Selecting Pesticides and Nonchemical Alternatives: Green Thumbs' Rules of Thumb Decision Tools.

This study of a sample of home gardeners indicates that rules of thumb, or heuristics, are used to select between chemical pesticides and nonchemical alternatives. Such rules of thumb serve to simplify otherwise complicated choice decisions. Heuristics commonly used to choose pesticides include how safe, effective, efficacious, and economical they are, whereas for alternative products consumers more often take into account convenience, efficiency, competency, and handiness. Generally, in an overall ranking of 24 individual choice attributes, pesticies rank low on these attributes where alternatives rank high and vice versa. Gender, age, and years using pesticides are significantly correlated with pesticide selection. In recent years, American consumers have increasingly expressed concern over the use of chemical pesticides. The 1990 nationwide case involving apples and the chemical Alar, along with the public's concern over pesticides in water and other environmental contamination, indicate that consumers are aware of their role in how pesticides are used and pesticides' potential for harm. The agriculturally focused debate has also expanded to include public concern over the use of synthetic chemical pesticides in the home (e.g., California Senate Office of Research 1988). American consumers regularly and frequently (some estimates indicate 91 percent of all U.S. households) use pesticides in the home (Savage 1980; Stimmann 1988). An estimated 42 million kilograms (46,200 tons) of pesticides are used annually in and around U.S. homes (Young 1987). Home and lawn pesticide products account for 18 billion dollars in annual retail sales in the United States (Stamen, Chambers, and Mamer 1989). Potential hazards associated with home use of chemicals exist and often become problematic, particularly when precautions and warnings are not heeded. Grieshop and Stiles (1989) found that over one-half of their urban California sample choose not to use protective clothing while applying pesticides and that two-fifths do not read labels before application. In addition they found that over one-fifth admit applying stronger-than-recommended pesticide mixtures while more than one-third of this group report pesticide-attributed illnesses. Finklea et al. (1969) reported a similar lack of care among South Carolina respondents. Even though minimum precautionary measures are not always taken, reported concern about pesticide use is high. A Philadelphia study (von Rumker et al. 1974) found great public concern over the potential side effects of pesticides. Hawkes and Stiles (1984) reported that a majority of sampled urban residents feel nonchemical alternatives should be tried before pesticides. These findings suggest that notable discrepancies exist between what some urban homeowners say and/or believe (i.e., concern for use of nonchemical alternatives) and their actions (i.e., frequent use of chemicals with inadequate protection). These discrepancies suggest a need to systematically explore homeowners' choice behaviors related to the selection of chemical pesticides and nonchemical alternatives. Although many nonchemical alternatives are believed to be effective means of dealing with pest problems in and around the home, the issue of their value compared with pesticides has not been studied. An understanding of criteria consumers apply in deciding between alternatives is an important step for designing safer products and safety information. As well, such understanding should develop important information about consumers' choices related to other potentially hazardous products or practices. Decision theory including consumer choice theory encompasses at least two major models (Mowen 1987). These theories describe how people use belief systems, attitudes, perceived product/item attributes, personal timeliness, and energy levels to make decisions. …