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February 2018

Afraid of Bisphenol-A? You Could Pray, or Trust the Science

February 2018

It's not hard to find products labeled "BPA-Free" - the search returns more than 100,000 results at Amazon.com. Even manufacturers of products that never contained BPA (Bisphenol-A) in the first place (like glass food-storage containers) trumpet they're "BPA-Free." Some manufacturers go further and provide information on BPA and why they think you should avoid it.

Given the ubiquity of BPA-related product information, it's not surprising market researchers are interested in how people react to the information, including a recent study published in the Journal of Marketing Research that examined the influence of thoughts of God. The study included groups of volunteers who were shown ads for reusable water bottles described in different ways, including ones labeled as BPA-Free and ones that included information on potential health effects of Bisphenol-A, as well as ads with no specific information on BPA.

Groups of volunteers were first reminded of God in various ways before they saw the ads and provided their response to survey questions that probed their response to the ads. For example, in the first phase of the study, one group of participants met in a chapel while another group met in a classroom, with all other study parameters constant. In another phase, groups first read a magazine article about religious buildings or government buildings.

By controlling how the participants were reminded of God and which information on Bisphenol-A they received, the researchers were able to evaluate how thoughts of God influenced participant reaction to the ads. Overall, the study demonstrated that thoughts of God had a significant impact. According to the researchers, one reason for the "God impact" is that people associate God with unlimited support that will help them cope with potentially negative events and emotions, in this case potential health effects of BPA.

The researchers used BPA-Free ads as examples of a "fear appeal," which the authors define as "a persuasive message that attempts to elicit fear by depicting a personally relevant and significant threat and then outlines feasible and effective suggestions for deterring it."

One of their key conclusions is that "marketers should exercise caution in using fear appeals in situations where God may be salient to consumers." In this case, if you're trying to sell BPA-Free water bottles with a fear appeal, it would be a good idea to avoid any religious influences since the study showed that consumers are less likely to buy your product if they are thinking of God.

But what if you're a consumer, in particular one who doesn't like being manipulated by fear appeals? One solution that might provide at least some immunity to the appeal is to think of God, which is exactly what the marketers don't want you to do.

Alternatively, you could listen to the science. In recent years, scientists from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the National Toxicology Program (NTP) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have conducted a comprehensive set of in-depth studies on the safety of BPA.

From these studies we know that:

  1. Consumer exposure to BPA is extremely low (including from reusable water bottles);
  2. BPA is rapidly eliminated from the body; and
  3. There is no risk of health effects at typical consumer exposure levels.

Based on the science, government bodies around the world have concluded that BPA is safe for use. There's no need to buy that BPA-Free product after all.



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