Although several studies have attempted to identify the types of
warnings that are effective, thus focusing on the physical attributes
of effective warnings, the present study seeks to investigate what
factors determine whether young adults (in this case university students)
read and follow warnings and manuals, further referred to as
‘safety instructions’. Given the potential consequences for individuals’
harm if not following and reading safety instructions, an
increased understanding of this topic is important, for example
for public policy advocates. As also indicated by Hill and Finster(2010), (chemical) companies now understand (actually better than
many colleges and universities) that employees behaving safely can
be regarded as a sound financial practice of a company. Given the
fact that unsafe behavior or risk-taking behaviors can limit adolescents’
potential for achieving responsible adulthood (Zimmerman,
2010), it is not surprising that social science research has become
increasingly interested in identifying potential predictors of
(un)safe behaviors (Keeler and Kaiser, 2010; Musselwhite et al.,
2014).