Journal of International Fisheries
vol.16，2017▶Article ◀

Impact of Information Gathering Behavior and Residential Distance on Risk
Preferences against Reputational Harm Caused by the Fukushima Disaster inJapan
Ienori TATEFUKU†, Hiroaki SUGINO＊ and Taro OISHI＊＊（Nihon University／＊The University of Tokyo／＊＊Fukuoka Institute ofTechnology）
E-mail：tatefuku.ienori@nihon-u.ac.jp【abstract】
The massive earthquake that hit Japan on March 11, 2011, triggered an accident in the
Fukushima No.1 nuclear power plant, adversely affecting the marine productprocessing industry by reputational harm. In order to find a solution, this paper
examines the effects of information-gathering behavior and the distance from the power
plant on the level of anxiety of processed marine products in the Miyagi prefecture, next
to Fukushima prefecture. Ordered probit models with an instrumental variable were
employed to estimate models without the endogeneity problem. The results indicate
information-gathering behavior does not significantly affect the level of anxiety when
considering the instrumental variables. On the other hand, the distance from the power
plant was found to be correlated with such anxiety. Consequently, this study suggested
that the farther the people lived from the plant, the higher was their tendency to avoid
buying processed marine products made in the Miyagi prefecture, without gathering
relevant information about the consumability of the products.
【keywords】
reputational harm, restrained buying, risk information, ordered probit model

1．Introduction
1-1．Research Background
The accident that occurred at Tokyo Electric Power Company’s (TEPCO) Fukushima
No. 1 nuclear power plant on March 11, 2011, released radioactive material into thesurrounding areas, predominantly in the eastern part of the Fukushima prefecture.
Consequently, on March 21, 2011, the Japanese government issued shipping
restrictions on agricultural, forestry, and fishery products from the Fukushima, Ibaraki,-1-

Ienori TATEFUKU, Hiroaki SUGINO and Taro OISHI

Tochigi, and Gunma prefectures amid concerns of damage to people’s health that could
occur from ingesting such products from the region. Initially, the shipping restrictions
were applied to 3 products but were later expanded to apply to 203 products in total
from 15 prefectures (the Independent Investigation Commission on the Fukushima
Nuclear Accident (2014), pp. 126-127). These shipping restrictions are gradually being
relaxed as inspection systems have been established and the safety of the areas has
been verified. Moreover, the fisheries operating around the affected area were orderedby the fisheries’ unions to voluntarily refrain from catching fish until a safety
confirmation was obtained. Consequently, only the marine products whose safety wasverified have been distributed in markets. However, despite the safety inspection of
products from the affected areas, in many cases, transaction volumes and prices remain
low. This situation has prompted concerns that damages from groundless information
are possibly being spread due to (1) excessive anxiety among consumers anddistributors regarding possible radioactive contamination of products from the affectedareas, and (2) miscommunication with the consumers (e.g. Kainou (2013) and Kudo andNakayachi (2014)). Such continuous miscommunication could interfere with theaffected area’s revitalization since fishery is one of the basic industries in the Tohoku
area (Abe (2014)). Therefore, this matter necessitates an immediate solution. However,in addition to fisheries, there are other entities, such as municipal organizations andconsumers, who are involved with this issue. Communication, which is presumed to be
the base of the reputational harm, is diversified in recent Japan, and this situation has
made it difficult to handle all problems simultaneously. Consequently, there is anincreasing demand for further studies in several related issues.
1-2．Previous studies
The term “reputational harm” is understood and used in several ways in Japan.
Literally speaking, it means harmful result caused by wild rumors. However, Sekiya(2003) defined reputational harm as “(economical) harm caused by restrained
consuming and/or sightseeing behavior, for the safety-verified products and/or places,
because an incident, accident, environmental pollution, or disaster is covered
extensively by the media.” He pointed out that reputational harm in Japan is usually
not caused by wild rumors, but tends to be generated based on some facts or issues thathave happened in reality. The Dispute Reconciliation Committee for Nuclear Damage
Compensation recognized the reputational harm caused by the nuclear plant accident
as damage related to the accident and therefore subject to compensation. This is-2-Impact of Information Gathering Behavior and Residential Distance on Risk Preferences
against Reputational Harm Caused by the Fukushima Disaster in Japanbecause it led to the rejection of the market since people have been restrained frombuying agricultural, forestry, and fishery products to avoid the risk of radioactive
contamination (Dispute Reconciliation Committee for Nuclear Damage Compensation,
Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (2011)).
Corresponding to this reputational harm, the relevant ministries and agencies (e.g.
the Consumer Affairs Agency) have started disseminating important information about
the food, such as, radioactive risks, verified safety, verification standards for radioactive
substances, and system of shipping restriction, through their respective official
websites.
The range of reputational harm is not limited to agricultural, forestry, and marine
products, but other tangible products such as personal or real estates, and evenintangible services provided by the tourism industry are also included (Dispute
Reconciliation Committee for Nuclear Damage Compensation, Ministry of Education,
Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (2011)). However, since consumers areprimarily concerned about the quality standards of the food they consume, the media,
and the government and related agencies have directed their initiatives towards
information dissemination. Accordingly, this research focuses on the reputational harmof food, especially marine products, and the factors determining consumers’ decisions (1).
1-3．Targeted factors
In a broad sense, the concrete reputational harm (e.g. avoiding buying food produced
around the affected area) can be generated by “accumulation of consumers’ active riskavoiding behavior” (Kikkawa et al. (2001)). It is assumed that consumers worry about
the risks of taking such food.
In particular, the risk that Japan experienced through the accident is theunpredictable “new risk” which can be experienced in the “risk society” filled withhighly developed technology (Beck (1986), Azuma and Ito (Trans.) (1998)). Lau (1989)
also categorized risks into three types, including “new risk” that is engendered bymodern science to a certain level, and can neither be positively solved nor predicted byscience. To add to the examples of “new risk,” Mikami (2010) selected natural disasters
and new kinds of virus beyond scientific prediction. Beck (1986) mentioned that people
must rely on themselves to face the personalized risks in a global risk society. Based on
this idea, Yanase (2012) indicated that the estimation of the levels of radioactivity
present in the food is left up to the judgment of the individual consumer. Consequently,
the problem of food and the risk of radiation are related to individual responsibility due-3-Ienori TATEFUKU, Hiroaki SUGINO and Taro OISHI

