No abstract

New food products using genetically modified crops appeared in U.S. supermarkets starting in 1996, and consumers' perceived some risks. This paper examines the role of consumers prior beliefs about genetic modification and of diverse, new information on their willingness to pay for foods that might be genetically modified. We use data from economics experiments and show that participants who had informed prior beliefs discounted GM-labeled food products more highly than those who had uninformed prior beliefs. Uninformed participants were especially susceptible to information from interested and third parties. In contrast, informed participants were generally not affected significantly by new information.

Food products containing genetically modified (GM) ingredients have entered the market over the past decade. The biotech industry and environmental groups have disseminating conflicting private information about GM foods. This paper develops a unique methodology for valuing independent third-party information in such a setting and applies this method to consumers' willingness to pay for food products that might be GM. Data are collected from real consumers in an auction market setting with randomized information and labeling treatments. The average value of third-party information per lab participant is small, but the public good value across U.S. consumers is shown to be quite large.