Risk Perception, Bias, and Resistance to New Food Tech: The Case of GMOS
Abstract
GMOs are very controversial among consumers. Many fear that they may have risks scientists are not accounting for. Some GMOs, such as GMO soybean oil, have concerns over their processing methods as well. Traditional risk assessments that only account for hazard do not take these fears into account. Including risk perception, bias, and resistance is a way to account for consumers’ fears. Risk perception, bias, and resistance together create an aggregate that in turn affects willingness-to-purchase. A discrete choice experiment assessed risk perception of, bias towards, and resistance towards GMOs. Respondents revealed their preferences between buying GMO or non-GMO soybean oil, each with a selection of attributes. Stated preferences on a series of scales showed their risk perception of, bias towards, and resistance towards GMOs. On the whole the results showed that risk perception, bias, and resistance together were significant factors on respondents’ choice of GMO soybean oil.