1 / 48

Attitudes of Hawai’i Consumers Toward Genetically Modified Fruit

Attitudes of Hawai’i Consumers Toward Genetically Modified Fruit. Sabry Shehata 1 and Linda J. Cox 2 And William Steiner 3. 1 College of Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resource Management, University of Hawai’i at Hilo.

munin
Download Presentation

Attitudes of Hawai’i Consumers Toward Genetically Modified Fruit

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Attitudes of Hawai’i Consumers Toward Genetically Modified Fruit Sabry Shehata1 and Linda J. Cox2 And William Steiner3 1 College of Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resource Management, University of Hawai’i at Hilo 2 CTAHR Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Management. 3 College of Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resource Management, University of Hawai’i at Hilo

  2. Introduction

  3. Production Risk

  4. Papaya Ringspot Virus (PRV) • Causes large yield losses • Severely affected papaya production in the 1990’s when it hit Hawai’i

  5. To combat the PRV, researchers developed genetically engineered papayas with PRV resistance incorporated in their genome The most commonly planted engineered papaya is called RAINBOW

  6. Market Risk Consumers have negative reactions toward GMO Fruits in both the national and international markets International Importers could seek other sources of supply

  7. Market Loss to the Phillipines • Losing market share to the Phillipines since 1995 • Philippine have the advantage of being cheaper and geographically closer to Japan • Japan does not accept GM papayas

  8. Research indicates that consumers in Europe and Japan are concerned about GM food products

  9. Japan GM Attitudes • More than 69% felt that these products posed health risk • 38% indicate GM posed environmental risk • 60% concern about food allergies • 60% fear of an unknown new disease

  10. Japan GM Attitudes • 32% will not consume GMO even if it is safe • 32% still feared health risks • 30% uneasy about the concept of

  11. Japan GM Attitudes • More than 90% support labeling of GM foods • 68% indicate GM labeling is needed • 50% feel that not labeling GM foods is a violation of consumer rights

  12. Methodology

  13. The Survey Process • A telephone survey was conducted in February-June 2006 • The survey asked about the respondent’s: • Opinions on health, safety and allergies • Willingness to consume GM products • Willingness to purchase if the genetic modification: • Reduced the need for pesticides • Is as nutritious as non-GM fruit • If cost 10% more or less • Opinion about labeling GM fruits • Demographic characteristics

  14. Results and Analysis

  15. Respondents’ Knowledge of and Opinions About GM Products • A question requiring respondents to indicate how well informed they felt about GM foods was included • To determine if they were at all knowledgeable, three statements were included that required a response of true, false or don’t know

  16. Respondents’ Information Level of GM Foods

  17. True/False Knowledge of GMO Fruits

  18. Results of Respondents’ Knowledge of GM Foods • From these responses, it is concluded that about 2/3 of the respondents are not knowledgeable about GM fruit • This is consistent, as 64% of respondents believe themselves to be either very little, or not informed about GM food

  19. Respondents’ Perceptions About GM Food Safety • Respondents equally divided • 34% believe GM fruit is either extremely or somewhat risky to consume • 36% believe GM fruit is either extremely or somewhat safe to consume • A large portion, 22%, did not know if GM fruit was safe or risky

  20. Respondents’ Attitudes About the Safety of GM Fruit

  21. Respondent’s Willingness to Consume GM Fruit • 51% of respondents were extremely or somewhat willing to consume GM fruit • This went up to 61% if the modification reduced the amount of pesticides used in crop production • If GM fruit can cause an allergic reaction, only 33% of respondents were willing or extremely willing to consume them, while 53% were unwilling

  22. Consumer Opinion of Various Market Attributes

  23. Respondent’s Willingness to Consume GM Fruit • 31% of respondents were extremely or somewhat willing to consume GM fruit if it cost 10% more than non-GM fruit • If the GM fruit cost 10% less, the number of respondents willing to consume GM fruit goes up to 63%

  24. Respondent’s Opinions on Ethics • Respondents were asked how important ethical or religious concerns are in their decisions to consume GM fruit

  25. Respondents’ Opinions on Ethics

  26. Respondent’s Knowledge and Labeling • A cross tabulation between how well informed respondents were about genetic modification and their attitudes toward labeling was done

  27. Respondents’ Knowledge and Opinion on Labeling

  28. Respondent’s Knowledge and Labeling • 49% of respondents who felt they were well informed believe that labeling is very important • Of those believing themselves to be somewhat, very little or not at all informed, over 70% of each category feels that labeling is very important • Those who said they were well informed felt the importance of labeling was less than those that were less informed.

  29. Respondents’ Knowledge and Labeling • 38% of respondents who consider themselves well informed supported labeling and wanted labeling for both GM and non-GM foods • 44% of the uninformed respondents want labeling for both GM and non-GM foods

  30. Respondents’ Knowledge and Type of Labeling Policy

  31. Gender and Labeling • The gender of the respondent was significantly related to their attitude toward labeling • 80% of females want GM fruit to be labeled, compared with 61% of male respondents • 46% females and 40% males want GMO labeling to be mandatory

  32. Gender and Labeling

  33. Gender and Labeling Policy

  34. Education and Labeling • Respondents with more education are more likely to feel labeling is important • 75% of respondents with more than 4 years of college feel labeling is very important, while only 38% of those with some high school feel it is very important

  35. Education and Attitude Towards Labeling

  36. Education and Labeling • 63% of respondents with some high school want mandatory GM labeling, compared with 81% of high school graduates, 84% college graduates and 88% of post-college graduates • The higher the level of respondents’ education, the more likely they are to want mandatory GM labeling

  37. Education and Labeling Policy

  38. Income and Labeling • Households that earn less than $15,000 year feel labeling is less important than do households from the other income categories. • However, the differences that were found between household income levels are not significant.

  39. Income and Attitudes Towards Labeling

  40. Income and Labeling • Households with lower income levels are more supportive of mandatory labeling • Again, this result is not significant.

  41. Income and Labeling Policy

  42. Educating the Public • Since only 8% of respondents feel they are well informed about GM food, more consumer education is needed • The benefits of genetic modification for specific products, such as reductions in pesticide use, should be included

  43. Educating the Public • Educational materials should be developed to explain the risks GM food/fruit poses to the environment and human health

  44. Labeling • Survey respondents strongly believed that GM fruits should be labeled • Mandatory labeling of GM food was widely supported by survey respondents

  45. Labeling • Mandatory labeling might be considered by Hawai’i’s agricultural sector as a means of providing consumer information • The cost of labeling will likely become a production/marketing cost and likely will not result in a significant price increase for consumers

  46. The Importance of Labeling • Agribusinesses interested in marketing GM and non-GM food/fruit will notice that women find labeling very important • The labeling of GM and non-GM food/fruit is likely to be an important element in a firm’s marketing strategy • Any firm or industry marketing GM food/fruit would likely benefit from providing information to supplement a label

  47. Impact on GM Papaya • While the labeling of the papaya is likely warranted, this may not be sufficient information for consumers to fully understand the benefits and costs associated with consuming GM papaya

  48. Conclusion • Therefore, an educational effort based on credible scientific information is likely to be needed for papaya if producers plan to develop and maintain a strong local and export market • This research indicates that such an effort will likely increase consumers’ willingness to purchase GM fruit

More Related