to lack of risk information, and not the problem of scientific technology or economic
policies.
In societies where risks are personalized and left up to individual responsibility,
people need to search for information in order to relieve anxiety due to ambiguity andinformation uncertainty, in the wake of natural or artificial disasters and crises(Hirschburg et al. (1986)). Traditionally, consumers get information throughnewspapers, television, and radio. Kikkawa and Ueno (2007) stated the importance of
the impact of harmful reputation in Japan caused by mass media based on theirresearch on fluctuations caused by avian influenza in the price of poultry. Additionally,
a number of studies have been conducted on information-gathering behaviors related
to the incident discussed in this research. For example, Sekiya et al. (2012) compiled
the data about the information-gathering actions taken by people living around Tokyo
when the 2011 Tohoku earthquake occurred. They specifically observed that people
utilized social media as another information-gathering method (or also informationdissemination method at the same time), in addition to traditional mass media.
1-4．Research purpose
In particular, it appears that there are two types of concerns among consumers
toward this new risk relevant to the accident in Fukushima: (1) anxiety regarding
radioactivity, which is based on knowledge and information, and (2) an insidious senseof concern regarding radioactivity, which is not based on knowledge or information. The
consumers having the latter type of concern seem to be particularly susceptible torumors because they do not rely on knowledge and information. Besides, either can beincreased or decreased by being more informed about the risks involved. A reverse
causality that the anxiety toward processed marine products from the Miyagi
prefecture affects information-gathering behavior is conceivable.
Moreover, with reference to the types of concerns discussed above, the distance of aresidential area from the disaster area should be considered. Gu et al. (2012) examined
this issue in terms of an area’s distance from a given disaster risk site. Specifically, they
performed empirical analysis of the relationship between land prices and distance from
active geological fault lines. They determined that the change in risk perception that
occurred in the wake of the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake affected land prices
according to the distance of the land from the active fault line. In the case of such ahuge earthquake, it is logical to assume that land prices would increase in proportion
to the distance from the active fault line, because its de facto risk is lower. In contrast,-4-

