The Effect of Non-Dichotomized GM Food Labeling on Consumer Purchase Intention: An Assessment of Mediation and Contingency Effects

The Effect of Non-Dichotomized GM Food Labeling on Consumer Purchase Intention: An Assessment of Mediation and Contingency Effects

Labeling is one of the most crucial aspects of the genetically modified (GM) food debate. However, the signaling effect of GM food labeling is not well-understood. This research proposes and investigates how a novel, non-dichotomous GM ingredients level-based labeling scheme affects purchase intention of GM food under contingent conditions. One intercultural and two intra-cultural experimental-design studies are conducted to investigate the effect of the proposed GM food labeling on purchase intention. The findings support the contrasting effects of GM ingredients level-based labeling on consumers’ purchase intention and the conditional effect of government vs. industry food certification on the meditating effect of consumer skepticism in the GM labeling-purchase intention relationship. The findings also demonstrate how the GM labeling-purchase intention relationship is contingent upon low and high uncertainty avoidance across cultures. The research provides a better theoretical understanding of how GM food labeling could be employed to increase GM food acceptance and throws light on the intervening and boundary factors that shape consumers’ purchase intention of GM food. Actionable managerial implications are also discussed. The research is one of the first attempts to study the effect of a non-dichotomous food labeling scheme to promote GM food to consumers. The research provides vital insights into the minimally understood underlying intervening processes that guide the effect of GM food labeling on purchase intention and the sparsely studied boundary conditions of uncertainty avoidance and food certification under which these effects operate.