The effects of prior beliefs and learning on consumers’ acceptance of genetically modified foods

Abstract

New food products using genetically modified crops appeared in U.S. supermarkets starting in 1996, and consumers’ perceived some risks. This paper examines the role of consumers prior beliefs about genetic modification and of diverse, new information on their willingness to pay for foods that might be genetically modified. We use data from economics experiments and show that participants who had informed prior beliefs discounted GM-labeled food products more highly than those who had uninformed prior beliefs. Uninformed participants were especially susceptible to information from interested and third parties. In contrast, informed participants were generally not affected significantly by new information.