Understanding consumer attitudes towards food technologies in Canada

The study results highlight the role of perceived risk and perceived benefit in determining the acceptability of the technologies, with individual technologies lying along a continuum between the two. [...] Stage 2 - Validation survey: In order to validate the instrument developed in the first stage of the study and to explore attitudes towards the food and non-food technologies within the wider population, a postal survey was undertaken of consumers in the Guelph area. [...] While the disproportionate share of female respondents does not align with the general population, we would note that such a skew is consistent with the notion that females are the food-gate keepers to the home, and therefore it is their assessment of technology risks and benefits that weight heavily in shaping the overall assessment of technology risks and benefits. [...] Finally, the third principle axis accounted for 10.3 percent of the variation across the sample, with the positive extreme associated with natural, useful, beneficial, safe and trust, and the negative extreme with potential cause of radiation, cause of contamination, poses a risk of cancer and concerned/worried. [...] These results indicate how the perceived risk and perceived benefit scales are significant determinants of the degree to which respondents favored each of the 21 of the technologies.