Using involvement to understand individual responses to an issue: the case of New Zealand biosecurity

Abstract

The effectiveness of biosecurity measures at national borders is influenced by the behaviour and levels of involvement of travellers. Involvement is the importance or relevance of an object or situation to an individual. Involvement helps regulate the way in which people receive and process information and thus influences the extent of information searching for decision making, and information processing and persuasion. This work drew on the concept of involvement to investigate the response of individuals to New Zealand biosecurity requirements. A convenience sample of people associated with the agricultural and food processing sectors were surveyed using a five-item scale of involvement to measure their level of involvement in biosecurity. The results indicated that most respondents had medium to high levels of involvement. This implies that respondents were motivated to attend to and process information on biosecurity measures. However, not all respondents reported taking note of biosecurity information, implying that involvement with biosecurity prompts some initial information processing that may or may not continue over time.