The Influence Of Genetically Modified Food Labeling Methods On Consumers’ Purchase Intention

Since the commercialization of the world’s first GM crop in the United States in1996,GM products have been widely used around the world for more than two decades.They have made significant contributions to world food security by reducing the cost of farming and improving the environment.The world is now in the midst of a century of unprecedented changes,with the global epidemic of Newcastle pneumonia,a volatile geopolitical landscape,and rising trade protectionism,ensuring food security is particularly important.As one of the fastest and most widely used emerging biotechnologies,transgenic technology will make a difference in helping China better ensure food security.Despite the rapid development of the global GM food industry and its many achievements,the development of GM industrialization and the consumption of GM food in China are not satisfactory,and consumers’ willingness to purchase GM food is low.There are many reasons for the low willingness of consumers to purchase GM foods in China,and this paper suggests that there may be a link between the way GM foods are labeled and the willingness of consumers to purchase in China.Based on this hypothesis,this paper collects and organizes data to classify the GM food labeling methods of the world’s major GM product importing and exporting countries,and studies the influence of different GM labeling methods on Chinese consumers’ willingness to purchase,and explores its influence path to provide some help for the better development of China’s GM food industry.This paper employs consumer behavior theory,information asymmetry theory,and perceived risk theory as the main theoretical frameworks,and uses a questionnaire survey to empirically investigate the willingness to purchase GM food and its influencing factors with 302 consumers in Wuhan,and to explore the mediating effect of trust level between GM labeling methods and consumers’ willingness to purchase.The study results indicate that consumers hold an overall negative attitude toward GM foods.Individual characteristics such as age,income,and education significantly influence consumers’ willingness to purchase.GM food awareness and trust significantly affect consumers’ willingness to purchase.GM labeling methods also influence consumers’ willingness to purchase,and trust plays a mediating role in the process.Based on the study results,recommendations are made to continue paying attention to the popularization of GM food science to improve public awareness;strengthen media regulation to ensure scientific propaganda;strengthen the regulation of GM food labeling to make labeling information transparent;and regulate and improve GM labeling methods to protect consumers’ right to know.