Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to identify which plant protection practices consumers prefer and why. The authors focused on beneficial insects, genetically modified (GM) plants, synthetic chemical pesticides, biological plant protection, mechanical-physical plant protection as well as biotechnical plant protection. The authors studied the effects of the risk perception and both subjective and objective knowledge on preference.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors collected cross-sectional data from n = 1,223 people living in Germany. For this, the authors used an online panel and quoted participation after age, gender, income and region. The authors used multiple regression analyses and also explored moderation effects of knowledge on risk perception to explain participants' preferences.

Findings

The most preferred plant protection practice in the study sample was the application of beneficial insects. The authors found evidence that risk perception, as well as objective and subjective knowledge, can have a pivotal direct effect on preferences. Additionally, subjective as well as objective knowledge typically moderated the effect of risk perception, depending on the plant protection practice in focus. Overall, the authors found that levels of subjective and objective knowledge of plant protection practices were rather low among German participants.

Originality/value

While studies on consumer preferences for GM or organic food are abundant, preferences regarding other types of common plant protection practices are hardly investigated. To tackle this research gap, the authors focused on six different and common plant protection practices and compare results.

中文翻译：

---

植物保护实践：风险感知，主观和客观知识如何影响德国消费者的偏好

目的

本文的目的是确定消费者偏爱哪种植物保护措施以及原因。作者主要研究有益昆虫，转基因植物，合成化学农药，生物植物保护，机械物理植物保护以及生物技术植物保护。作者研究了风险感知以及主观和客观知识对偏好的影响。

设计/方法/方法

作者从n  = 1,223人居住在德国的人群中收集了横截面数据。为此，作者使用了一个在线小组，并引用了年龄，性别，收入和地区之后的参与情况。作者使用了多元回归分析，还探讨了知识对风险感知的调节作用，以解释参与者的偏好。

发现

研究样品中最优选的植物保护措施是施用有益昆虫。作者发现证据表明，风险感知以及客观和主观知识可以对偏好产生关键的直接影响。此外，取决于重点的植物保护实践，主观知识和客观知识通常会减轻风险感知的影响。总体而言，作者发现德国参与者对植物保护实践的主观和客观知识水平较低。

创意/价值

尽管关于消费者对转基因或有机食品的偏好的研究很多，但几乎没有研究对其他类型的常见植物保护措施的偏好。为了弥补这一研究空白，作者集中研究了六种不同且常见的植物保护措施并比较了结果。