Intuitive and explicit reactions towards "new" food technologies: attitude strength and familiarity

Purpose - New food technologies are of increasing importance but not a lot of research into how people react to these technologies has been conducted. The purpose of this paper is to provide insight into how implicit measurements in addition to explicit measurements give insight into how well an attitude towards a food concept, in relation to its familiarity, is predictive for behaviour. Design/methodology/approach - An implicit measurement (EAST) and an explicit questionnaire were used to investigate people's attitudes and attitude strength towards two food technologies (genetic modification and organic production). Correlations between the two measurements were calculated to determine whether familiar food technologies are more predictive for behaviour than relatively unfamiliar food technologies. Findings - Implicit measurements showed negative associations with genetic modification. Explicit measurements showed neutral associations with genetic modification. In contrast, implicit and explicit measurements showed positive associations with organic production. When a food technology is well known (e.g. organic production), significant correlations between the two measurements were present suggesting that attitudes were predictive for behaviour. In contrast, when a food technology is not well known (e.g. genetic modification), significant correlations were not present suggesting that attitudes were not predictive for behaviour. Originality/value - This is the first study to examine the relation between intuitive and explicit reactions in relation with the novelty of food technologies

Categorizing genetically modified food products: Effects of labelling on information processing

Purpose – the purpose of this paper is to provide insight into whether gm-labelling leads to different processing behaviour of food stimuli compared to when products are not labelled.design/methodology/approach – a task was designed to investigate people's categorization behaviour as a function of information provided. In two studies each participant was randomly allocated to either the experimental “gm-labelled condition”, or the control “non-labelled condition”.findings – different processing strategies and different characteristics are used to judge products that are labelled as genetically modified or not. Gm labelling of foods is interpreted to induce analytical processing of information and therefore the products are classified relatively more often on the basis of verifiable categorization criteria compared to when they were not labelled as gm. When products are not labelled as gm, information is more likely to be automatically processed and non-verifiable categorization criteria are used.originality/value – this is the first study to examine the processes that labelling as gm brings about

Food and values: an examination of values underlying attitudes toward genetically modified- and organically grown food products

Food and values: an examination of values underlying attitudes toward genetically modified- and organically grown food products. Dreezens E, Martijn C, Tenbult P, Kok G, de Vries NK. Department of Experimental Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, Maastricht University, P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands. [email protected] This study addresses which specific values play a role in predicting participants' attitudes toward genetically modified food (GMF) and organically grown food (OGF). The first central question is whether the attitudes towards GMF and OGF are influenced by specific values and beliefs. The second central question is whether the attitudes towards GMF and OGF are related to each other, and whether the specific values underlying these two attitudes are also related to each other. A total of 100 participants responded to the Schwartz Value Survey and two questionnaires about GMF and organically grown food. When respondents scored high on the value power (dominance, submission), they rated GMF positively and OGF more negatively. Respondents who rated the value universalism (welfare for all people and protection of nature) high, rated OGF as positive. Furthermore, the relationship between attitudes and values was mediated by beliefs. These findings imply a meaningful relationship between specific values, beliefs, and these food-related attitudes, and suggest that values might play a role in explaining attitudes toward GMF and OGF product