Genetically modified maize: exploring consumer acceptance

Anthimia M. Batrinou, Vasilia Sinanoglou, Antigoni Gogkou and George Sakellaris

No 10055, 98th Seminar, June 29-July 2, 2006, Chania, Crete, Greece from European Association of Agricultural Economists

Abstract: Recent EU regulations have imposed mandatory labelling of all food products that consist of or contain genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Labelling should state that "this product contains genetically modified organisms". This study examines how different label messages may affect the attitude of consumers in tasting a specific food product (corn chip) derived from maize presented with five different labels ("organic corn", "conventional corn", "product that contains genetically modified corn", "product that contains genetically modified corn approved by EU", "non- classified corn"). Results of 100 Greek young students show that the label claiming that the product contains genetically modified corn, evokes a deeply rooted negative attitude as more than half of participants (59%) refused to taste even a single piece of the product. The label claiming that the product is genetically modified but approved by EU is viewed as more credible but still 29% refuse to sample. The conclusion is that although the feeling of trust increases considerably when the label message is supported by a certifying agency, still a large proportion (almost one third) of participants of technological level education refuse to taste a product that has been approved by the EU for almost a decade. This result demonstrates with an emphatic way the phobia surrounding genetically modified food. On the contrary, products labelled as "organic" were tasted by the majority of participants, even without any kind of certification. Key words : Genetically modified maize, labelling, acceptance

Keywords: Consumer/Household Economics; Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 8
Date: 2006
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ags:eaae98:10055

DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.10055

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