Purpose

This study jointly examines consumer attitudes towards gene-edited (GE) food and their preferences for labelling such products. Thus, it contributes to understanding the role of educational background, objective/subjective knowledge, environmental concern and socio-demographics in the context of GE food.

Design/methodology/approach

An online survey was administered to two generations of young individuals (millennials and Generation Z; n = 234) from two neighbouring European Union (EU) regions (Belgium and The Netherlands), which have a stringent policy on (labelling) genetically modified (GM) food. Ordinary least squares (OLS) and ordered logit models (OLMs) were employed to identify key determinants of attitudes towards GE food and GE labelling preferences, respectively.

Findings

Attitudes towards GE food were determined by environmental concern (negative) and objective knowledge (positive). Key factors influencing preferences for GE labelling were a non-hard-scientific background, knowledge about relevant policies and a negative attitude towards GE food. Preference for applying a similar labelling policy to both GM and GE was itself linked to having low, objective EU policy-related GM food knowledge and one's nationality.

Originality/value

This is one of the first studies to examine consumer attitudes towards GE food products, while also addressing a lack of research on GE food labelling preferences. By highlighting the preferences of young generations for a revised policy approach, this study sheds new light on the current GE debate, notably, by promoting a deeper understanding of a group which has so far received limited attention in the discourse on the acceptance of novel plant-breeding technologies.

中文翻译：

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对基因编辑食品的态度和标签偏好：千禧一代和Z代消费者的一项消费者研究

目的

这项研究共同检验了消费者对基因编辑（GE）食品的态度以及他们对此类产品加标签的偏好。因此，它有助于理解GE食品背景下的教育背景，客观/主观知识，环境问题和社会人口统计学的作用。

设计/方法/方法

对 来自两个相邻的欧盟（EU）地区（比利时和荷兰）的两代年轻人（千禧一代和Z代；n = 234）进行了在线调查，他们对转基因（标签）有严格的标签政策） 餐饮。分别使用普通最小二乘（OLS）和有序logit模型（OLM）来确定对GE食品和GE标签偏好的态度的关键决定因素。

发现

对转基因食品的态度取决于环境问题（负面）和客观知识（正面）。影响转基因标签偏好的关键因素是非严格的科学背景，对相关政策的了解以及对转基因食品的否定态度。倾向于对转基因和转基因食品采用类似的标签政策本身，是因为其与欧盟政策相关的转基因食品知识和国籍较低，且与客观性较低。

创意/价值

这是检验消费者对GE食品的态度的首批研究之一，同时也解决了缺乏有关GE食品标签偏好的研究的问题。通过强调年轻一代对修订政策方法的偏好，本研究为当前的通用电气辩论提供了新的思路，特别是通过促进对迄今为止在接受新型植物的讨论中仅受到有限关注的一个群体的更深入的了解。育种技术。