CONSUMER ACCEPTANCE OF GENETICALLY MODIFIED FOODS



among the Japanese consumers. In Taiwan, even though the knowledge of GM foods is not
pervasive, a Gallup Poll (2000) shows that Taiwanese consumers are not against GM technology
on food production and are willing to purchase GM foods.

Studies on other agricultural technologies have been done. Wang et al. (1997) attempted
to measure the WTP for rBST-free milk in Vermont and their results show that for rBST-free
milk, 37.4% of the respondents do not want to pay any premium, 50.6% are willing to pay a
premium up to 40 cents per gallon, and 12.0% would pay a premium of 41 cents or more. Also,
the authors find that the consumer WTP is affected by several demographic variables, such as
income, education, and gender. Halbendt, et al. (1995) conducted a nationwide CV survey to
measure the consumer willingness to purchase pork with lower saturated fats, and their results
show that the survey respondents are willing to pay an average 16 to 23 cents more per pound for
fresh pork with reduced levels of saturated fats. Buzby, et al. (1995) investigated the consumer
willingness to pay for grapefruit with reduced chemical residue. Their results indicate that
respondents are willing to pay an average of 31% more for grapefruit under the 50 % risk
reduction scenario, and 38% more if there is a 99% reduction in the risk associated with
chemical residue.

Methodology

The contingent valuation (CV) has been used to elicit consumer willingness to pay for
non-market goods, such as water quality improvement (Carson and Mitchell, 1981) or air
pollution control (Loehman and De, 1982). CV is also widely used in evaluating consumer
willingness to pay for food safety, such as reduced food-borne risks (Hammitt, 1986). Although
there are several economic tools to value non-market goods, CV is generally considered as the
most appropriate choice for measuring food safety (Buzby, et al., 1995).



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