Kontaktinformation
Ashkan Pakseresht
Institutionen för ekonomi; Beslutsfattande och management
Telefon: 018-671744, 073 587 24 58
E-post: ashkan.pakseresht@slu.se
SLU-nyhet
Policies affect consumers' perception of risk and self-responsibility related to GM food
Publicerad: 21 maj 2021
Results of a set of experiments examining the effects of regulations governing production of genetically modified (GM) foods on consumers’ risk perception and self-risk responsibility is now accepted to be published in the Journal of PLOS ONE.
The results showed policy designs regarding genetically modified (GM) foods affect perceived risk responsibility among health-conscious consumers. The study showed how policies governing production of GM foods affect consumers’ cognitive information processing in terms of perceived risk, self-control, and risk responsibility. Consumers showed more tendency to perceive higher levels of risk and lower level of control over risks in policy scenarios where GM food is available on the market compared with policies where GM food is banned. Researchers also analysed whether the effect of policy design is moderated by types of risks (i.e., health relates risks, environmental risks, socio-economic risks, and ethical concerns).
The results showed that consumers perceived higher health related risks in comparison with other risk types. The findings also indicated that health-conscious consumers tend to attribute less responsibility to self in situations where a genetically modified product was commercialised. These findings indicate a need to clarify guideline recommendations for health-related risks associated with foods derived from biotechnology.
Upcoming paper: Pakseresht, Ashkan; Edenbrandt, Anna Kristina, Lagerkvist, Carl Johan (forthcoming 2021). Genetically modified food and consumer risk responsibility: The effect of regulatory design and risk type on cognitive information processing. PLOS ONE. Accepted May 2021.
This project is funded by Mistra Biotech.