Impact of Information Gathering Behavior and Residential Distance on Risk Preferences
against Reputational Harm Caused by the Fukushima Disaster in Japanit seems inherently logical that regional differences should not affect the degree ofanxiety felt toward food products that may be radioactively contaminated (at least in
the opinion of consumers, whether or not this is, in fact, the case). This is because
irrespective of the consumer's area of residence, anyone can eat the products made indisaster area, thereby causing no difference in the degree of anxiety among people. On
the other hand, it is also conceivable that recent people proactively obtain informationfrom the Internet and the amount of concerns for radioactivity depends on the interestsand proactiveness of individual consumers, instead of geographical distances. Even inthis case, however, it can be expected that with increasing physical distance from theaffected areas, the degree of vague anxiety also increases due to the proportional
decrease in real knowledge and information based on actual visits and experience inthe affected areas.
Therefore, this study examines the degree of anxiety towards marine products
originating from Miyagi Prefecture, processed using raw materials obtained from places
far from areas with possible radioactive contamination. The method includes
conducting a survey followed by quantitative analysis of how these two points influence
consumers: (1) behavior regarding collection of knowledge and information about
radioactivity, and (2) the physical distance of their residence from the Fukushima
nuclear power station.

2．Method
2-1．Data
The dataset used in the analysis was collected from a survey conducted in September
2013, using a questionnaire (“A Questionnaire on Health and the Environment”)
developed by the authors. The survey was conducted over the Internet using a stratified
random sample of 420 men and women in their 20s through to their 60s, whose genderand age were proportional to estimates of the general population. The sample was takenfrom a collection of around 1,100,000 names registered with a research firm (2).
In Japan, the traditional paper-and-pencil questionnaires have been utilized inseveral study fields. However, since the Personal Information Protection Law came into
effect in 2005, it has become difficult to send questionnaires directly by “snail mails”
when researchers need to obtain data from residents in a specific area or all over Japan.
Simultaneously, Japan has been experiencing a great increase in the population using
the Internet, frequently mediated by not only computers but also smartphones.
-5-

Ienori TATEFUKU, Hiroaki SUGINO and Taro OISHI

Accordingly, studies of online populations have led to an increase in the use of online
surveys (Andrews et al. (2003)). Even the history of online survey research is young andstill evolving, with several papers using computerized questionnaires in various
research fields. For instance, Yatsuzuka et al. (2012) researched the use of the domestic
sanitary space’s facility and use of hot water based on the results of a web questionnaire
about domestic sanitary space. In addition, Oishi et al. (2014) utilized a web
questionnaire and conducted a national research for general consumers in order to
identify the latent needs for processed marine products produced in Miyagi prefecture.
Wright (2005) mentioned (1) cost and (2) time as the advantages of online survey
research compared to the traditional methods of survey. Moreover, Internet-based
surveys enable researchers to obtain data from people living in a wide range of areas
simultaneously. Therefore, the Internet-based survey is suited to this research aiming
to investigate the data obtained from residents all over Japan.
This study focused on the Miyagi prefecture, next to Fukushima prefecture where thenuclear accident occurred. The survey asked respondents about their concerns about
the effects of radiation on processed marine products made in Miyagi, even though suchproducts are made from fish caught in waters far from the areas directly affected by theearthquake. The survey questionnaire used in this research is shown in Table 1.
The dependent variable here is WORRY. The responses to this question aresummarized in Figure 1. Approximately 40% of the respondents answered either “Notworried at all” or “Somewhat not worried,” while 35% responded either “Very worried”
or “Somewhat worried.” These results showed that the percentages of those who were
worried and those who were not were quite similar.
The

explanatory

variables

includedtheinformation

gathered

regardingradioactivity, distance of residence from the Fukushima power plant, and demographic
attributes namely gender, age, marital status, and parental status. In this study,
contrary to our analysis design which uses the information-gathering behavior as oneof the explanatory variable, it was assumed that anxiety toward processed marine
products from the Miyagi prefecture affects the information-gathering behavior related
to radioactivity. To tackle with this problem called the endogeneity problem (explained
in detail in 2-2), therefore, the respondents were asked if they research the ecolabels(environmental labels) of products after purchasing them. This ecolabel-researchbehavior is used in the estimation as the instrumental variable to make a model
considering endogeneity.
The respondents were also asked if they researched and collected more information-6-

Impact of Information Gathering Behavior and Residential Distance on Risk Preferences
against Reputational Harm Caused by the Fukushima Disaster in Japan

Table 1 Survey Questionnaire
Question

WORRY

How much are you worried about theeffects of radiation on processedmarine products made in Miyagi, evenwhen such products are made fromfish caught in waters far from areas
directly affected by the earthquake?

