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How would Swiss consumers decide if they had freedom of choice? Evidence from a field study with organic, conventional and GM corn bread

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  • Aerni, Philipp
  • Scholderer, Joachim
  • Ermen, David

Abstract

In 2005, the Swiss expressed their negative attitude towards genetic engineering in agriculture by voting in favor of a ban to use genetically modified (GM) crops in domestic agriculture. At the same time, certain GM food products remain approved but are not on offer since retailers assume that consumers would shun labeled GM food. In our study we tested this claim by conducting a large-scale field study with Swiss consumers. In our experimental design, three clearly labeled types of corn bread were offered at five different market stands across the French and German-speaking part of Switzerland: one made with organic, one made with conventional, and one made with genetically modified (GM) corn. In addition, we tested the consistency between purchasing decision at the market stand and the previous voting decision on GMOs in 2005 by means of an ex-post questionnaire. The results of our discrete choice analysis show that Swiss consumers treat GM foods just like any other type of novel food. We conclude from our findings that consumers tend to appreciate transparency and freedom of choice even if one of the offered product types is labeled as containing a genetically modified ingredient. Retailers should allow consumers to make their own choice and accept the fact that not all people appear to be afraid of GM food.

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  • Aerni, Philipp & Scholderer, Joachim & Ermen, David, 2011. "How would Swiss consumers decide if they had freedom of choice? Evidence from a field study with organic, conventional and GM corn bread," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(6), pages 830-838.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:jfpoli:v:36:y:2011:i:6:p:830-838
    DOI: 10.1016/j.foodpol.2011.08.002
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Klaus G. Grunert & Tino Bech-Larsen & Liisa Lähteenmäki & Øydis Ueland & Annika Åström, 2004. "Attitudes towards the use of GMOs in food production and their impact on buying intention: The role of positive sensory experience," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 20(1), pages 95-107.
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    5. Aerni, Philipp & Bernauer, Thomas, 2006. "Stakeholder attitudes toward GMOs in the Philippines, Mexico, and South Africa: The issue of public trust," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 34(3), pages 557-575, March.
    6. Kirchhoff, Stefanie & Zago, Angelo M., 2001. "A Simple Model Of Voluntary Vs Mandatory Labelling Of Gmos," 2001 Annual meeting, August 5-8, Chicago, IL 20540, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
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    Cited by:

    1. Ashkan Pakseresht & Brandon R McFadden & Carl Johan Lagerkvist, 2017. "Consumer acceptance of food biotechnology based on policy context and upstream acceptance: evidence from an artefactual field experiment," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Foundation for the European Review of Agricultural Economics, vol. 44(5), pages 757-780.
    2. Aerni, Philipp, 2013. "Do Private Standards encourage or hinder trade and innovation?," Papers 599, World Trade Institute.
    3. repec:cup:judgdm:v:8:y:2013:i:6:p:700-716 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Fátima Quedas & João Ponte & Carlos Trindade & Maarten Punt & Justus Wesseler, 2016. "Special Issue on GMO Coexistence," EuroChoices, The Agricultural Economics Society, vol. 15(1), pages 59-63, April.
    5. Philipp Aerni, 2011. "Do Political Attitudes Affect Consumer Choice? Evidence from a Large-Scale Field Study with Genetically Modified Bread in Switzerland," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 3(9), pages 1-18, September.
    6. Asghar Afshar Jahanshahi & Jianfeng Jia, 2018. "Purchasing Green Products as a Means of Expressing Consumers’ Uniqueness: Empirical Evidence from Peru and Bangladesh," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-17, November.
    7. Jacob L. Orquin & Martin P. Bagger & Simone Mueller Loose, 2013. "Learning affects top down and bottom up modulation of eye movements in decision making," Judgment and Decision Making, Society for Judgment and Decision Making, vol. 8(6), pages 700-716, November.
    8. Zilberman, David & Kaplan, Scott & Kim, Eunice & Waterfield, Gina, 2013. "Lessons from the California GM Labeling Proposition on the State of Crop Biotechnology," 2013 Annual Meeting, August 4-6, 2013, Washington, D.C. 149851, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.

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