Consumer attitudes toward genetic testing and personalised nutrition in Hungary

Abstract

The aim of the research is to reveal the most important infl uencing factors that lead to consumers' acceptance of personalised nutrition based on genetic testing. A nationwide representative questionnaire-based consumer survey was carried out involving 500 people in Hungary in 2014. The results show that consumers are divided over the new technology. Only 27.0% of the respondents have a positive attitude toward the new possibility, and they would be glad to use this new service in order to stay healthy. The rate of those who would have a genetic test because they want to follow a diet tailored to their needs is very low (16.0%). Our result suggested that the most important factors in consumer preference on personalised nutrition are positive health message and perceived risk/benefi ts, gender, and educational level. The most important factors regarding the attitude toward genetic testing are easy usage, benefi ts, the agreement among experts, and educational level.

Consumer acceptance of genetic-based personalized nutrition in Hungary

“…The data processing and modelling methodology of the current research was developed on the basis of Szakály et al [53] and Ronteltap et al [61]. Namely, multinominal logistic regression was used to determine the extent to which an individual's characteristics and distinguishing criteria increase the likelihood of acceptance of a genetically based personalized diet.…”

“…This implies that the known risk of a disease may motivate respondents to follow advice on such a diet. In terms of income, those with higher income are more receptive to personalized nutrition and would be willing to pay more for such services than those with lower income [52][53][54][55]. Finally, the findings of some research studies [52][53][54] suggest that a higher level of education is accompanied by a more extensive acceptance of nutrigenomics-based personalized nutrition, while other results indicate that education is not related to the willingness to use nutrigenetics and personalized nutrition [47].…”

“…Previous research studies have suggested that consumers generally have positive attitudes towards nutrigenomicbased personalized nutrition, similar to genetic testing [17,[43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50], although in some research, negative attitudes have dominated [51], and in some cases, the majority of respondents have been hesitant to judge the new technology [52][53][54]. According to various studies, about one-third to a half of those surveyed would use such a service and adopt a tailor-made, personalized diet [17]; however, considerable differences can be observed between countries.…”

“…The results of a research study conducted in Sweden [43] show that 70% of those surveyed would be willing to have a genetic test made in order to receive personalized nutritional advice, 65% would consider following the advice, while 20% would only be willing to do so if some serious illnesses could be prevented in that way. A Hungarian research study [52][53][54] concluded that only 27% of respondents would adopt nutrigenomics-based personalized nutrition, while about 29% would clearly reject it, and almost half (44%) were indifferent to the new technology.…”

“…As regards demographic factors, women are more likely to undergo nutrigenomic tests [47] and be interested in nutrigenomics-based personalized nutritional advice [48]; however, the results are mixed, and depend on age and the existence of health problems. Research studies conducted by Ahlgren et al [43] and Szakály et al [52][53][54] have found younger people more willing to have a nutrigenomic test performed and adopt nutrigenomics-based personalized nutrition, while according to Stewart-Knox et al [48], it is older people who are more willing to use these services; Roosen et al [47], however, found no connection between age and willingness to undergo nutrigenomic tests. Furthermore, those aware of their various health problems would prefer to buy functional foods that meet their genetic risks [47] and would take advantage of personalized nutritional advice [48].…”