Very worried =5,
Somewhat worried=4,
Neither=3,
Somewhat not worried=2,
Not worried at all=1

INFOGATH

Have you researched and collected
more information on radioactivity inthe wake of the nuclear accident?

Yes = 1,
No = 0DISTANCE

Where do you live? (Detailed address
with town and district names)

Distance (100 km) from the
Fukushima No. 1 Power Plant

GENDER

What is your gender?

Male=1, Female=0

AGE

What is your age?

Age of respondent

MARRIEDCHILDREN

Are you married?

Married=1, Not married=0
One or more children=1,
No child=0

ECOLABEL※

Have you researched and collected
more information on ecolabels after
you started buying products withecolabels?

Independent
Variable

Dependent
Variable

Variable name

Do you have one or more children?

Scale Explanation

Yes = 1,
No = 0※We used the variable ECOLABEL as an instrumental variable.

Figure 1 Concerns on Radioactivity in Processed Marine Products from Miyagi
on radioactivity in the wake of the nuclear accident. Around one-third of the
respondents answered either “Yes.” The average distance of the direct point-to-point
path between these respondents’ residence and the Fukushima power plant was 465
km (the closest = 43.9 km, and the farthest = 1,769.5 km).
Furthermore, in terms of family composition, 59% of the respondents were married,-7-

Ienori TATEFUKU, Hiroaki SUGINO and Taro OISHI

Table 2 Descriptive Statistics
Variable name

Average

SD

Min

Max

WORRY

2.92

1.11

1

5

INFOGATH

0.34

0.47

0

1

DISTANCE (Unit:
100 km)

4.65

3.04

0.4

17.7

GENDER

0.50

0.50

0

1

AGE (Unit: Years
old)

45.34

13.37

20

69

MARRIED

0.59

0.49

0

1

CHILDREN

0.55

0.50

0

1

ECOLABEL※

0.14

0.34

0

1

Dependent Variable

Independent Variable※instrumental variable.

and around 55% had children. Finally, the survey asked a question pertaining to the
instrumental variable: The respondents were asked if they proactively collect more
information about the ecolabels of products, since the products they purchase havethese labels. Around one tenth of the respondents answered “Yes.” Table 2 shows thedescriptive statistics of the variables in the analysis.
2-2．General aim of the analysis model
While analyzing the factors that determined consumers’ sense of anxiety toward
processed marine products from the Miyagi prefecture, a model was estimated toinvestigate the endogenous effect of anxiety on information-gathering behavior. A
consecutive analysis was performed with two steps because it was also conceivable thata reverse causality existed in the relationship assumed in the study. In other words,
anxiety toward processed marine products from the Miyagi prefecture affects theinformation-gathering behavior related to radioactivity. Such a reverse causation iscalled an endogeneity problem in the Econometrics, and the problem leads to violate
non-stochastic assumption of regression. If the reverse effects are ignored whenestimating the anxiety level of individuals, the estimation results would be biased
because of the endogeneity in the model. We can expect to remove the endogeneity byusing instrumental variable method. A suitable instrumental variable affects the
explanatory variable but has no independent impact on the dependent variable.
Therefore, by applying the instrumental variable regression to the explanatory variable,
we can get rid of the impacts of a dependent variable on an explanatory variable. So,-8-Impact of Information Gathering Behavior and Residential Distance on Risk Preferences
against Reputational Harm Caused by the Fukushima Disaster in Japan

we adopted method of instrumental variable in our study.
The endogenous problems often occur by a specific characteristic of observable datain the study field of social science, and there are several studies concerning this in
econometrics and statistics. Recently, with the advance of coping strategies for theendogeneity, this problem has been reviewed and a number of papers utilizing the
coping methods toward the problem has also increased in other study fields(Matsushima et al. (2013)). There are some examples of the empirical analysis
considering the endogeneity bias. Nagai et al. (2009) analyzed the determinants for thetypes of land tenancy contracts in rural Java where the personal ties between
landowners and tenants play an important role to potentially mitigate transaction costs.
Additionally, Cho (2008) investigated parental investment in after-school programs forchildren in Korea using a tobit model with an instrumental variable to avoid theendogeneity problem. There are several approaches when formulating an estimation
model in considering the endogeneity problem, and both researches above applied theIV (instrumental variable) probit/tobit models. In this research, IV probit models thatcan control the endogeneity problem are applied through a two-step estimation. Whenselecting an instrumental variable, the following two conditions are required (see,Wooldridge (2010), pp. 89-90): (1) the instrumental variable must be (strongly)
correlated with the endogenous explanatory variables, and (2) the instrumental
variables cannot be correlated with the error term in the explanatory equation.
In this research, the instrumental variable was formulated as a binary variable todenote if respondents who buy products with ecolabels collect more information about
them. This is because the act of examining ecolabels may affect the tendency to gather
information on the nuclear accident, but may not necessarily directly lead to anxiety
toward processed marine products from the Miyagi prefecture.
With regard to the validity of using the act of examining ecolabels as an instrumental
variable, the requirement (1) was satisfied in our model as mentioned later (i.e. thecoefficient of the variable ECOLABEL was significant in 1st step estimation of Table 3).
On the other hand, we cannot test the requirement (2) as mentioned by Wooldridge(2010), p.92 as follows: “Econometricians have been known to say that “it is not possible
to test for identification.” In the model with one endogenous variable and one
instrument, we have just seen the sense in which this statement is true.”
The analytical models formulated in this study are explained below.
2-3．Model without considering endogeneity-9-

Ienori TATEFUKU, Hiroaki SUGINO and Taro OISHIFirst, the standard ordered probit model shown in Equation (1) was developed, which
can be used to estimate a model that does not consider endogeneity.
𝑊𝑂𝑅𝑅𝑌𝑖∗ = 𝛼 + 𝛽𝐼𝑁𝐹𝑂𝐺𝐴𝑇𝐻𝑖 + 𝛾𝐷𝐼𝑆𝑇𝐴𝑁𝐶𝐸𝑖 + 𝛿𝑋𝑖 + 𝑢𝑖
1

𝑖𝑓
𝑊𝑂𝑅𝑅𝑌𝑖∗ ≤ 𝜇1
2 𝑖𝑓 𝜇1 < 𝑊𝑂𝑅𝑅𝑌𝑖∗ ≤ 𝜇2

5𝑖𝑓

𝑊𝑂𝑅𝑅𝑌𝑖 = {⋮(1)

𝜇4 < 𝑊𝑂𝑅𝑅𝑌𝑖∗

In this equation, 𝐼𝑁𝐹𝑂𝐺𝐴𝑇𝐻𝑖∗ refers to the extent of information gathering, 𝐷𝐼𝑆𝑇𝐴𝑁𝐶𝐸𝑖
is the distance of a respondent’s area of residence from the disaster site, 𝑋𝑖 denotes the
explanatory variable vectors associated with the demographic attributes, 𝑊𝑂𝑅𝑅𝑌𝑖∗ isthe latent variable denoting anxiety, and 𝑊𝑂𝑅𝑅𝑌𝑖 denotes the five-stage ordinal scalethat can be observed from the data.
2-4．Model considering endogeneity
For the model that considers endogeneity, as the first step, the probit model was used
to estimate the induction model associated with the extent of information gathering asa determinant, as shown in Equation (2) below.
𝐼𝑁𝐹𝑂𝐺𝐴𝑇𝐻𝑖∗ = 𝛼 + 𝛽𝐷𝐼𝑆𝑇𝐴𝑁𝐶𝐸𝑖 + 𝛾𝑋𝑖 + δ𝑍𝑖 + 𝜀𝑖(2)0i𝑓 𝐼𝑁𝐹𝑂𝐺𝐴𝑇𝐻𝑖∗ < 0
𝐼𝑁𝐹𝑂𝐺𝐴𝑇𝐻𝑖 = {1 𝑖𝑓 0 ≤ 𝐼𝑁𝐹𝑂𝐺𝐴𝑇𝐻𝑖∗
In this equation, 𝐼𝑁𝐹𝑂𝐺𝐴𝑇𝐻𝑖∗ is the latent variable denoting the extent of informationgathering behavior. A binary variable can be observed from the data. 𝑍𝑖 (=ECOLABEL)
is the instrumental variable (for more detailed explanation on instrumental variable
models of ordered Probit, see Matsushima et al. (2016)).
Next, as the second step, the estimates were calculated by replacing 𝐼𝑁𝐹𝑂𝐺𝐴𝑇𝐻∗ in
Equation (1) with the linear predicted value obtained from Equation (2) that denotes
the extent of information gathering. In this step, allowing the use of the predicted value,
the standard error for the estimates was calculated by using the bootstrap method (500
times). STATA 13 software (Lightstone Corp., Japan) was used for our estimations.

