Information Values on the Consumer’s Valuation of non-GM Material: The Case of Cooking Oil in Korea

Kyungsoo Nam,Byeong-Il Ahn,Heesun Lim

doi:10.3390/su12197876

Abstract

This paper analyzes the changes in consumer preference that may occur when the current Genetically Modified (GM) crops policy is strengthened by applying mandatory labeling to all processed food that uses GM crops as raw materials. We estimate the change in consumers’ willingness to pays for cooking oil before and after providing the information on GM raw material contained in the currently marketed cooking oil to consumers. To this end, a hypothetical cooking oil product using non-GM raw materials is set up, and consumers are classified into high and low awareness groups for genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and those who prefer and do not prefer organic foods. The Contingent Valuation Method (CVM) analyses show the amount of willingness to pay before providing the information for high and low awareness groups for GMOs increases from 23.8 dollars and 18.0 dollars per 1.8 L to 25.6 dollars and 20.3 dollars, respectively. The value of the information on GM raw materials of a consumer group with high prior knowledge of GMOs is estimated to be 1.8 dollars, and the value of the information of a consumer group with low prior knowledge is estimated to be 2.4 dollars per 1.8 L. The willingness to pay (WTP) change according to the information provision of the group with the highest prior knowledge of GMOs is estimated to be 0.6 dollars, and the WTP change is estimated to be 3.6 dollars for the group with lowest prior knowledge. This implies that the lower the prior knowledge possessed by a consumer, the higher the value of information on GM raw materials elicited.

Highlights

Modified (GM) crops contain DNA that is not produced by conventional breeding methods and has low production costs and high productivity [1,2]
The results of the DBDC questionnaire were estimated by maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) using the log-likelihood function of Equation (4) and the results were compared in the setting before and after providing Genetically modified (GM)-use information
The value of GM-use information is analyzed to be greater in the group who prefers organic foods. These results in this study indicate that consumers who are more concerned about food safety have higher willingness to pay (WTP) for non-GM cooking oil, and are more sensitive to the information on the use of GM raw materials

Summary

Introduction

Modified (GM) crops contain DNA that is not produced by conventional breeding methods and has low production costs and high productivity [1,2]. For this reason, producers have produced GM crops in many countries, and their production and cultivated area are growing rapidly. As the importance of sustainability emerges, the controversial debate on the use of GM crops is moving towards discussions on food safety and health as well as environmental impacts. The use of GM crops has allowed farmers to practice sustainable agricultural production by reducing the use of pesticides and greenhouse gas emissions and reached the scientific consensus that consuming GM crops is at least as safe as consuming conventional crops [5]. There are studies showing that the safety of GM foods is unreliable because the data and analytical methods used in the studies are not reliable [12,13]

Methods

Results

Conclusion