Agricultural biotechnology (genetic modification) has encountered resistance from many consumers, resulting in disparate regulatory approaches across different jurisdictions. The recent advent of CRISPR‐Cas9, or gene editing, offers the potential for significant improvements in plant breeding. However, little is known currently about consumer responses to the technology. A factor often omitted from previous economic analyses of consumer acceptance of new food technologies is underlying human values or worldviews. Drawing upon cultural cognition theory and using data from a survey of Canadian consumers, we examine the influence of cultural values on food choice behaviours. Respondents’ pre‐existing cultural values are measured on two dimensions: hierarchy‐egalitarianism and individualism‐communitarianism. Choice behaviours are captured using a discrete choice experiment featuring a sliced apple product with two consumer‐oriented attributes (non‐browning and antioxidant‐enhanced) and three novel food technologies (gene editing, genetic modification, edible coating). Using a random parameters logit model with error components we find pre‐existing cultural values to be significant determinants of choice behaviours. Individuals pre‐disposed towards a hierarchical worldview are more accepting of novel food technologies, as are individuals with a communitarian worldview. While the use of gene editing results in negative marginal utilities in a food choice situation, the effect is not as large as with genetic modification, suggesting there is scope to ameliorate potentially negative reactions to the technology with value‐compatible messages.

中文翻译：

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文化世界观如何塑造食品技术观念？离散选择实验的证据

农业生物技术（转基因）遇到了许多消费者的抵制，导致不同辖区采取不同的监管方法。CRISPR-Cas9的最新出现或基因编辑为植物育种提供了显着改善的潜力。但是，目前对于消费者对该技术的反应知之甚少。以前对消费者接受新食品技术的经济分析经常忽略的一个因素是潜在的人类价值观或世界观。利用文化认知理论并使用加拿大消费者调查的数据，我们研究了文化价值观对食物选择行为的影响。受访者先前存在的文化价值是从两个维度来衡量的：等级制-平等主义和个人主义-社群主义。选择行为是通过一项离散选择实验来捕获的，该实验具有一种切片苹果产品，该产品具有两种面向消费者的属性（不褐变和抗氧化剂增强）和三种新颖的食品技术（基因编辑，基因修饰，可食用涂层）。使用带有误差成分的随机参数logit模型，我们发现预先存在的文化价值是选择行为的重要决定因素。倾向于等级世界观的个人和具有社群主义世界观的个人更喜欢新型食品技术。尽管在食物选择情况下使用基因编辑会导致负面的边际效用，但其效果却不如基因改造那么大，这表明可以通过价值兼容的信息来缓解对该技术的潜在负面反应。