Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Willingness-to-Pay for GE and Non-GE Foods
Researchers have used a variety of methodologies to determine how much
consumers are willing to pay for GE foods and how much they are willing to
pay to avoid them (table 9). Some studies use the contingent valuation method,
in which consumers are asked how much they would pay for non-GE foods.
Other studies use experimental auctions, in which participants bid with actual
money. Consumers' responses on a survey, however, may differ from what
they are actually willing to spend while shopping (Lusk, 2003). Meta-analyses
of surveys indicate that when consumers are asked how much they value a
good hypothetically, the values differ from what they actually will pay in a
market setting, with the size of the difference dependent on such factors as
whether consumers are asked how much they are willing to accept or willing
to pay, the magnitude of the hypothetical price, the type of auction used or
choices offered, and the type of good being evaluated (Murphy et al., 2005;
List and Gallet, 2001). Murphy et al. (2005) found that models where
respondents were asked to choose among alternatives, as opposed to
developing their own, were associated with less hypothetical bias. On average,
consumers tend to overstate what they would pay for goods, although in a
significant minority of cases, they understated what they would pay. The
willingness-to-pay values therefore may only approximate what consumers
will actually pay. Mather et al. (2011), combining surveys with market
methodology, found that when consumers in five EU countries plus New
Zealand were surveyed, they selected organic over conventional or GE fruit.
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However, when actual fruit stalls were set up offering three different varieties
of fruit, consumers in Sweden, New Zealand, and Germany bought more of
the GE varieties, also labeled “spray-free,” but only when they were offered at
a 15-percent discount.
Consumer Acceptance of GE Foods in High-and Low-Income
Countries
Research on consumer acceptance of GE foods in high-income countries
such as the United States, UK, and Canada finds that consumers are willing to
pay a premium for non-GE foods (Bernard and Bernard, 2010; Huffman,
2010; Hartl and Herrmann, 2009; Volinskiy et al., 2009; Bukenya and Wright,
2007; Moon et al. 2007; Huffman et al., 2007; Carlsson et al., 2007; Tegene et
al., 2003; Loureiro and Hine, 2002; Burton et al., 2001; Lusk et al., 2003;
