Risk perception and new food production technologies

Abstract

In this study, survey data were used to develop a model to measure the relationship between a set of socio-economic characteristics of consumers and their risk perception of feed additives and growth hormones use in livestock production. Perceptions were measured indirectly by constructs based on responses to multiple questions. Factor analysis was used to identify the perception measures. Next, two econometric approaches were applied to estimate the relationships between the explanatory variables and risk perceptions. Estimation results gave both the direct and total effects of each explanatory variable on the three constructs: risk perception due to the use of feed additives and antibiotics in livestock and poultry, risk perception due to the use of bioengineering in food production or its specific example – the porcine somatotropin (pST) – the pig growth hormone, and support of pST use in pig production.