Determinants of behavioral intentions towards CRISPR in the United States
by Chad M. Baum, Carolin Kamrath, Stefanie Bröring and Hans De Steur (UGent)
Abstract
Novel plant-breeding techniques such as CRISPR are potentially key tools in the transition to a more sustainable food and agricultural system. For such potential to be realized, greater attention is required to outstanding questions related to public and societal acceptance. The current research thus employed a structural model to elucidate the interplay of factors that influence behavioral intentions towards CRISPR, for a sample of 158 individuals in the United States. By means of partial least-squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM), we established the predominance of perceived benefits vis-à-vis perceived risks for explaining behavioral intentions, along with the indirect effects of food technology neophobia, social trust, and environmental worldviews, all transmitted through perceived benefits – and less so, perceived risks. Overall, this offers key insights regarding behavioral intentions towards CRISPR food, highlighting how consumers may be more interested in understanding potential benefits than being dissuaded about any possible risks and signaling ways in which perceptions of benefits might be influenced. Indeed, the strength of the relationship between perceived benefits and behavioral intentions offers a counterpoint to arguments that benefits are not relevant for acceptance as well as marks a potential point of distinction between GM and GE food.