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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Environ. Econ.
Sec. Ecological Economics
Volume 3 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/frevc.2024.1373928

Exploring the Ripple Effects: The Impact of Online Information Seeking on Seafood Boycotts Following the Fukushima Incident

Provisionally accepted
Yujiao Yao Yujiao Yao 1Yutao Yang Yutao Yang 2*
  • 1 School of International Studies, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China
  • 2 School of Business, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The Fukushima nuclear wastewater leakage into the ocean has raised global concerns about the safety of seafood, but the information presented by the media is inconsistent. This study utilizes Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) to investigate the link between online information seeking and seafood boycotts. The results show that online information seeking intensifies consumers' intentions to boycott seafood. Information overload and information avoidance play a chain mediating role, where both positive and negative information overload can trigger information avoidance, ultimately strengthening consumers' boycott behavior. The findings have practical implications for formulating seafood information dissemination strategies.

    Keywords: Fukushima incident, online information seeking, seafood boycott, SOR, Information overload

    Received: 28 Jan 2024; Accepted: 12 Apr 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Yao and Yang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Yutao Yang, School of Business, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610064, Sichuan Province, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.