A MULTI-COUNTRY ANALYSIS OF CONSUMER ACCEPTANCE OF GENETICALLY MODIFIED ORGANISMS AND GM FOODS

• Sponsoring Institution: National Institute of Food and Agriculture
• Project Status: COMPLETE
• Funding Source: NRI COMPETITIVE GRANT
• Reporting Frequency: Annual
• Accession No.: 0192931
• Grant No.: 2003-35400-12883
• Proposal No.: 2002-01483
• Project Start Date: Dec 1, 2002
• Project End Date: Nov 30, 2005
• Grant Year: 2003
• Program Code: [61.0]- (N/A)

Recipient Organization
OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY
1680 MADISON AVENUE
WOOSTER,OH 44691

Performing Department
AGRICULTURE, ENVIRONMENTAL AND DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS

Non Technical Summary
A.Understanding of consumer acceptance of GMOs is a key for success of biotechnology applications in U.S. agriculture. B.Japan and Taiwan are important export markets for U.S. GM or non-GM products. A. This project investigates consumer acceptance of selected GM foods by conducting a unified consumer survey in three countries. B.Survey data are used to estimate consumer willingness to pay for GM vs. non-GM foods.

Animal Health Component

70%

Research Effort Categories

Basic

30%

Applied

70%

Developmental

(N/A)

Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)	Subject of Investigation (SOI)	Field of Science (FOS)	Percent
604	1510	3010	10%
604	1820	3010	10%
607	1510	3010	30%
607	1820	3010	30%
711	1510	3010	10%
711	1820	3010	10%

Knowledge Area
711 - Ensure Food Products Free of Harmful Chemicals, Including Residues from Agricultural and Other Sources; 607 - Consumer Economics; 604 - Marketing and Distribution Practices;

Subject Of Investigation
1510 - Corn; 1820 - Soybean;

Field Of Science
3010 - Economics;

Keywords

consumer acceptance

japan

taiwan

united states

willingness to pay

perception

econometrics

genetic engineering

transgenic plants

food

food supply

food safety

consumer surveys

contingent valuation method

logit analysis

consumer attitudes

food marketing

international trade

agricultural economics

soybeans

corn

estimates

sectors (economics)

Goals / Objectives
The specific objectives include: (1) to provide timely information on the impacts of consumer attitudes on buying genetically modified (GM) foods and willingness to pay for GM foods in Japan, Taiwan and the U.S. critical for both pubic and private sectors in making policy and marketing decisions related to soybeans and corn; (3) to conduct a national consumer survey in the United States; (4) to compile the survey data from the three countries for statistical analysis; (5) to develop and estimate econometric models on consumer acceptance of GMOs and GM foods and on GM food labeling support; (6) to estimate consumer willingness to pay to obtain or willingness to pay to avoid GM foods; and (7) to conduct an international comparison of the consumer acceptance of GMOs and GM foods and the willingness to pay for GM foods.

Project Methods
Researchers will develop a uniform survey instrument for use in conducting a survey of consumer acceptance of GMOs and GM foods in Japan, Taiwan, and the United States. These data will be used for a comparative qualitative assessment of consumer perception and attitudes towards GM foods and for conducting the contingent valuation (CV) of the consumer willingness to pay (WTP) for GM vs. non-GM foods in the three countries. Polychotomous choice CV questions over multiple goods will be used to assess the value the consumer places on GM foods. Recent econometric innovations, including but not limited to, generalized probit models, ordered-probit models, binary-logit and multinomial-logit models will be used to relate consumer WTP to individual and good specific attributes. Panel ordered-response models will be developed to simultaneously model multiple valuation responses. These models will be estimated with maximum likelihood estimators. The WTPs for GM vegetable oil, corn flake cereal, and tofu will be computed at the national aggregate level as well as by demographic groups to learn the behavioral differences among different segments of the population in Japan, Taiwan and the U.S.

