scholarly journals The Chinese public’s awareness and attitudes toward genetically modified foods with different labeling

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yawei Zhao ◽  
Haiyan Deng ◽  
Changxin Yu ◽  
Ruifa Hu
Keyword(s):  
Genetically Modified ◽  
Negative Attitude ◽  
Food Labeling ◽  
Public Confidence ◽  
Gm Food ◽  
Gm Foods ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Chinese Public

Abstracts This paper analyzes the awareness and attitudes of the Chinese public toward genetically modified (GM) foods with different types of labeling and evaluates the impact of public confidence in the government management of GM food labeling has on their attitude. From 2015 to 2016, we conducted a series of surveys to collect data from 1730 respondents, which included consumers, farmers, media, and local agricultural officials in agricultural departments. The results show ~60% of the Chinese public do not know that they usually consume or purchase GM products or products containing GM ingredients. Nearly 80% of the Chinese public are accepting foods labeled as not containing GM ingredients, 57% are accepting foods without labeling, and ~40% are accepting GM-labeled foods. The respondents with a lack of confidence in the government are less likely to embrace GM foods. Those that are more aware of GM products are more likely to accept GM labeled foods. The group having the most positive attitude toward GM-labeled foods is the media, followed by agricultural officials, while the group having the most negative attitude toward GM labeled foods is farmers. Our findings provide an empirical basis to inform GM food labeling policy discussions and possible revisions, which may promote the development of GM foods in China.

A crisis of consumers’ trust in scientists and its influence on consumer attitude toward genetically modified foods

2019 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Haiyan Deng ◽  
Ruifa Hu
Keyword(s):  
Genetically Modified ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Chinese Consumers ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Gm Foods ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Biotech Products ◽  
Gm Technology

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine Chinese consumers’ attitudes toward genetically modified (GM) foods and the impact that consumers’ trust in different actors – GM scientists, non-GM scientists or individuals, the government and the media, has on their attitudes. Design/methodology/approach Consumers in Beijing were surveyed about their attitudes toward GM foods and their trust in different actors. The surveys were conducted from June to July of 2015. The sample size is 1,460 people. Given the potential endogeneity of trust variable, bivariate probit models are employed to estimate the impact of trust in different actors on consumers’ attitudes. Findings The results show that 55 percent of the Chinese consumers are opposed to GM foods and nearly 60 percent do not trust GM scientists. In total, 42 percent of Chinese consumers trust in the government and 39 percent trust the non-GM scientists or individuals. Around 35 percent of consumers believe the misinformation on GM technology that were provided by the media. Trust in the GM scientists and trust in the government have a significant positive impact on consumers’ acceptance of GM foods while trust in the non-GM scientists or individuals and believing the misinformation have a significant negative effect on the acceptance. Nearly 70 percent of Chinese consumers acquired information about GM food safety from the internet or via WeChat. Consumers who acquired GM technology information from the internet or via WeChat are less likely to embrace GM foods than those who obtain information from other sources. Originality/value Consumer trust plays a crucial role to accept biotech products in the market and it is crucial for producers, policy makers and consumers to have faith in new biotech products. The results of this study suggest that the government and GM scientists should make more effort to gain the trust and support of consumers, while the media should provide objective reports on GM products based on scientific evidence.

The Economics of GM Labeling and Implications for Trade

2017 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jill J. McCluskey ◽  
Jason Winfree
Keyword(s):  
Willingness To Pay ◽  
Risk Perceptions ◽  
Genetically Modified ◽  
Trade Agreement ◽  
Consumer Welfare ◽  
Food Labeling ◽  
Gm Food ◽  
Consumer Risk ◽  
The Impact

AbstractIn this article, we model the effects of both voluntary and mandatory genetically modified (GM) food labeling on profits and consumer welfare. The non-GM firms weakly benefit from having the option to voluntarily label their product and will increase their quantities produced if labeling makes their non-GM product more valuable to consumers relative to the increased costs of labeling. GM producers make lower profits when non-GM firms voluntarily label because of increase in non-GM firms production. Mandatory labeling can be a different scenario. Costs of mandatory labeling are borne by the GM producers, and the benefits are reaped by the non-GM producers as it differentiates their product. We also consider the possibility that consumers will view the mandatory GM labels as a warning, such as a mandatory health label on cigarettes. The combination of increased costs along with decreased willingness to pay could be damaging to GM producers. The level of consumer concern about consuming GM food greatly affects the impact of labeling policies. Coordination of policies for a trade agreement will have different effects depending on consumer risk perceptions in that country and the number of GM firms.

Why Consumers Don't see the Benefits of Genetically Modified Foods, and what Marketers can do about It

2018 ◽  
Vol 82 (5) ◽  
pp. 125-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sean T. Hingston ◽  
Theodore J. Noseworthy
Keyword(s):  
Laboratory Experiment ◽  
Genetically Modified ◽  
Purchase Intentions ◽  
Food Labeling ◽  
Perceived Benefits ◽  
Gm Food ◽  
Consumer Panel ◽  
Gm Foods ◽  
Online Consumer ◽  
Promotion Strategies

Evidence from four studies suggests that the moral opposition toward genetically modified (GM) foods impedes the perception of their benefits, and critically, marketers can circumvent this moral opposition by employing subtle cues to position these products as being “man-made.” Specifically, if consumers view the GM food as man-made, and if they understand why it was created, moral opposition to the product diminishes, and the GM food's perceived benefits increase, which subsequently increases purchase intentions for the product. This effect is replicated in the field (in both controlled and naturalistic settings), in a laboratory experiment, and with an online consumer panel. The results suggest that marketers can help consumers better consider all information when assessing the merits of GM foods by using packaging and promotion strategies to cue consumers to view the GM food for what it is (i.e., a man-made object created with intent). The findings have implications for the recent GM food labeling debate.

A structural equation model for the analysis of genetically modified foods consumption

2016 ◽  
Vol 46 (5) ◽  
pp. 706-716 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pasquale Sarnacchiaro ◽  
Roberta Di Gennaro ◽  
Raffaela Palma
Keyword(s):  
Human Health ◽  
Structural Equation Model ◽  
Food Consumption ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Genetically Modified ◽  
Equation Model ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Gm Food ◽  
Gm Foods ◽  
The Impact

Purpose The spread of genetically modified (GM) foodstuffs is related to consumer scepticism in Europe, and particularly in Italy. Consumer scepticism in turn depends on the low level of public knowledge about the health consequences, in terms of risks and benefits, of consuming these GM foods. This paper aims, first and foremost, to investigate the phenomenon of GM foodstuffs consumption in Italy and, then, to construct a statistical model for analysing the Italian habits regarding this consumption. Furthermore, this model allows us to formalize the origins of behaviour regarding GM foodstuffs consumption and to detect the drivers of their purchase. Design/methodology/approach From January 2009 to May 2009, 1,061 public high school students in 25 randomly selected schools of a metropolitan area (Naples, South Italy) were questioned. More precisely, each student was given a questionnaire regarding, in the first part, school cultural characteristics and, then, awareness and GM food consumption. A Likert scale was used to answer the questions. After collecting data, the authors chose to apply structural equation modelling, as it is one of the general and powerful multivariate analysis technique useful to simultaneously analyse and evaluate multivariate hypotheses. Findings The findings showed that GM food consumption by Italian students depended on the knowledge of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and on the impact of this organisms both on human health and the environment. Therefore, in order to help consumers to choose whether or not to eat GM foods, a standardized evaluation system of human health and environmental consequences produced by GMO and GM foods should be created. In particular, the authors introduced a general framework that could help researchers/users to select and assess a hierarchy of the influence of factors on Italian habits regarding the consumption of GM foodstuffs. Originality/value In this research, the authors propose a structural equation model – full formative measurement model – that allows to define the origins of behaviour towards GM food consumption and to detect the drivers of their purchase. Particularly, the authors showed that GM food consumption depended on the knowledge of GMOs and on the impact of the GMOs on human health and the environment.

