A consumer segmentation study with regards to genetically modified food in urban China

Zhang, Xiaoyong; Huang, Jikun; Qiu, Huanguang; Huang, Ziwei

doi:10.1016/j.foodpol.2010.04.008

Cited by 72 publications

(46 citation statements)

References 14 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The certified organic food buyers rated the "does not contain genetically modified food ingredients" attribute and "improve the future health of my family" slightly higher in importance than the non-organic food buyers. The commitment to buying GMO-free food is somewhat surprising, since research suggests that Chinese consumers accept GM foods (Huang et al, 2006;Zhang et al, 2010) and GMOs are not prohibited in green foods. The study identified knowledge gaps.…”

Section: Discussion and Contributions To The Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

Innovations in the agro-food system

McCarthy

Liu

Chen

2016

British Food Journal

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

ResearchOnline@JCU 1Innovations in the agro-food system: adoption of certified organic food and green food by Chinese consumers Abstract PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to identify the factors driving the adoption of 'green innovations' notably green food and certified organic food and to examine the attitudes of Chinese consumers towards genetically modified food. Design/methodology/approachA mixed methods approach was used. A total of 402 consumers responded to a structured questionnaire and 58 consumers responded to a survey designed to gather qualitative data. Data analysis involved content analysis, the probit model, frequency distributions and the t test for two unrelated means. FindingsThis study shows that affluent, middle class Chinese citizens are opting out of the conventional food market. There is a gender divide, with men showing a preference for green food and females showing a preference for certified organic food. Certified food purchase is associated with demographic variables, such as income, education, age, gender, presence of young children, household size, living in developed cities and overseas experience. A follow-up study shows that the absence of GMOs (genetically modified organisms) motivates the purchase of organic food. Overall, the results suggest that Chinese consumers are turning towards certified food for health reasons and are sceptical about GM food. Practical implicationsThis paper provides some insights into how Chinese consumers view innovations in the food sector. The study found that almost half of the sample is unaware that the concept of green food is different to that of organic food. The priority for the certified organic industry is to address this lack of knowledge and clearly explain what certified organic food is and how it differs from green food. Small-scale farmers could use consumer aversion to GMOs as a promotional tool. The ultimate goal of this paper is to help marketers better promote certified organic food, but inferences can be drawn in terms of Chinese sustainable consumption. Negative attitudes towards genetically modified foods exist due to human health concerns. Hence, Chinese policy makers need to confront these perceptions, real or perceived, if they wish to maintain public trust in biotechnology. OriginalityThe contribution of this research lies in examining what drives the adoption of 'green innovations', notably green food and certified organic food in China. This research is important given that little is known about what Chinese consumers think of, and how they react to, innovations in the agro-food value chain.Article classification: research paper 2

show abstract

Section: Discussion and Contributions To The Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

Innovations in the agro-food system

McCarthy

Liu

Chen

2016

British Food Journal

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Nevertheless, there is a great variance in acceptance of GM food products between Chinese consumers (Huang et al, 2006b) resulting in different segments Zhang et al, 2010), which supports the importance to segment the potential interest of Shanxi rice consumers in GM food and FBR. In the end, as Onyango and Nayga (2004) stated, market segmentation strategies will be required to efficiently target the consumer in the market of GM food products with tangible consumer benefits.…”

Section: Product Category Location Identified Clusters (% Respondentsmentioning

confidence: 89%

“…Scientific research to underpin the larger GM food acceptance when health benefits are present, is scarce (Lusk, 2003), but steadily growing. Among these GM food products that are explored in consumer preference studies, are dairy spread (O'Conner et al, 2005), beer (Burton and Pearse, 2002), oil seed (Cox et al, 2008), cheese (Frewer et al, 1997a;Lähteenmäki et al, 2002), grains (Onyango and Nayga, 2004;Zhang et al, 2010) or a combination of products (Magnusson and Koivisto Hursti, 2002). Although they did not mention the term 'biofortification', the latter three studies (partially) focused on the acceptance of nutritionally enriched GM foods.…”

