Testing the Effects of Deterrence Communications on Illegal Marijuana Dealing: An Experimental Study

Recent experiments have shown that deterrence communication can lead individuals to update their sanction perceptions. However, there remains the question of whether different forms of deterrence communication influence sanction perception updating for illegal marijuana dealing. Using data from an e...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inCrime and delinquency Vol. 70; no. 4; pp. 1148 - 1172
Main Authors Yim, Ha-Neul, Choi, Jaeyong, Vieraitis, Lynne M.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.04.2024
SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
Subjects
Communication
Deterrence
Drug dealing
Marijuana
Perceptions
Risk
Risk factors
Risk perception
sanction perception updating
deterrence
drug dealing
legal risk communication
criminal decision making
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Summary:Recent experiments have shown that deterrence communication can lead individuals to update their sanction perceptions. However, there remains the question of whether different forms of deterrence communication influence sanction perception updating for illegal marijuana dealing. Using data from an experiment with a nationwide sample of 498 adults, we examined whether a message unpacking sanction risk leads to sanction perception updating and whether this updated risk perception influences drug dealing intentions. The findings revealed that the unpacking message did not influence perceived certainty and severity and intentions to offend, and the risk perceptions did not mediate the impact of the unpacking message on intentions to offend. The implications of the findings are discussed.
ISSN:0011-1287
1552-387X
DOI:10.1177/00111287221098585