The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationships among media exposure, general scientific knowledge and the public’s risk perceptions of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE).,Data for this study are based on a survey of 1,001 South Korean adult consumers (502 females and 499 males). The data were analyzed using SPSS 17.0, and multiple linear regression was performed to examine the relationships between risk perceptions and the types of media channel exposure, as well as between risk perceptions and general scientific knowledge.,Results showed that among the measured socio-demographic characteristics, gender was a significant factor. With regard to the variability of media exposure, individuals who were exposed to more internet news were found to have higher risk perceptions in terms of how BSE could affect themselves, while respondents who were more exposed to social networking sites (SNSs) were concerned about how the disease could affect others.,This study provides additional evidence of the third-person effect in risk perceptions of BSE, filling scientific knowledge gaps. Hence, this study suggests that the types of media channels (internet news, television and SNSs) should be considered as significant predictors of risk perceptions about food hazards related to the health of the consumer and others.

中文翻译：

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社交媒体的影响？

本文旨在研究媒体接触，一般科学知识与公众对牛海绵状脑病（BSE）的风险认知之间的关系。本研究数据基于对1,001名韩国成人消费者（502名女性和499名男性）。使用SPSS 17.0对数据进行分析，并进行多元线性回归，以检验风险感知与媒体渠道暴露类型之间的关系，以及风险感知与一般科学知识之间的关系。结果表明，所测得的社会人口统计学特征，性别是一个重要因素。关于媒体曝光的可变性，发现接触更多互联网新闻的个人对BSE可能如何影响自己有较高的风险认知，而更多接触社交网站（SNSs）的受访者则担心该疾病如何影响他人。该研究提供了第三人称视角对BSE风险认知的其他证据，填补了科学知识的空白。因此，这项研究表明，媒体渠道的类型（互联网新闻，电视和SNS）应被视为与消费者和他人健康相关的食品危害的风险感知的重要预测指标。