2 February 1996
Journal of Food Distribution Research
One criteria for success of food biotechnol-
ogy will be the level of consumer acceptance.
Consumers will have an influence over the future
of biotechnology through their market behavior.
Stenholm and Waggoner (1992, p. 28) conclude
that: “The ultimate judge of emerging technolo-
gies will be the consumer — whether that be the
farmer, homemaker, or general public. It is they
who will appraise the merits of a particular prod-
uct or process and determine its success or fail-
ure.” .
Biotechnology is developing within a larger
context of sustained public interest in health and
the environment (Foreman 1990). The Office of
Technology Assessment (1992: 17) summed up
the situation, as follows: “Society in general is
more skeptical of the need for new technologies.
Scientific illiteracy combined with a lack of
knowledge about agriculture and biology leads
some people to misunderstand how and why these
technologies will be used.” The current social and
cultural context indicates a clear need for educa-
tional and marketing programs to pave the way
for the products of biotechnology (Hoban 1989).
Such efforts need to be based on an understanding
of consumer knowledge and attitudes.
Government policies and regulations will
also influence the future direction of biotechnol-
ogy (Gore 1992). As a relatively new set of tools,
biotechnology has received extensive review by a
number of government agencies and independent
experts. Government officials and the scientific
community agree that just because foods are pro-
duced through biotechnology does not necessarily
result in any unique safety concerns. As with
other foods, those produced through biotechnol-
ogy are, therefore, regulated on the characteristics
of the product, rather than the process used (in
this case biotechnology).
Experts also agree that future progress in
biotechnology will be vital to meeting global
needs for food, fiber, and even fuel (Office of
Technology Assessment 1992). Developments in
biotechnology will provide significant benefits to
farmers, the food industry, and consumers. How-
ever, the full promise will only be met if consum-
ers accept the products. Decision makers in the
public and private sector need to understand and
remain sensitive to public perceptions. This paper
summarizes and interprets trends in public aware-
ness of and attitudes about biotechnology in the
United States.
Trends In Public Attitudes and Awareness
During the past few years, several major na-
tional telephone surveys have been conducted that
examine public perceptions of agricultural bio-
technology. The first project, funded by the U.S.
Department of Agriculture (USDA), was a na-
tional telephone survey conducted in 1992 with
1228 respondents (Hoban and Kendall 1993).
Eight focus groups were also conducted as part of
that project to further assess consumer reactions
to biotechnology and identify educational needs.
More recently, a similar study was conducted for
the Grocery Manufacturers of America (GMA)
that involved 1004 telephone interviews com-
pleted in January 1994 (Hoban 1994). This paper
also presents selected results from two national
surveys conducted in early 1995 for the Food
Marketing Institute (Food Marketing Institute
1995). The random samples for these four studies
are representative of the country as a whole. In all
cases, professional telephone interviewers were
used. Key findings will be highlighted in this sec-
tion.
Acceptance OfBiotechnology
The bottom line from these studies is that
most people have a positive view on the use of
biotechnology. As shown in Figure 1, two-thirds
of the respondents to both the USDA and GMA
survey supported the use of biotechnology in ag-
riculture and food production. Even more (82
percent) supported its use in the development of
new medicines when asked on the GMA survey.
As might be expected, even the use of biotech-
nology in human health care is unacceptable to a
small segment of the public. Even so, almost
three quarters of the USDA respondents in 1992
agreed that “Biotechnology will personally
benefit people like me in the next five years.” On
a related statement, more than two thirds agreed
that “Government should fund more biotechnol-
ogy research because of the potential benefits.”
As with any group of food products, those
developed through biotechnology will vary in
their acceptability to consumers. In both the 1992