actual standardization stage are dealt with. Toy safety is taken as a case-study, and the information for the research was mainly gathered from interviews with about 30 representatives of European and national consumer movements, government agencies and industry involved in this field

The study shows that the influence of consumers in the pre-standardization stage, when a directive is drafted and a mandate negotiated between the European Commission and the standardization institutes, is limited

As concerns the standardization stage, consumers have representation in technical committees and working groups of the European standardization institutes. The participation of European and national representatives is compared

The main findings of this research are that consumer input in the actual standardization process is crucial, since their input in the pre-standardization phase is limited. In addition to this, the European and the national consumer representatives are not equally successful in assuring consumer input in this particular policy area. The causes for this difference are considered.     

A heuristic-systematic processing analysis of the effectiveness of product warning labels

In this article we present the heuristic-systematic model (Chaiken, 1980, 1987; Chaiken, Liberman, & Eagly, 1989) as a theoretical framework for research on product warning labels. The model proposes two fundamental information processing modes. When processing systematically, perceivers access, scrutinize, and integrate all useful information to reach their judgment. In contrast, heuristic processing involves the use of learned knowledge structures in the form of simple decision rules, or cognitive heuristics, to reach judgments. In addition to proposing when either or both of these processing modes will occur, and with what effect, the model also specifies three different underlying types of processing motivations, termed accuracy, defense, and impression, each with implications for information processing and judgments. This model is used to explain past findings on the effectiveness of product warning labels, and to suggest new areas for future research as well as practical guidelines for the design of warning labels. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.