The relationships between citizens’ perceptions of corporate political activity and their health risk perception
The study focuses on residents who live near a polluting industrial complex. The results show that each corporate political activity (CPA) strategy adopted by corporatins in a Spanish petrochemical complex influences citizens’ health risk perception in a different way. Finally, we offer theoretical and practical implications of citizens’ health
risk perception in a context with corporate political involvement.
Abstract
Risk perception is a pertinent issue in the situation of constant risks
associated with the biological, climatic, or technological factors that
affect citizens’ lives today. The context in which a risk-generating situation
arises can influence the way citizens perceive it. Among other factors,
it is important to take the political context into account in risk perception
research. In this vein, a wide variety of firms try to influence political
decisions made by public authorities through the implementation of
corporate political activity (CPA) strategies. In the case of polluting industrial complexes, residents who live close to them may perceive higher
health risks when they become aware of the implementation of CPA
strategies by firms. However, this reality has been neglected in the academic literature.
To help fill this gap our research is based on institutional
and attribution theories and the social risk perspective. The aim of the
paper is to provide empirical evidence on the relationships between
perceived CPA strategies, namely information and financial incentives,
and health risk perception. For this purpose, the study focuses on residents who live near a polluting industrial complex. The results are
obtained using structural equation models, and they show that each
CPA strategy influences citizens’ health risk perception in a different way.
Finally, we offer theoretical and practical implications of citizens’ health
risk perception in a context with corporate political involvement.