Consumer Acceptance of Genetically Modified Foods: Traits, Labels, and Diverse Information - Transgenic Horticultural Crops: Challenges and Opportunities - page 207

were.asked. before. the.experimental.auction.how. well-informed.they.were. about.
genetic.modiication—extremely,.well,.somewhat,.not.very.well,.or.not.informed.
at.all..Huffman.et.al..show.that.participants.who.had.informed.prior.beliefs.about.
genetic. modiication. discounted. GM-labeled. food. products. by. a. larger. amount.
than.those.who.had.uninformed.prior.beliefs..Also,. uninformed participants .were.
especially.susceptible.to.information.from.interested.and.third.parties..In.contrast,.
informed participants .were.generally.not.affected.signiicantly.by.new.informa-
tion..These.results.contradict.some.earlier.psychological.studies.that.claimed.that.
individuals. tend. to. base. rates. 19 . The. results. show. how. both. skeptics. and. propo-
nents.of.new.technologies.might.try.to.manage.information.to.achieve.private.or.
group-wide,.but.not.social,.objectives.
o ther r elated r eSultS
Rousu.et.al..examine.the.impact.of.tolerance.levels,.or.the.impact.of.the.minimum.
level.of.GM.contamination.that.will.pass.as.GM-free. 40 .Using.the.2001.Des.Moines.
and.St..Paul.data,.they.examine.bids.on.three.food.products.that.have.different.toler-
ance.labels..In.one.trial,.all.consumers.bid.on.foods.with.a.non-GM.label,.certiied.
to.be.completely.free.of.genetically.engineered.material,.and.in.the.other.trial,.con-
sumers.bid.on.foods.with.a.non-GM.label.indicating.that.a.certain.percentage.of.GM.
material,.either.1%.or.5%.percent,.was.tolerated..Consumers.in.these.treatments.did.
not.receive.any.information.on.GM.food.products..This.experiment.contained.three.
experimental.units/sessions.with.a.total.of.44.participants.
Rousu. et. al.. found. evidence. that. consumers. preferred. foods. that. were. 100%.
non-GM,.relative.to.food.products.with.small.amounts.of.GM.material.(1%.or.5%)..
Consumers.bid.approximately.10%.less.for.the.GM-tolerant.food.products.than.they.
did.for.the.certiied.GM-free.products..However,.they.found.that.once.GM.content.
was.present,.no.difference.existed.in.bids.between.foods.that.contained.1%.versus.
5%.GM.content. 40 .Thus,.while.these.indings.indicate.that.a.signiicant.percentage.of.
consumers.will.pay.more.for.GM-free.labeled.food.products.relative.to.convention-
ally.labeled.food.products,.it.does.not.appear.that.1%.or.higher.tolerance.levels.for.
GM.material.matters.
DISCUSSION OF GM TECHNOLOGY AND MIXED MESSAGES
Although.consumers.in.the.United.States.are.relatively.tolerant.of.alternative.produc-
tion.methods.for.their.food,.they.do.respond.adversely.to.some.risks..For.example,.
when.genetic.modiication.refers.to.input.traits,.consumers.in.our.experiments.dis-
counted. GM. food. products. by. 15%,. relative. to. a. plain-. or. conventionally. labeled.
alternative..This.seems.to.arise.from.environmental,.biodiversity,.or.health.concerns.
from.introducing.foreign.DNA.into.food.crops..To.circumvent.these.concerns,.new.
methods.have.been.developed.for.intragenic.genetic.modiication,.where.no.foreign.
DNA. is. introduced. in. the. GM.varietal. development. process.. Our. results.from. the.
2007.data.support.the.hypothesis.that.consumers.have.a.more.favorable.perspective.
about. these. genetic. modiications,. and. that. they. are,. in. fact,. willing. to. pay. a. pre-
mium.for.enhanced.levels.of.antioxidants.and.vitamin.C.by.intragenic.GM.methods..