Progress 12/01/02 to 11/30/05

Outputs
Naoya Kaneko completed his dissertation containing three essays. The first essay dealt with the estimation of the willingness to pay for non-GM foods in the U.S. The results show that American consumers were willing to pay substantial premiums (66-90%) for non-GM foods if they selected non-GM foods when they were sold for the same price as their GM counterparts in the survey. However, the premiums were negative for those who preferred GM products when both GM and non-GM were sold at the same price. The second essay investigated the consumer acceptance of GM foods in Taiwan. In this essay, Kaneko also tested the equality between WTP and the willingness to accept (WTA), two economic valuation concepts used in this type of studies. In his econometric analysis, he could not reject the equality of the two measures. The third essay dealt with the willingness to pay for GM foods in Japan using data from auction experiment. As expected, Japanese consumers were willing to pay substantial premiums for non-GM foods. Wen Chern also worked with the survey data and wrote a policy related article. Together Chern and Kaneko presented their research results in three professional meetings. Note that the unique features of the survey methodology have been emphasized in their research. Specifically in the contingent valuation surveys, no assumption was made on the superiority of non-GM foods. Furthermore, the indifference answer (between GM and non-GM food) was allowed in the survey. The alternative response of indifference complicated greatly the econometric estimation of the willingness to pay. But the results were much more credible. One paper was published in Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, December 2005. Three journal articles are currently under review. Chern continued to work with his collaborators in Taiwan and Japan. A new Taiwan survey was also conducted in 2005. In addition, Chern worked with researchers in Australia and India to initiate new surveys to be undertaken in these countries in 2006.

Impacts
The research will provide critical information on the factors affecting the consumer acceptance of GM foods. Farmers can make planting decisions according to the market potential for GM foods. Food marketers and traders can conduct cost and benefit analysis for assessing the demand for conventional grains and for identity preservation. Policy makers can use the information from the study to assess the demand for mandatory labeling of GM foods in the U.S. and other countries as well.

Publications

• Kaneko, N. and Chern, W. 2005. Willingness to pay for genetically modified oil, cornflakes, and salmon: evidence from a U.S. telephone survey. Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, 37 (3): 701-719.
• Kaneko, N. and Chern, W. 2005. Willingness to pay for genetically modified food: evidence from an auction experiment in Japan. Consumer Interests Annual, 51: 5-24.
• Chern, W. 2005. Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and sustainability in agriculture. Abstracts, Conference on STS and Sustainable Development, Xin Jiang, China, August 24-25.
• Kaneko, N. and Chern, W. 2005. Consumer acceptance of genetically modified foods in Taiwan: is positive discount the same as negative premium. Selected Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of American Agricultural Economics Association (AAEA), Providence, Rhode Island, July 24-27. (http://agecon.lib.umn.edu)
• Kaneko, N. 2005. Three Essays on Economic Valuation of Consumer Preferences on Genetically Modified Foods. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation. The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio.

Progress 01/01/04 to 12/31/04

Outputs
Pierre Ganiere used the survey data for his thesis research and completed it. He used both the multiple correspondence analysis to produce the consumer profiles (opponents vs. proponents of GM foods) in Taiwan and the U.S. and the contingent valuation method to estimate the willingness to pay (WTP) for various GM foods. The results show that there are only about 12% of consumers in the U.S. and 13% in Taiwan who are extreme opponents of GM foods. Ganiere produced three journal articles and one was published in 2004. Naoya Kaneko used data from surveys from Taiwan and the U.S. and the auction experiment from Japan for his dissertation. He has been tackling the difficult econometric problem on how to handle the indifference responses in the contingent valuation survey. His research also show the hypothetical bias on the estimate of the WTP obtained from the contingent valuation survey, using the data from the auction experiment conducted in Japan. Our auction experiment was among the first attempts to collect data on both auction experiment and contingent valuation survey from the same subjects. Kaneko produced two papers and one of which was submitted to a journal. Chern traveled to Taiwan in December 2004 to help his collaborator conduct auction experiment on GM foods.

Impacts
The research will provide critical information on the factors affecting the consumer acceptance of GM foods. Farmers can make planting decisions according to the market potential for GM foods. Food marketers and traders can conduct cost and benefit analysis for assessing the demand for conventional grains and for identity preservation. Policy makers can use the information from the study to assess the demand for mandatory labeling of GM foods in the U.S. and other countries as well.

