Identifying Drivers of Genetically Modified Seafood Demand: Evidence from a Choice Experiment

Abstract

The aquaculture industry has expanded to fill the gap between plateauing wild seafood supply and growing consumer seafood demand. The use of genetic modification (GM) technology has been proposed to address sustainability concerns associated with current aquaculture practices, but GM seafood has proved controversial among both industry stakeholders and producers, especially with forthcoming GM disclosure requirements for food products in the United States. We conduct a choice experiment eliciting willingness-to-pay for salmon fillets with varying characteristics, including GM technology and GM feed. We then develop a predictive model of consumer choice using LASSO (least absolute shrinkage and selection operator)-regularization applied to a mixed logit, incorporating risk perception, ambiguity preference, and other behavioral measures as potential predictors. Our findings show that health and environmental risk perceptions, confidence and concern about potential health and environmental risks, subjective knowledge, and ambiguity aversion in the domain of GM foods are all significant predictors of salmon fillet choice. These results have important implications for marketing of foods utilizing novel food technologies. In particular, people familiar with GM technology are more likely to be open to consuming GM seafood or GM-fed seafood, and effective information interventions for consumers will include details about health and environmental risks associated with GM seafood.

Do U.S. consumers value genetically modified farmed salmon?

“…Consumers across the world have been showing limited understanding, misconceptions, and unfamiliarity with GM food products (Wunderlich and Gatto, 2015). For example, Wunderlich and Gatto (2015) shows that consumers who are more familiar with GMO tend to be more resistant to bioengineering, while Weir and Sproul (2019) finds that people familiar with GM technology are more likely to be open to consuming GM seafood or seafood with GM feeds. Wunderlich and Gatto (2015) pointed out that consumers who have higher scientific knowledge have less negative attitudes toward GMOs.…”

“…GM fish, primarily salmon, carp, and tilapia, is modified with the intention of improving economically important traits such as increased growth rates, increased temperature tolerance, and improved disease resistance (Forabosco et al, 2013;Olufeagba, 2015). However, consumers' concerns about the health and environmental risks and aversion of GM foods affect their salmon choice (Weir and Sproul, 2019). Environmental concerns arise if GM fish escape from the aquaculture facilities into the wild and interact with wild species and transfer diseases and parasites (Olufeagba, 2015).…”