3．Results
Table 3 shows the outcomes of this analysis(3). First, the estimated outcomes from themodel that did not consider endogeneity, indicated that anxiety levels were greater- 10 -

Impact of Information Gathering Behavior and Residential Distance on Risk Preferences
against Reputational Harm Caused by the Fukushima Disaster in Japanamong women, young people, and those who have children. Additionally, it was
identified that the anxiety levels were greater for the people who were more proactivein gathering information and who lived farther away from the Fukushima power plant.
Second, considering the outcomes of the probit analysis that used information
Table 3 Estimated Outcomes
Endogeneity-untreatedEndogeneity-treatedOrdered Probit

Ordered Probit

WORRY aCONSTANT

1st step

2nd step

INFOGATH a

WORRY a-0.032(0.306)

INFOGATH

0.445

***

0.463

(0.112)DISTANCE

0.059(0.495)***(0.017)GENDER-0.144-0.246(0.133)(0.112)-0.006-0.013(0.004)(0.005)(0.004)-0.0160.069-0.017(0.145)(0.187)(0.146)0.06070.327-0.013

CHILDREN

0.059(0.019)**(0.105)MARRIED***(0.023)-0.253AGE-0.070

0.333

***

**

(0.152)(0.194)ECOLABEL

0.935

***

**

***

**

(0.147)***(0.185)
/cut1

/cut2

/cut3

/cut4

Obs.

-1.464-1.097(0.225)(0.340)-0.414-0.060(0.215)(0.333)

0.271

0.612

(0.215)(0.334)

1.510

1.817

(0.229)(0.352)

420

420

420

-596.22-248.79-603.61

Pseudo R2

0.036

0.074

0.024

Wald chi2 /LR chi2

44.13

Log likelihood

***

39.82

***

Note: ***: Significant at 1%，**: Significant at 5%，*: Significant at 10%.
a: Dependent variable- 11 -

31.00***

Ienori TATEFUKU, Hiroaki SUGINO and Taro OISHI

gathering as the dependent variable in the first step with the model considering
endogeneity, it was revealed that respondents who lived close to the power plant andthose who examined ecolabels proactively collected information.
Third, the estimated results from the model used in the second step (the model thatconsidered endogeneity) showed that the tendency to proactively gather information
had no statistically prevailing effect on the sense of anxiety. For other variables, similartendencies were found in the scenario where endogeneity was not considered. Fromthese results, it is apparent that the impact of anxiety to drive people to gather
information was reduced by some reversed cause and effect against this study’s
assumption, or was mitigated by upward bias in familiarity.
With respect to the outcomes from the analysis with the model that consideredendogeneity, it was observed that first, in terms of gender, women were more worried
about the issue than men were. This result is consistent with other previous studies
such as Borghans et al. (2009) that shows that women tend to be more risk averse thanmen. It may be presumed that women are more worried about the food products as they
are mothers (or mothers-to-be) and thus are often responsible for family meals. Next,
in terms of age, younger people felt more anxious. This implied that young people whoare yet to live a complete life and parents with young children were more worried about
the long-term effects of consumption of products with possible radioactive
contamination. The high levels of anxiety among parents with children may be
attributed to the same reasons for the high levels of anxiety among women. Finally, theestimated outcomes from the first step showed that the distance factor reduced thetendency of proactive information gathering, while the outcomes from the second step
indicated that the distance increased the levels of anxiety regarding processed marine
products from the Miyagi prefecture.

