Consumer acceptance of food biotechnology based on policy context and upstream acceptance: evidence from an artefactual field experiment

摘要

The European Commission recently proposed new rules allowing 'opt-outs' by member states from a Europe-wide approval system for genetically modified (GM) foods. An artefactual field experiment was performed in Sweden to test whether changing the policy context and acceptance by upstream actors influenced consumer acceptance of a GM product with direct tangible health benefits and indirect environmental benefits. The results indicated that acceptance was lower in more restrictive policy scenarios and higher in less restrictive contexts. Moreover, acceptance of upstream actors was policy context-dependent and differed between participants opposed to or accepting the technology.