Examining the social acceptance of genetically modified bioenergy in Germany: Labels, information valence, corporate actors, and consumer decisions

Butkowski, Olivier K.; Baum, Chad M.; Pakseresht, Ashkan; Bröring, Stefanie; Lagerkvist, Carl Johan

doi:10.1016/j.erss.2019.101308

Cited by 8 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 140 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Interestingly, however, positive pictures of pasture grazing also evoked negative associations with intensive animal farming, which is similar to the findings of Vigors [43]. Negative associations are thus not necessarily caused by information material but can be affected by consumers' individual values, knowledge about, and involvement in the subjects raised [18,23,42]. This implies that negative associations are unlikely ever to be completely avoided and must, therefore, be addressed in efforts to promote societal acceptance of virtual fencing.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 52%

“…This finding is supported, for example, by the results of a study of Dutch citizens' views on modern farming that indicates a preference for a rather traditional, natural dairy farming [16]. Whereas the attitudes of consumers to agricultural innovations have been explored in relation to more established fields, such as genetically modified organisms and automatic milking systems (e.g., References [17,18]), the road to understanding consumers' perceptions of virtual fencing in pasture grazing systems has yet to be paved.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 89%

“…What happens to the farmers who lose their jobs in this way?" (5m_50+; 18,38) One participant noted that farmers contributing to biodiversity conservation by using new technology might have a positive effect on current discourse: "Perhaps it'll also help put an end to this silly debate about farmers and agriculture being against nature protection" (18f_50+; 19).…”

Section: Readiness To Accept Virtual Fencing In Beef and Dairy Systemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Insights into German Consumers’ Perceptions of Virtual Fencing in Grassland-Based Beef and Dairy Systems: Recommendations for Communication

Stampa

Zander

Hamm

2020

Animals

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The share of cattle grazing on grassland is decreasing in many European countries. While the production costs of intensive stall-based beef and dairy systems are usually lower per kg product, grazing-based systems provide more ecosystem services that are valued by consumers. Innovative grazing systems that apply virtual fencing technology can improve animal welfare, optimize grassland use as pasture, and contribute to biodiversity conservation. Although consumer demand for pasture-raised products could promote animal-friendly practices, consumer perception of virtual fencing remains unknown. To address this gap in research, this study developed information brochures with different lines of argumentation and tested the responses of German consumers using concurrent think aloud protocols. The results demonstrated ambivalence in consumers’ attitudes to virtual fencing. The participants supported the idea of cattle pasturing to promote animal welfare and foster biodiversity declaring a willingness to contribute not only by paying price premiums for pasture-raised products but also through seeking other possibilities of action and participation. However, participants raised concerns about the effects on animal welfare and the social ramifications of the technology. The study offers recommendations for addressing these issues in communication and further contributes to the understanding of consumers’ perceptions of innovation in animal production.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 52%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 89%

Section: Readiness To Accept Virtual Fencing In Beef and Dairy Systemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Insights into German Consumers’ Perceptions of Virtual Fencing in Grassland-Based Beef and Dairy Systems: Recommendations for Communication

Stampa

Zander

Hamm

2020

Animals

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Damit Nachhaltigkeit als Leitidee für den Einsatz der Gentechnik auch faktisch umgesetzt wird, sind neue kooperative Formen der Verständigung zwischen Industrie, Landwirtinnen und Landwirten, Umweltschutzorganisationen sowie politischen Regulierungsinstanzen notwendig. Dabei muss das Thema Gentechnik in einen größeren Zusammenhang mit Landnutzung, Treibhausgasemissionen und Ernährungsverhalten eingebettet werden (Butkowski et al, 2020). Die Einrichtung solcher kooperativer Netzwerke und Plattformen könnte dazu führen, Treiber und Hemmnisse landwirtschaftlicher Praktiken systemisch zu beleuchten, vor allem unter der Randbedingung der Digitalisierung, der neuen Entwicklungen in der Gentechnik (CRISPR/Cas) und der Forderung nach nachhaltiger Entwicklung (Clément/Ajena, 2021).…”

Section: Aussichtenunclassified

23. Gentechnische Anwendungen im Spiegel der nachhaltigen Entwicklung

Renn¹

2021

Fünfter Gentechnologiebericht

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…The commercialization of GMF as well as the decision-making of stakeholders related to food industries (e.g., governmental policymakers, farmers, and agro-biotechnology enterprises) strongly depends on its public acceptance [13][14][15]. Given the importance of predicting public acceptance of GMF, much scholarly attention has been paid to explore the factors that affect the public acceptance of GMF [16][17][18][19][20][21][22]. Among these factors, scholars are most interested in the following three: perceived risks, perceived benefits, and trust [13,17].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Effects of Epistemic Trust and Social Trust on Public Acceptance of Genetically Modified Food: An Empirical Study from China

Liu

Wei

et al. 2020

IJERPH

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Most studies exploring the public acceptance of genetically modified food (GMF) are based on social trust and the establishment of a causal model. The underlying premise is that social trust indirectly affects public acceptance of GMF through perceived risks and perceived benefits. The object of social trust is trust in people, organizations, and institutions. Different from the social trust, epistemic trust refers to people’s trust in scientific knowledge behind the technology of concern. It has been shown that epistemic trust, like social trust, is also an important factor that affects the public perception of applicable risks and benefits. Therefore, it is necessary to incorporate epistemic trust into the causal model to derive a more complete explanation of public acceptance. However, such work has not been conducted to date. The causal model proposed in this paper integrated epistemic trust and social trust and divided social trust into trust in public organizations and trust in industrial organizations. A representative questionnaire survey (N = 1091) was conducted with Chinese adults. The model was analyzed by the partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) method. Three major findings were obtained: First, epistemic trust is an important antecedent of perceived risks and perceived benefits and exerts a significant indirect effect on the acceptance of GMF. Secondly, trust in industrial organizations negatively impacts perceived risks, while trust in public organizations positively impacts perceived benefits. Thirdly, contrary to the common opinion, trust in industrial organizations did not exert a significant direct effect on perceived benefits, and trust in public organizations did not demonstrate a significant direct effect on perceived risks. Therefore, trust in industrial organizations and trust in public organizations utilize different influence paths on GMF acceptance. This study enriches the understanding of the influence path of trust with regard to the acceptance of emerging technologies and is of great significance to relevant risk-management practices.

show abstract

Examining the social acceptance of genetically modified bioenergy in Germany: Labels, information valence, corporate actors, and consumer decisions

Cited by 8 publications

References 140 publications

Insights into German Consumers’ Perceptions of Virtual Fencing in Grassland-Based Beef and Dairy Systems: Recommendations for Communication

Insights into German Consumers’ Perceptions of Virtual Fencing in Grassland-Based Beef and Dairy Systems: Recommendations for Communication

23. Gentechnische Anwendungen im Spiegel der nachhaltigen Entwicklung

The Effects of Epistemic Trust and Social Trust on Public Acceptance of Genetically Modified Food: An Empirical Study from China

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About