Consumer Preferences for Food Irradiation: How Favorable and Unfavorable Descriptions Affect Preferences for Irradiated Pork in Experimental Auctions

摘要: Experimental auctions were used to examine the effects of alternative descriptions food irradiation on willingness-to-pay for a pork sandwich irradiated control Trichinella. As expected, favorable description increased willingness-to-pay, and an unfavorable decreased willingness-to-pay. Notably, when subjects given both pro- anti-irradiation descriptions, negative dominated decreased. This was true even though source information identified as being consumer advocacy group itself written in manner that non-scientific. If this is widespread phenomenon, process provides those who make inaccurate claims about new technologies greater incentive than would otherwise be case.