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Abstract: This paper examines the relationship between risk perceptions, affect and the economic consequences of a bio-security threat against the U.S. food system. The main argument is that there exists a link between risk perceptions and economic behavior. The paper raises conjectures through a utility-theoretic economic model and examines these through two separate surveys, the first being a hypothetical agroterrorist attack and the second a hypothetical discovery of ‘bird flu’ in the United States. The results provide strong evidence that risk perception and fear can interact with consumption in an economically significant way. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This article reports results of a survey on consumer perceptions about agroterrorism conducted in October and November of 2004. As part of a more general survey the authors asked respondents who the most likely perpetrator of an agroterrorist attack would be. Of American consumers, 47.52% believed that the most likely attack would come from a state-sponsored terrorist organization or government, 23.47% from a non-state-sponsored terrorist organization, and only 14.46% for domestic terrorism. The article argues that at the time of the survey these perceptions of risk were at odds, in terms of history and the conventional wisdom, which would place higher likelihoods first on domestic terrorism, then foreign non-state-sponsored terrorism, and then foreign state-sponsored terrorism. These results are explored in detail using a combination of cross tabulation and PROBIT analysis and find that a key variable (among others) in risk perception is political affiliation. The article then discusses the role of political communication via the Iraq War and Al Qaeda to explain the results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article highlights the results of a study on how consumers trade-off the potential or perceived risks of genetically modified (GM) foods with the possibility of extracting significant benefits from GM foods. The research shows that the use of choice modeling experiments provides a way of valuing non-monetary attributes associated with consumption of GM food products and a way of identifying consumer preferences.

In a demographically and geographically representative US-based telephone survey of 1201 persons in 2003, it was found as expected that those who purchase organic foods tend to consider organic production methods when they decide what foods to eat. Yet a number of surprising sub-groups showed a disconnect between those who buy organics and those who place importance on organic production. For example, the religiously observant and those for whom food plays an integral role in their lives (eating for pleasure, love, and tradition), on lower income or with less education are more interested in how food is produced than are higher income and more educated groups. We argue that these sub-groups may be overlooked in industry and public policy decisions related to organic food markets and production. Additionally, the highly correlated high income and more education subgroups who purchase organics may be doing so more because of fashion and peer-related influence than because they place importance on organic production methods. (However, women both buy organics frequently and think about organic production methods in their eating decisions.) These findings complicate the literature that shows simpler relationships between organic purchases and education and income. We suggest that further research needs to be done on the influence of affordability, availability, and trust in labeling on organic purchases and support for organic production systems. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Many regulatory, safety and health policies are adopted to reduce harm to potential victims from accidents and other harmful events. Attenuation and, sometimes, even reversal of the direct policy effect on expected harm may occur because of offsetting behavior (OB) by potential victims, as they reduce care in response to the policy. This research determines that OB in consumers may be responsible for an increase in food poisoning cases after new, more stringent food safety policies are enacted and implemented in the food processing sector. This behavioral anomaly indicates serious deviation from rational choice and possibly helps explain the growing gap between the decrease in pathogen bacteria level recorded in meat processing plants and the increasing number of outbreaks of food poisoning cases caused by these bacteria. PRACTICAL APPLICATION Changes in subjects' preferences for level of cooking of hamburger as a result of positive and negative messages regarding food safety was measured. The results of this experiment suggest that people exhibit offsetting behavior as a reaction to policies enacted to improve food safety record and protect consumers from getting ill by some of the deadly bacteria found in ground beef. Policy action was introduced ex post, i.e., after subjects in the study adjusted their preferences accounting for knowledge about the food safety problem. The information, although true, was also at least partially irrelevant, since it is related to food safety measures in meat processing plants rather than in retail stores, restaurants or households, and meat contamination is quite possible to occur at any segment between the moment when meat leaves the processing facility until it is consumed in households or restaurants. This behavioral anomaly helps explain the growing gap between the decrease in pathogen bacteria level recorded in meat processing plants and the increasing number of outbreaks of food poisoning cases caused by these bacteria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analyzed the influence of demographic and behavioral characteristics on the likelihood of a consumer to read food advertisements in grocery brochures and the likelihood of a consumer to shop at more than one store to purchase advertised specials. The results show that 73% and 46% of respondents read food advertisements and shop at multiple stores to purchase advertised specials, respectively. Additionally, attainment of a two-year and above college education and readership of product-ingredient labels influenced reading of food advertisements and shopping at more than one food store to buy advertised specials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article suggests differential acceptance and approval of genetic modification involving plant or animal genes. It stresses that a general outreach program to educate and inform consumers about biotechnology will not help the public make informed decisions about the desirability of the technology, rather, a targeted communication strategy that takes all such differences between the consumer segments would be effective.