Consumers' Willingness To Accept Genetically Modified Foods And Their Determinants

Heated debate is going on all over the world about the safety of biotechnology and whether promotion of commercial production of genetically modified food should be continued. The supporters expect genetically modified food helps to improve the nation's food security, sustainable development and improve agricultural competitiveness in international markets. But the opponent cannot ignore their possible risks regarding the food safety and unpredictable environment hazards. The extent of such impact, however, ultimately depends on the extent of acceptance of enetically modified foods by Chinese consumers. This research aims at analyzing the attitude of Chinese consumers towards genetically modified foods and factors influcing such attitude, on which foundation actual implication of such attitudes will be explored to provide a scientific basis for policy decision-making on China's development of agricultural biotechnology.In order to achieve the above goals, this paper identified three specific objectives. They are:degree of consumer's acceptance and purchase will concern genetically modified foods; the determinants of consumer's willingness to accept genetically modified foods. We use experimental auction to elicit the particpants' willingness-to-accept genetically modified rice. Experimental auctions are conducted to elicite the minimum compensation demanded (willingness to accept) to consume a genetically modified food versus a non-modified food in an auction involving real food and real money. In order to identify the influence of information from diffenent sources, we provided four kinds of information, sources of information are:the main GM R & D team of scientists; some environmental and biological scientists; authoritative report from official media; Greenpeace and NGOs. And we used ten different compound modes. Data are collected using a within subject design where willingness to accept is slicited before and after an information shock is introduced. We use two varieties of genetically modified rice cookies: cookies that made of insect resistance rice and cookies that made of high lysine rice. By collection auction bids of 479 consumers from 47 different places all over China. The participants should write down their bids for the two kinds of cookies, the bids mean that if somebody want to change their genetically modified cookies for the participants' regular cookies, how much they should compensate. Based on the previous studies, we advanced the theoretical frame. In accordance with the specific features of the data, the models were estimatd by Tobit.We find that consumer has a general knowledge toward genetically modified food except for some new or novel genetically modified products, as a whole, the attitude toward genetically modified food is optimistic. But they still prefer to buy the regular food, and consumers' acceptance toward different genetically modified food is different. And the determinats include:consumers'social-economic characteristics, the perception toward genetically modified food, consciousness of risk, information factor and so on.The above research implies that, despite the relatively high acceptance and purchase will regarding genetically modified foods among Chinese consumers, future development of this food still faces huge challenges. As such, we recommend that:the producers should foucus on the quality improvement; the sellers should highte the advantage of the genetically modified food; the government, while ensuring safety management of biotechnology, should also reinforce popularization and publicity of genetically modified technology, so as to improving public awareness of genetically modified technology.