Publications

• Chen, H. and Chern, W. 2004. Willingness to pay for genetically modified foods: evidence from a public survey in the USA. In V. Santaniello and R.E. Evenson eds. Consumer Acceptance of Genetically Modified Foods. Oxon, UK: CABI Publishing.
• Chern, W. and Rickertsen, K. 2004. A comparative analysis of consumer acceptance of GM foods in Norway and the USA. In V. Santaniello and R.E. Evenson eds. Consumer Acceptance of Genetically Modified Foods. Oxon, UK: CABI Publishing.
• Ganiere, P., Chern, W., Hahn, D. and Chiang, F. 2004. Consumer attitudes towards genetically modified foods in emerging markets: the impact of labeling in Taiwan. International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, 7 (3):.
• Ganiere, P., Chern, W., and Hahn, D. 2004. Who are proponents and opponents of genetically modified foods in the United States? Consumer Interests Annual. 50:31-45.
• Kaneko, N. and Chern, W. 2004. Willingness to pay for genetically modified foods in Japan: evidence from an auction experiment. Selected Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of American Agricultural Economics Association (AAEA), Denver, Colorado, July 1-4. (http://agecon.lib.umn.edu)

Progress 01/01/03 to 12/31/03

Outputs
A new survey questionnaire was developed. The questionnaire was then used in a national telephone survey with Random Digital Dialing conducted in May-June, 2003. This U.S. survey was conducted by The Ohio State University Center for Survey Research. A sample of 1,014 was collected. Some descriptive analysis of the data has been accomplished. In August, Chern traveled to Taiwan to oversee a similar survey conducted there. A focus group session and a pretest were conducted and the Taiwan questionnaire was revised based on the feedback received from these sessions. A sample of 1,004 was collected. Some preliminary analyses of the descriptive statistics have been conducted and compared with the U.S. results. During October-December, 2003, Chern visited the University of Tokyo and the University of Tsukuba to work with his collaborators to conduct another survey in the Metropolitan Tokyo area and also to design and conduct experimental auctions for vegetable oil and natto in Japan. Chern's doctoral student, Naoya Kaneko, was also in Japan helping the implementation of the survey and auction experiments in Japan. He is using the data obtained from Taiwan, Japan and the U.S. for his dissertation.

Impacts
The research will provide critical information on the factors affecting the consumer acceptance of GM foods. Farmers can make planting decisions according to the market potential for GM foods. Food marketers and traders can conduct cost and benefit analysis for assessing the demand for conventional grains and for identity preservation. Policy makers can use the information from the study to assess the demand for mandatory labeling of GM foods in the U.S. and other countries as well.

Publications

• Kaneko,N. and Chern,W. S., 2003. Consumer acceptance of genetically modified foods: a telephone survey. Consumer Interest Annual. 49: 1-13.
• Chern,W. S. and Rickertsen,K. 2003. A comparative analysis of consumer acceptance of GM foods in Norway and the United States. China Agricultural Economic Review. 1:1-16. (In Chinese).
• Chern,W. S., Rickertsen,K., Tsuboi,N., and Fu,T. 2002. Consumer acceptance and willingness to pay for genetically modified vegetable oil and salmon: a multi-country assessment. AGBioForum. 5(3): 105-112. (published in 2003).
• Chern,W.S. and Rickertsen, K.2003. A comparative analysis of consumer acceptance of GM-fed and GM salmon in Norway and the United States. Proceedings of the XV European Association of Fisheries Economists Annual Conference, Brest, France, May 14-16.

Progress 01/01/02 to 12/31/02

Outputs
Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) have emerged as both an increasingly important frontier of agricultural technology and a source of contentiousness among governments and consumers. The objective of this project is to investigate current knowledge, perceptions, and attitudes towards GMOs, factors affecting GM food labeling, and the WTP for selected GM foods. This is a multi-country project. The same survey instrument will be used to collect data in the United States, Japan, and Taiwan. Use of the same survey questionnaires will facilitate credible international comparison. A national telephone survey using Random Digit Dialing sampling techniques will be conducted. The project officially began on December 1, 2002. We have been working on the questionnaire design and the collaborative efforts with researchers in Japan and Taiwan. The focus will be on the improvement of the contingent valuation questions to elicit the willingness to pay for GM vs. non-GM food products. One particular feature of this project is to use the most relevant foods affected by the emergency of the most popular GM verities of soybeans and corn. For the U.S. survey, we will include vegetable oil, corn flake cereals, and salmon. For the surveys to be conducted in Japan and Taiwan, the products will include vegetable (soybean) oil, tofu, and salmon. We expect to conduct the U.S. survey in March-April 2003.

Impacts
The project will provide important information for marketing GM foods in the U.S., Japan, and Taiwan, critically important for U.S. producers, grain companies and exporters of soybeans and corn as well as biotech companies and government policy makers.

Publications

• No publications reported this period