Ecological Concerns about Genetically Modified (GM) Food Consumption using the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB)

초록

The commercial use of genetic modification (GM) technology in the food industry has been a common issue in the public. Decision-makers and scholars have indicated the benefits of the application of GM technology to the agriculture and food industries, such as lower production costs and product development with regard to sensory-related factors, health, and convenience that increase farming productivity, food supplies, and efficiency and reduce prices. However, previous studies have indicated that there is limited understanding of the potential ecological effects of the application of GM technology and/or of ethical considerations. Thus, the purpose of this study is to identify the structural relationships among ecological concerns and the Theory of Planned Behavior's (TPB) constructs (attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control, and behavioral intention) in the genetically modified (GM) food context. The main survey was fielded in a metropolitan area in South Korea from October 11-27, 2013, and a survey of 387 qualified respondents was used using a structural equation modeling (SEM) approach. All measures were assessed for unidimensionality, reliability, and construct validity, and then two models (TPB and TPB+EC) were independently tested and compared using SEM. The TPB with ecological concerns included, adopted as the predictive model to measure intention to purchase GM foods, is compared with the explanatory power of both models (the TPB vs. the TPB+EC). The implications of this study are discussed for future research. (C) 2014 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

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