How Would Swiss Consumers Decide If They Had Freedom of Choice? Evidence from a Field Study with Organic, Conventional and GM Corn Bread

Posted: 8 Nov 2011

See all articles by Philipp Aerni

Philipp Aerni

Center for Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability (CCRS) at School of Management Fribourg (HES-SO)

Joachim Scholderer

Arhus University; University of Zurich

David Ermen

University of Otago - Department of Marketing

Date Written: 2011

Abstract

In 2005, the Swiss expressed their negative attitude towards genetic engineering in agriculture by voting in favor of a ban to use genetically modified (GM) crops in domestic agriculture. At the same time, certain GM food products remain approved but are not on offer since retailers assume that consumers would shun labeled GM food. In our study we tested this claim by conducting a large-scale field study with Swiss consumers. In our experimental design, three clearly labeled types of corn bread were offered at five different market stands across the French and German-speaking part of Switzerland: one made with organic, one made with conventional, and one made with genetically modified (GM) corn. In addition, we tested the consistency between purchasing decision at the market stand and the previous voting decision on GMOs in 2005 by means of an ex-post questionnaire. The results of our discrete choice analysis show that Swiss consumers treat GM foods just like any other type of novel food. We conclude from our findings that consumers tend to appreciate transparency and freedom of choice even if one of the offered product types is labeled as containing a genetically modified ingredient. Retailers should allow consumers to make their own choice and accept the fact that not all people appear to be afraid of GM food.

Keywords: revealed consumer behavior, freedom of choice, discrete choice, GM food, attitude-behavior consistency, field study

Suggested Citation

Aerni, Philipp and Scholderer, Joachim and Ermen, David, How Would Swiss Consumers Decide If They Had Freedom of Choice? Evidence from a Field Study with Organic, Conventional and GM Corn Bread (2011). Food Policy, Vol. 36, 2011, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1956468

Philipp Aerni (Contact Author)

Center for Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability (CCRS) at School of Management Fribourg (HES-SO) ( email )

Technoparkstrasse 1
Zurich, CH-8005
Switzerland
+41 26 429 64 71 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://www.ccrs.ch/

Joachim Scholderer

Arhus University ( email )

Department of Economics and Business Economics
Fuglesangs Allé 4
Århus V, 8210
Denmark
+45 871 65019 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://person.au.dk/js@econ.au.dk

University of Zurich ( email )

CCRS
Zähringerstrasse 24
Zurich, 8001
Switzerland
+41 44 634 40 61 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://www.ccrs.uzh.ch

David Ermen

University of Otago - Department of Marketing ( email )

United States

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