Can Chinese Consumers Be Persuaded? The Case of Genetically Modified Vegetable Oil

Abstract

This paper investigates consumers' purchase intentions of vegetable oil that is made from genetically modified oilseeds (referred to as GM vegetable oil) in Beijing, China. It is found that consumers' purchase intentions of GM vegetable oil are low, indicating a considerable skepticism toward GM products. A potential reason for this skepticism is that Chinese consumers are not well informed about GM technology. Three types of information presented in the survey are found to have positive but differential impacts on consumers' purchase intentions. This signals that different information strategies may be implemented to influence Chinese consumers' purchase intentions of GM products.