A Study of Consumer Behaviour towards Genetically Modified Foods and the Moderating Effects of Health Consciousness

2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 306-315 ◽  
Author(s):  
Neha Singhal
Keyword(s):  
Genetically Modified ◽  
Research Work ◽  
Past Research ◽  
Ethical Consumption ◽  
Consumer Attitude ◽  
Health Consciousness ◽  
Gm Food ◽  
Gm Foods ◽  
The Government ◽  
Major Factors

With growing environmentalism and health concerns, people have become more conscious of the types of food they consume and the way they are processed. The principle of the present research paper is to explore the behaviour of consumers towards genetically modified (GM) foods and the moderating role of health consciousness. The rationale behind the present study is to address the gap in the past research work wherein most of the researchers have emphasized on major factors that influence consumption of GM foods such as product acceptance, information, higher income and ethical consumption. Findings This paper explores the effect of consumer’s health consciousness on their GM food purchase. The key purpose of the study is to explore the influence of health consciousness of consumers in moderating consumer attitude towards their behaviour in context of GM food products. The results suggest that information provided by the government and the trusted regulatory help consumers to form positive attitude towards GM foods. Practical implications The findings suggest that the marketer should revolve advertisement and marketing strategies around the issues pertaining consumer’s health consciousness. Moreover, government and other trusted regulatory must ensure consumers that GM food are healthy and superior to conventional food. Originality/value This is one of the primary studies to examine the moderating effect of a health consciousness that bears on GM foods. Its empirical findings are projected to benefit the sustained expansion of GM foods.

Designing enhanced labeling information to increase consumer willingness to pay for genetically modified foods

2020 ◽  
Vol 123 (1) ◽  
pp. 405-418
Author(s):  
Jintao Zhan ◽  
Yubei Ma ◽  
Pengcheng Deng ◽  
Yinqiu Li ◽  
Meng Xu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Willingness To Pay ◽  
Sample Size ◽  
Risk Perceptions ◽  
Consumer Preferences ◽  
Genetically Modified ◽  
Food Labeling ◽  
Consumer Group ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Gm Food ◽  
Gm Foods

PurposeThe regulations for qualitative genetically modified (GM) food labeling do not effectively eliminate the information asymmetries pertaining to the consumption of GM products. China's GM food labeling law requires the presentation of certain categories of GM products on GMO labels on packages. Such information is invaluable for understanding whether the disclosure of more information on GM foods can help alleviate information asymmetry while reducing consumer fear and risk perceptions of GM foods, and thus cause changes in their behaviors. The purpose of this paper is to explore the heterogeneity of consumer preferences for enhanced GM food labeling, how consumer preferences are influenced by labeling information, and how these preferences vary in different consumers.Design/methodology/approachBoth descriptive statistics and econometric techniques, including the multivariate ordered Probit model, were applied to a sample of 566 urban consumers in the Yangtze River Delta region of China. All respondents were divided into two groups: people who would definitely not buy GM foods before selecting enhanced labeling information (“consumer group 1”, sample size 282) and people who would definitely not object to buying GM foods before selecting enhanced labeling information (“consumer group 2”, sample size 274).FindingsThe findings suggest that urban consumers have a preference for different types of enhanced labeling information about GM foods, that such a preference significantly influences their willingness to pay for GM foods, that there exists a large difference in the preferences of different consumer groups, and that enhanced GM food labeling information has a greater impact on those consumers who would not accept GM foods.Originality/valueThis research identifies the GM information disclosures that most affect consumer preferences and how these preferences vary across different segments of consumers, which is a current gap in the literature. The study has demonstrated that enhanced labels of GM foods with diverse information would not alter a consumer's WTP for GM foods who does not perceive the value of information from the enhanced labels, but change positively consumers with uncertainty willingness to pay before disclosure.

scholarly journals Corporate Environmental Performance in China: The Moderating Effects of the Media versus the Approach of Local Governments

2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 150
Author(s):  
Zhiru Guo ◽  
Chao Lu
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Protection ◽  
Environmental Performance ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Random Effect ◽  
Random Effect Model ◽  
Corporate Environmental Performance ◽  
Media Attention ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Impact

This article selects the listed companies in China’s A-share heavy pollution industry from 2014 to 2018 as samples, uses a random effect model to empirically test the relationship between media attention and corporate environmental performance and examines the impacts of local government environmental protection and property nature on that relationship. Results are as follow: (1) Media attention can significantly affect a company’s environmental performance. The higher the media attention, the greater the company’s supervision and the better its environmental performance. (2) In areas where the government pays less attention to environmental protection, the impact of media on corporate environmental performance is more obvious, but in other areas, the impact of media on environmental performance cannot be reflected; (3) The media attention is very significant for the environmental performance improvement of state-owned enterprises, and it is not obvious in non-state-owned enterprises. (4) A further breakdown of the study found that the role of media attention in corporate environmental performance is only significant in the sample of local governments that have low environmental protection and are state-owned enterprises. This research incorporates the local government’s emphasis on environmental protection into the research field of vision, expands the research scope of media and corporate environmental performance, and also provides new clues and evidence for promoting the active fulfillment of environmental protection responsibilities by companies and local governments.

