Organization

Since the 2011 nuclear accident, constrained buying toward agricultural products from Fukushima has been observed. This study examines consumers’ constrained buying toward accident-related products using a hypothetical experimental setting and explores potential mitigation strategies. The results indicate that participants tended to evaluate these products negatively even when their safety was officially confirmed. Furthermore, visual stimuli promoting empathy and scientific thinking were found to reduce negative evaluations compared to the control condition.

In recent years, many communities in Japan have faced decline and shortages of local leaders, increasing the importance of pro-social behavior among residents. This study examines how “place memory,” formed through long-term living experiences, influences residents’ intention of pro-social behavior. Results show that participants recalling positive place memories reported significantly higher settlement intentions than those recalling negative memories. Positive place memory also mitigated the conflict between personal and social interests, enhancing intentions to engage in pro-social behaviors such as community clean-ups and waste sorting. Additionally, analysis of over 260 memory records using text mining suggests that positive place memories are often associated with local events, religious sites, and natural landscapes.