CAN FOOD LABEL DESIGN CHARACTERISTICS AFFECT PERCEPTIONS OF GENETICALLY MODIFIED FOOD?

摘要

A substantial body of research has investigated the effect of warning label design characteristics on hazard and other product perceptions in a variety of domains. However the extent to which these findings will generalise to food labelling and to communicating the presence of genetically modified ingredients is not known. The study reported here investigates how label design features influence the perception of genetically modified foods. The effects of label colour, wording style, and information source on hazard perceptions and purchase intentions were measured. Analysis of variance revealed that purchase intentions and hazard perceptions were influenced by label design. Of particular interest is the finding that any reference to genetic modification, even if the label is stating that the product is free of genetically modified ingredients, increased hazard perception and decreased purchase intentions relative to a control.