EFFECTS OF WARNINGS ON RESPONSIBILITY ALLOCATION

Four experiments explored the effects of warnings on people's allocati on of responsibility for product safety. Participants read description s of accident scenarios in which injuries occurred during the use of p roducts. They then allocated responsibility to the manufacturer, retai ler, or consumer (user). Results of two experiments indicated more res ponsibility was assigned to the consumer and less to the manufacturer when products were accompanied by a warning (76%-94% to the consumer), compared to a no-warning condition (41%-68%). A third experiment comp ared responsibility allocations for good versus poor warnings. Consume rs were assigned more responsibility (83%) with good warnings than wit h poor warnings (69%). The fourth experiment again showed warnings pla yed a significant role in the allocations, but injury severity did not . Interactions in all four experiments indicated the role of warnings in responsibility allocations was less for products where the hazards are more obvious. In addition to implications for product safety, the results provide insights into jury decision making regarding the role of warnings in product liability litigation. (C) 1998 John Wiley & Son s, Inc.