scholarly journals Heuristic and systematic processing differentially influence the effects of scientific consensus messaging on perceived scientific consensus

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keiichi Kobayashi
Keyword(s):  
Food Safety ◽  
Message Content ◽  
Presentation Style ◽  
Scientific Consensus ◽  
Gm Food ◽  
Gm Foods ◽  
Systematic Processing ◽  
Content Evaluation ◽  
Consensus Information ◽  
The Impact

AbstractThis study investigated the impact of scientific consensus messaging on perceived scientific consensus in terms of heuristic and systematic processing. Japanese undergraduates (N = 226) received a message indicating relatively moderate and high levels of scientific consensus on the safety of foods grown with pesticides and genetically modified (GM) foods. Participants in the presentation-style evaluation condition evaluated the style and manner of providing the message and thereby were encouraged to heuristically process information about scientific consensus in the message. Participants in the content evaluation condition evaluated the message content and therefore could process the information systematically. After evaluating the message, participants’ perceptions of scientific consensus improved. The levels of posteriorly perceived scientific consensus were higher for the presentation-style evaluation condition than for the content evaluation condition. Participants’ initial beliefs about the GM-food safety predicted their posterior perceptions of scientific consensus for the content evaluation condition but not for the presentation-style evaluation condition. These results suggest that the heuristic and systematic processing of scientific consensus information differentially influence the impact of scientific consensus messaging.

Correcting Misperceptions About Genetically Modified Food on Social Media: Examining the Impact of Experts, Social Media Heuristics, and the Gateway Belief Model

2020 ◽  
pp. 107554702098137
Author(s):  
Leticia Bode ◽  
Emily K. Vraga ◽  
Melissa Tully
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Food Safety ◽  
Genetically Modified ◽  
Human Consumption ◽  
Genetically Modified Food ◽  
The Public ◽  
Scientific Consensus ◽  
Gm Food ◽  
Belief Model ◽  
The Impact

We experimentally test whether expert organizations on social media can correct misperceptions of the scientific consensus on the safety of genetically modified (GM) food for human consumption, as well as what role social media cues, in the form of “likes,” play in that process. We find expert organizations highlighting scientific consensus on GM food safety reduces consensus misperceptions among the public, leading to lower GM misperceptions and boosting related consumption behaviors in line with the gateway belief model. Expert organizations’ credibility may increase as a result of correction, but popularity cues do not seem to affect misperceptions or credibility.

scholarly journals Public Perception on Labeling Genetically Modified (GM) Foods in Ghana: Implications for Food Policy

2020 ◽  
pp. 25-37
Author(s):  
Richard Ampadu-Ameyaw ◽  
Johnny Owusu-Arthur ◽  
Kwame Dei Asamoah-Okyere
Keyword(s):  
Public Perception ◽  
Food Policy ◽  
Genetically Modified ◽  
National Policy ◽  
Public Understanding ◽  
Food Ingredients ◽  
The Public ◽  
Gm Food ◽  
Gm Foods ◽  
Choice Variable

Labeling of genetically modified (GM) food and other food ingredients from GM source has become an important national policy issues receiving serious attention not only in Ghana but globally.   This paper focused on public perceptions of labeling of GM foods in Ghana as a way of garnering a view of the public understanding of the technology that has become so much controversial for which several millions of public sector money is spent on education in the last few years. The survey which elapsed over a period of three months, shows results that indicate a dearth of knowledge on the technology and yet a high demand for labelling of the products, even though not many people read the labels on food products. This leads to the question as to ‘who is doing the listening’. The authors conclude that the limited knowledge and technology essentials among others explain why the public seems to reject the technology and call for labelling of the products in spite of the fact that labelling is nothing but a choice variable, which has nothing to do with safety measure. Modifying the present attitude of the opponents of the technology and the demanders of labelling ignoring the cost that may be involved require extensive education and awareness creations throughout the country using tailor made communication forms to address various different groups.

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