4．Discussion and conclusion
In this study, the effects of (1) the extent of information gathering on radioactivity,and (2) the distance of a residential area from the Fukushima power plant, on the levelof anxiety about processed marine products from the Miyagi prefecture were analyzed.
The outcomes of the analysis showed that first, when endogeneity was taken into
account, the extent to which information was gathered did not affect the level of anxiety
about the processed products. Second, the distance of a residential area from the power
plant affected the extent to which information was gathered, and the level of anxiety- 12 -

Impact of Information Gathering Behavior and Residential Distance on Risk Preferences
against Reputational Harm Caused by the Fukushima Disaster in Japan

regarding the possible contamination of the products. The results imply that people who
lived far from the power plant did not feel any immediate threat from radioactivity andtherefore, do not proactively gather information. On the other hand, as distance ofresidence becomes farther, they feel more anxiety of radioactive contamination ofprocessed marine products from the Miyagi prefecture.
In short, two major findings were obtained: (1) It is statistically confirmed that theincrease in anxiety is based on only the distance from the power plant, and (2) It is
likely that this anxiety is insidious, and not based on any knowledge or information
about radioactivity.
Chiricos et al. (1997) clarified that the exposure to media, such as television and radio,significantly affects the level of fear toward crime. Their study mentioned that the effectof the exposure to media depends on the demographical status of the people exposed toit and whether the news is local or nationwide. It can, generally be said that being
exposed to information is related to the level of fear. On the other hand, the constructionof fear is manifold, and there are some possibilities that the levels can be decreased inaccordance with the frequency of gathering information from new media, such as blogs,
and other social networking services (SNS) (Kawabata (2014)). Kawabata (2014)indicates that people can actively gather information through the Internet by selective
filtering, unlike passive information-gathering from television and radio. The results ofthis research indicate that there is no significant correlation between informationgathering behavior and the level of fear, as calculated by the estimation models
considering the endogeneity bias, demonstrating the manifold construction of fear. Toda
(1981) defined fear as an emotion raised in the situation where there are high levels of
uncertainty of threats. Based on his indication, it can be possible to reduce the level offear based on unarticulated anxiety caused by a lack of right information, by providing
people with easily accessible and correct information.
To conclude, it was observed that anxiety arises from damages from groundlessinformation; people who live far from the disaster area and who do not equip themselveswith right information tend to have a high level of anxiety and thus, refrain fromconsuming processed marine products from the affected area. Therefore, thegovernment and producers need to proactively disseminate information to effectively
ease people’s anxiety about the potential radioactive contamination of processed marine
products.
Note- 13 -

Ienori TATEFUKU, Hiroaki SUGINO and Taro OISHI(1) There might be a possibility that a part of the marine products in the disaster area areradioactively contaminated. In such case, people’s concerns for radioactivity should be
regarded as those based not on "reputational harm" but on "actual harm." In this paper,
we have to distinguish "reputational harm" from "actual harm" and focus on the former.
Thus, we asked the respondents for our questionnaire survey about concerns forradioactivity as follows: “How much are you worried about the effects of radiation on
processed marine products made in Miyagi, even when such products are made fromfish caught in waters far from areas directly affected by the earthquake ?”(2) According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (2012), Internet
usage rates at the end of 2011 were 90% for 20–50-year-olds, 60% for those in their 60s,
and over 42.6% for those in their 70s; the cutoff was 50%. As a result, the age bracket
of 70+ was not surveyed in this study, as the percentage of Internet users in this age
group in the selected sample was not representative of the actual percentage in thesame age group in the general population.
(3) The variable ECOLABEL in this table is an instrumental variable to eliminate
endogeneity in “Endogeneity-untreated Ordered Probit” model and the model structure
we want to examine is expressed as “Endogeneity-untreated Ordered Probit” model.
Thus, note that “Endogeneity-untreated Ordered Probit” model and the 2nd step of“Endogeneity-treated Ordered Probit” model do not include the variable ECOLABEL
in explanatory variables. Just for information, we also estimated the model which adds
the variable ECOLABEL to explanatory variables of “Endogeneity-untreated Ordered
Probit” model. The result showed that the coefficient of ECOLABEL was not significant(the estimated value = 0.025, SD = 0.156, p value = 0.872). This result suggests thatthe variable ECOLABEL is not inappropriate as an instrumental variable, because if
the coefficient of ECOLABEL is significant here, then it must be an explanatory
variables in “Endogeneity-untreated Ordered Probit” and should not be used for an
instrumental variable in “Endogeneity-treated Ordered Probit” model.

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