Section: Determinants Of Gm Food Acceptancementioning

confidence: 99%

“…GM food EU-15 1 -Trade-off (18 %) 2 -Relaxed (14 %) 3 -Sceptical (62 %) 4 -Uninterested (6 %) 4 th Eurobarometer Survey b (Gaskell et al, 2004) EU-15; EU-25; EU-27 # -Cluster name 1 -Optimistic (22%; 27%; 23%) 2 -Pessimistic (50 %; 54%; 61%) 3 -Undecided (28 % c ; 16%; 16 %) 5 th , 6 th & 7 th Eurobarometer Surveys b (Gaskell et al, 2003;Gaskell et al, 2006;Gaskell et al, 2010) Belgium 1 -Halfhearted (34.5 %) 2 -Enthusiasts (23.5 %) 3 -Balancers (26.5 %) 4 -Green opponents (15.5 %) (Verdurme and Viaene, 2003) China 1 -Neutral (46.5 %) 2 -Knowledgeable (18.1 %) 3 -Biotechnology learners (26.9 %) 4 -Price-conscious (8.5 %) China 1 -Food safety (31 %) 2 -Nutritional technologist (14 %) 3 -GM Skepticism (26 %) 4 -GM for non-food promoter (29 %) (Zhang et al, 2010) Germany 1 -Supporters (25 %) 2 -Indifferent (47 %) 3 -Opponents (28 %) (Christophe et al, 2008) (Arvanitoyannis and Krystallis, 2005) South Korea 1 -Open mindedness (29 %) 2 -Convenience/familiarity seekers (47 %) 3 -Biotechnology opponents (24 %) (Onyango et al, 2006) United States 1 -Proponents (4.7 %) 2 -Non-opponents (61.0 %) 3 -Moderate opponents (22.7 %) 4 -Extreme opponents (11.7 %) (Ganiere et al, 2006) GM apples New Zealand 1 -Price sensitive (15. GM derived animal foods UK 1 -Opponents (7.6 %) 2 -Cautious (41.3 %) 3 -Optimists (51.1 %) (Kontoleon and Yabe, 2006) GM maize South Africa 1 -Anti-GM, brand aware (35 %) 2 -Brand unaware, farmer sympathetic (20 %) 3 -GM consumer benefit, brand aware (25 %) 4 -Brand aware, Pro-GM (20 %) (Vermeulen et al, 2005) GM oil seed a Australia 1 -Conservatives (28 %) 2 -Confident protectors (51 %) 3 -Anti-GM (20 %) (Cox et al, 2008) GM tofu Taiwan 1 -Conventional Buyer (45 %) 2 -GMO Buyer (32 %) 3 -Non-GMO buyer (23 %) (Jan et al, 2007) Note: c = chocolate; t = tomato a To our knowledge these are the only segmentation studies solely focusing on GM products with consumer benefits, the socalled 2 nd generation GM products; b 4 th , 5 th , 6 th and 7 th Eurobarometer Surveys are conducted in 1999, 2002, 2005 and 2010, respectively; c In the 5 th Eurobarometer 'undecided' is replaced by 'risk-tolerant'; d Although the authors discovered three additional, smaller segments with respect to GM tomatoes, only the common clusters are shown.…”

Section: Product Category Location Identified Clusters (% Respondentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In China, Li et al (2003) identified four consumer segments: "neutral", 'knowledgeable', 'biotechnology learners' and 'price-conscious'. Recently, four distinct urban consumer segments were discovered in China: 'food safety', 'nutritional technologist', 'GM skepticism' and 'GM for non-food promoter' (Zhang et al, 2010). They demonstrated that there is a significant group of Chinese consumers (14 %) who attaches importance to improved nutrition of GM rice products, i.e.…”

Section: Product Category Location Identified Clusters (% Respondentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations