Hispanic Consumer s Preferences for Genetically Modified Ethnic Produce: An Econometric Analysis

Transcription

1 Hspanc Consumer s Preferences for Genetcally Modfed Ethnc Produce: An Econometrc Analyss Ramu Govndasamy and Venkata S. Pudur Ths study predcts Hspanc consumer s wllngness to buy genetcally modfed (GM) ethnc produce. Specfcally, ths paper analyzes the effects of Hspanc consumers soco-economc characterstcs and ther expressed value judgments on ther wllngness to buy genetcally modfed ethnc produce usng an ordered probt model. An ordered probt model framework s used and the dependent varable s defned wth three possble answers whch nclude wllng, ndfferent, and less wllng to buy genetcally modfed ethnc produce. The results from the analyss can be used by GM produce growers and marketers to target consumers. Adopton of genetc modfcaton (GM) among producers s drven by demand and s affectng publc lfe. Scence and ndustry are pursung a wde varety of genetcally modfed foods. Postve vews of GM nclude such potental benefts to socety as reducton of hunger, preventon of malnutrton, curng of dseases, and promoton of health and qualty of lfe. Some people are opposed to the use of botechnology due to ts potental negatve mpact on the envronment. Others are aganst t on ethcal, cultural, and moral grounds. Publc debate on botechnology has centered manly on ts potental benefts and mplcatons to ndvduals, socety, and the envronment. The potental benefts suggest a need for more efforts to enhance consumer awareness so that consumers can better understand the mportance of botechnology and make a real and nformed decson. Over more than a decade, studes have been undertaken n varous parts of the world seekng nsght nto publc perceptons toward botechnology. The results of these studes on publc perceptons on botechnology vary n ther fndngs due to samplng varaton, cultural dfferences, locaton, consumer technologcal knowledge, awareness of Govndasamy s Char and Assocate Professor, Department of Agrcultural, Food and Resource Economcs, and Assocate Drector of Research, Food Polcy Insttute, Rutgers-The State Unversty of New Jersey. Pudur s Post-Doctoral Research Assocate, Department of Agrcultural, Food, and Resource Economcs, Rutgers-The State Unversty of New Jersey. Ths project was supported by the Natonal Research Intatve (NRI) of the Cooperatve State Research, Educaton and Extenson Servce, Unted States Department of Agrculture, Award # The authors would also lke to extend ther thanks to anonymous revewers for thoughtful comments and recommendatons whch mproved the qualty of ths artcle. benefts, and confdence and trust n governmental and scentfc nsttutons. Prevous studes that have analyzed Amercan consumer atttudes and awareness of botechnology (Hoban and Kendall 1993; Hoban 1994; FMI 1995) revealed that the results have been sgnfcantly consstent throughout the studes. A majorty of U.S. consumers beleve that they wll gan from botechnology, partcularly va enhanced food benefts. For example, surveys of Amercan consumers ndcate that they would try new varetes of fruts and vegetables that taste better wth reduced use of pestcdes (Hoban 1997). Addtonally, Amercans are more lkely to support medcal and crop botechnology, compared to applcatons wth anmals and food ngredents wth GM (Hoban 1997). Both U.S. consumers and Canadans were found to be more supportve toward botechnology n general than were Europeans. More Canadans beleve that genetc engneerng wll mprove lfe than do Europeans (Ensedel 1997). A Canadan survey also revealed that consumers were not adequately famlar wth the rsks assocated wth botechnologcal advances and that consumers desred a clearer role for government n regulatng and publczng such advances (May 1999). Thus whle most of the respondents were wllng to accept the rsks as a tradeoff for expected health benefts, that acceptance came wth the demand that the government be rgorous n managng rsks, make exhaustve research nto the safety of botechnology applcatons, and make them publcly avalable. Consumers perceptons of food-related rsks and support for and confdence n the food supply show strong correlaton to trust n food safety regulators (Dttus and Hllers 1993; Frewer, Shepherd, and Sparks 1994). People who demonstrate low trust n

2 40 November 2009 Journal of Food Dstrbuton Research 40(3) regulatory agences also have the hghest concern about possble rsks regardng agrcultural botechnology. Varous survey results ndcated that consumer acceptance of botechnology s drven by a szable number of nter-related factors. The major nfluences on consumer acceptance seem to be knowledge level, awareness of benefts, and confdence and trust n government/scentfc nsttutons (Hoban 1996). A large number of consumers have confdence n ther respectve regulatory systems for food safety ssues, wth North Amercans showng the most confdence. Amercans demonstrate more trust than ether Canadans or Europeans that organzatons and companes wll provde safe products, except when the products are genetcally engneered (Ipsos-Red 2001). In general, publc objectons to botechnology are focused on those applcatons nvolvng anmals or human genetc materal (Frewer et al. 1997). That s, prevous studes found that more people were aganst usng anmal- and human-based genetcally modfed foods. A Korean study also found that the majorty of the consumers were more supportve toward genetc modfcaton of plants rather than of anmals (Govndasamy et al. 2004). Accordng to an study of Argentnean consumers (Mucc, Hough, and Zlan 2004), 15 percent of respondents were wllng to consume genetcally modfed foods. Another Tawanese consumers study (Chen and L 2007) found that respondents rely on ther accumulated actual knowledge to decrease ther rsk perceptons from GM foods. Very few studes reported the vews of ethnc consumers n botechnology sector. Gven the exstence of extreme vewponts, t s mportant to examne ethnc consumers perceptons towards acceptance of botechnology. Implementaton of botechnology wll be determned by the qualty of lfe based on the benefts of technology. Snce t s a controversal ssue, researchers and polcy makers wdely should consder the perceptons of ethnc consumers about botechnology as they go about mplementng genetc modfcatons n the produce sector. However, some countres have already begun mplementng botechnology n the vegetable sector to take advantage of reducng pestcde consumpton and ncreased producton. The Ghanaan government s also pursung the vablty of mplementng GM technology n the vegetable sector to reduce the consumpton of pestcdes. Accordng to a study conducted by the IFPRI (Internatonal Food Polcy Research Insttute) n Ghana, there are hgh probabltes of hgher profts n tomato, cabbage, and garden egg crops f farmers mplement GM technology (Horna, Al-Hassan, and Tmpo 2008). Maharashtra Hybrd Seeds Company (Mahyco), an Indan seed company, has developed Bt Brnjal (Indan Egg Plant). In Inda, Bt Brnjal commercalzaton would beneft farmers through reduced nvestment n pestcdes and ncreased ncome from hgher producton (Jha 2008). The U.S. census fgures show that Asans and Hspancs are the fastest-growng mnorty populatons n the Unted States. Ths growth among Asans and Hspancs s largely beng fueled by mmgraton. The Hspanc or Latno populaton grew from about nne percent of the country s populaton n 1990 to 13 percent n 2000, a total of 35 mllon people. Accordng to the U.S. Census Bureau, Hspanc populaton mushroomed by 58 percent from 1990 to 2000, makng t the fastest-growng mnorty group n the Unted States. About one-fourth of the Hspanc populaton lves on the East Coast of the Unted States. New York has the thrd-largest Hspanc populaton, 2.8 mllon, after Calforna and Texas, and followed by Florda and New Jersey wth 2.6 mllon and 1.1 mllon, respectvely (U.S. Census Bureau 2000). Small farms, rapd urbanzaton, and contnued land development on the East Coast of the U.S. have put pressure on proftablty n agrcultural producton. Usng New Jersey as a case n pont, between 1987 and 1997 there was a 6.9-percent drop n total farmland acreage (Tubene 2001). Ths puts New Jersey farmers at a compettve dsadvantage aganst larger commodty growers from other states where producton costs are comparatvely lower. A good strategy for the local farmers mght focus on producton of alternatve and hgh-valued crops. The sze and rapd expanson of ethnc populatons presents sgnfcant opportuntes for vegetable producers n the East Coast regon of Unted States. Economc opportuntes have arsen n the last decade for specalty-rop agrculture, caterng to the ethncally dverse consumers along the eastern coast of the Unted States. Specalty and ethnc vegetables are defned as vegetables or herbs that are not tradtonally grown n the U.S. but are mported to the U.S. and are currently grown on a lmted scale n the U.S. Ethnc and specalty vegetables are also

3 Govndasamy and Pudur Hspanc Consumers Preferences for Genetcally Modfed Ethnc Produce 41 referred to as exotc, unusual, or world vegetables, or hgh-value crops (Tubene 2004). Accordng to the results of the Hspanc survey, the ten vegetables most commonly bought by Mexcan consumers are Chl Jalapeno, Tamatllo, Calabaza, Chl Poblano, Calabacta, Clantro, Chl Serrano, Anahem Pepper, Chl Habanaro and Tutuma; the ten vegetables most commonly bought by Puerto Rcan consumers are Batata, Aj Dulce, Clantro, Calbaza, Fava Beans, Pepnllo, Chl Carbe, Berenjena, Calabacta, and Verdolaga (Govndasamy et al. 2007). The perceptons of consumers toward GM ethnc produce vary among populaton groups. Ths study dentfes and estmates the nfluence of Hspanc consumers soco-economc and value attrbutes on ther perceptons toward wllngness to buy genetcally modfed ethnc produce. Conceptual Framework The wllngness to buy genetcally modfed ethnc produce (WTBGMP) s used as a categorcal varable n ths model. The ordered probt econometrc technque was chosen based on the dscrete and ordnal nature of ths dependent. Unlke ordered probt models, ordnary least squares (OLS) models neglect the dscrete nature of the data and treat them as contnuous ratngs rather than dscrete rankngs. Because the latter may cause potental heteroscedastcty n the OLS estmates, these estmates may not be effcent (Johnston 1984). Multnomal logt and probt models, on the other hand, do not account for the ordnal nature of the dependent varables, and are assocated wth undesrable propertes such as the ndependence of rrelevant alternatves (Ben-Akva and Lerman 1985) or, n the case of a multnomal probt, lack of a closed-form lkelhood (Greene 1997). Thus the ordered probt model appled here s most sutable for ths analyss compared to alternatve models. The maxmum-lkelhood method used for ordered probt estmaton yelds consstent, asymptotcally effcent, and asymptotcally normal estmates (Judge et al. 1988). Hence hypothess testng can be performed even f the dstrbuton of the estmates s not known for the small-sample case. In the ordered probt model, Y = 0 mples less wllng to buy GM ethnc produce, Y = 1 mples ndfferent to buyng GM ethnc produce, and Y = 2 mples wllng to buy GM ethnc produce. The varable was transformed nto a 0-to-2 scale for computatonal reasons. The ordered probt model bulds on the conceptual model and assumes that the wllngness to buy GM ethnc produce varable s a latent varable, whch can be estmated usng a regresson (Greene 1997, pp ): * (1) y = x ß + ε, ε ~ F(ε θ), E[ε ] = 0, Var[ε ] = 1. The ordered probt model generates estmates for dfferent categores of y (WTBGMP) as follows: (2). y * = 0 f y 0, * y = 1 f 0 p y p µ 1, * y = 2 f µ y 1 µ 2,,. y = J f µ j 1 y where the μ s are the unknown threshold parameters to be estmated along wth the parameter vector β, and s the number of categores of the dependent varable WTBGMP (j = 0 to J = 2). Because the estmated coeffcents n an ordered probt model cannot be nterpreted easly (Greene 1997, p. 737), the margnal effects are calculated for further dscusson. The margnal effects for ths model are calculated at the sample means of the regressors, as the effects of changes n the covarates on the probabltes for each category of the dependent varable (Pennngs et al. 2004): (3) Prob[category j]/ x = [f (μ μ j 1 x ß) f(μ( j x β)] β, where f(.) s the approprate densty for the standard normal, Φ(.) logstc densty, and Λ(.)(1 Λ (.)) Webull densty. Each vector s a multple of the coeffcent vector. For all the probabltes to be postve, the followng condton must be satsfed: (4) 0 < μ 1 < μ 2 <... < μ j 1. The model was estmated usng LIMDEP econometrc software. The margnal effects can be nterpreted as a change n the probablty that

4 42 November 2009 Journal of Food Dstrbuton Research 40(3) WTBGMP equals a gven level per unt change n the ndependent varable, condtonal on other covarates [e.g., Prob(WTBGMP = j X )] (Powers and Xe 2000). The followng emprcal model s used to estmate the relaton between the consumer percepton toward wllngness to buy genetcally modfed ethnc produce and hs/her personal attrbutes: (5) Y = β 0 + β 1 VISIT_TIMES+ β 2 ETH_SPND + β 3 ETH_BUY_AMER + β 4 DISTANCE+ β 5 STORE_AVBL_IMP+ β 6 LANG_IMP + β 7 PRICE_IMP+ β 8 PACKG_NOT- IMP+ β 9 FRESHNESS_BETTER + β 10 QUALITY_BETTER+ β 11 PRICE_BET- TER + β 12 PACKG_SAME +β 13 ORG- NIC_MORE_WTB+ β 14 COOL_MORE- WTB + β 15 NEWMRKT_WTB+ β 16 OUT_STORE_ADD + β 17 POINTOFPUR + β 18 URBAN + β 19 YEARS_LIVE+ β 20 HSIZE+ β 21 BELOW17 + β 22 AGE36TO50 + β 23 HSCHOOL + β 24 EMPLOYED+ β 25 SELF_EMP + β 26 RETIRED + β27 INC_LES20 + β 28 INC_20TO40+ β 29 INC_125TO150 + β 30 MARRIED + β 31 FEMALE + β 32 ETH_ LANG + β 33 US_ BORN, where Y = 0 f the respondent s less wllng to buy GM ethnc produce, Y = 1 f the respondent s ndfferent to buyng GM ethnc produce, and Y = 2 f the respondent s wllng to buy GM ethnc produce. The ndependent varables have been defned n Table 1. Data Descrpton and Summary Statstcs The data were collected from an ethnc-produce survey prepared for the Hspanc ethnc groups ncludng Mexcans and Puerto Rcans. Sxteen states Connectcut, Delaware, Florda, Georga, Mane, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshre, New Jersey, New York, North Carolna, Pennsylvana, Rhode Island, South Carolna, Vermont, and Vrgna plus Washngton, DC were selected from the U.S. East Coast and, based on random samplng, 542 respondents were ntervewed by a prvate company to collect data usng a computer asssted telephone survey n In addton to consumers value attrbutes and atttudes, respondents were asked about perceptons pertanng to wllngness to buy genetcally modfed ethnc produce. Resdents n the household who are prmarly responsble for produce purchasng decsons were ntervewed. Of the total 1,255 leads, 681 households ncludng both purchasers (542) and non purchasers (139) of produce were ntervewed, a response rate of 54; hence the present data set ncludes a total of 542 surveys of purchasers of ethnc produce. After deletng observatons wth mssng values from 542 surveys, 493 observatons were used n the ordered probt model analyss. The dependent varable, the ntensty of wllngness to buy genetcally modfed ethnc produce f made avalable to the respondents, s an ordered varable that takes on a value of 0 f a respondent was less wllng to buy genetcally modfed ethnc produce, 1 f a respondent was ndfferent to buyng genetcally modfed ethnc produce, and 2 f a respondent was wllng to buy genetcally modfed ethnc produce. Accordng to the Hspanc consumer survey results, about 13 percent of the survey respondents were wllng to buy genetcally modfed ethnc produce, 22 percent were ndfferent to buyng genetcally modfed ethnc produce, and 65 percent of them were less wllng to buy genetcally modfed ethnc produce (Fgure 1). The response varable used to explan the ntensty of wllngness to buy genetcally modfed produce ncludes respondent s behavoral, atttudnal and demographc varables. The varables used n the analyss are explaned n Table 1. Excludng VISIT_TIMES, ETH_SPEND, DISTANCE, YEARS_LIVE, HSIZE and BELOW17, all other varables used n ths model are dchotomous. The frst group of varables explans the survey respondent s purchasng behavor such as expendture on produce, the dstance traveled to the produce store, the number of vsts to the produce store n a month, and whether the respondents purchased all ethnc produce from a typcal Amercan grocery store. The average Hspanc respondent vsted the ethnc store 3.75 tmes to purchase produce tems (VISIT_TIMES). On average, those who were wllng to buy genetcally modfed produce spent $26.68, those who were ndfferent to buyng GM produce spent $20.93, and those who were less wllng to buy GM produce spent $21.40 on ethnc produce per vst. The overall average expendture on produce by Hspanc respondents was

5 Govndasamy and Pudur Hspanc Consumers Preferences for Genetcally Modfed Ethnc Produce 43 Fgure 1. Hspanc Ethnc Respondents Intensty of Wllngness to Buy Genetcally Modfed Ethnc Produce. about $21.98 per vst wth the standard devaton of $19.14 (ETH_SPEND). The average dstance from the home to the ethnc store (DISTANCE) was about mles. About one-fourth (28 percent) of the survey respondents bought ethnc produce from typcal Amercan grocery stores (ETH_BUY_AMER). The second group of explanatory varables relatng to perceptons of consumers ncludes mportance of store avalablty, language attrbute, prce, packagng, freshness, wllngness to buy organc, country of orgn labeled, newly ntroduced produce tems, and nfluence of out-of-store advertsements and pont-of-purchase advertsements. About 67 percent of the respondents reported that store avalablty (STORE_AVBL_IMP) s very mportant to them and 39 percent felt that the language attrbute (LANG_IMP) s very mportant when they vst the store. Furthermore, 61 percent had a preference for prce (PRICE_IMP), 75 percent for packagng (PACKG_NOTIMP), and 37 percent for freshness (FRESHNESS_BETTER). When the respondents were asked whether they fnd the Hspanc ethnc outlets to be better than the conventonal stores n terms of fruts and vegetables, about 34 percent of the respondents felt that qualty s better (QUAL- ITY_BETTER) and 44 percent of them felt prce s better (PRICE_BETTER). In the case of packagng (PACKG_SAME), 55 percent of the respondents felt the packagng of produce to be the same n ethnc stores as n other conventonal stores. In terms of wllngness to buy, 55 percent of the survey respondents were wllng to buy organc ethnc produce (ORGNIC_MORE_WTB), 47 percent of

6 44 November 2009 Journal of Food Dstrbuton Research 40(3) Table 1. Descrpton of Explanatory Varables. S.No Varable Descrpton Mean Std.Dev Behavoral Varables 1 VISIT_TIMES Number of tmes to purchase produce tems wthn a month 2 ETH_SPND Expendture on ethnc produce for vst 3 ETH_BUY_AMER 1 f the respondents purchased all ethnc produce from typcal Amercan grocery store; 0 = otherwse 4 DISTANCE Ethnc store dstance from the respondent home Perceptonal Varables 5 STORE_AVBL_IMP 1 f store avalablty attrbute s very mportant; 0 = otherwse 6 LANG_IMP 1 f language attrbute s very mportant; 0 = otherwse 7 PRICE_IMP 1 f prce s very mportant; 0 = otherwse 8 PACKG_NOTIMP 1 f packagng s not mportant; 0 = otherwse 9 FRESHNESS_BETTER 1 f freshness of produce to be better n ethnc store when compared to other; 0 = otherwse 10 QUALITY_BETTER 1 f qualty of produce to be better n ethnc store when compared to other; 0 = otherwse 11 PRICE_BETTER 1 f prce of produce to be better n ethnc store when compared to other; 0 = otherwse 12 PACKG_SAME 1 f packagng of produce to be same n ethnc store when compared to other; 0 = otherwse 13 ORGNIC_MORE_WTB 1 f respondent more wllng to buy organcally grown produce; 0 = otherwse 14 COOL_MOREWTB 1 f respondent more wllng to buy when country of orgn label avalable; 0 = otherwse 15 NEWMRKT _WTB 1 f respondent more wllng to buy when recently ntroduced or new to market; 0 = otherwse 16 OUT_STORE_ADD 1 f the respondent nfluence by out-of -store ads; 0 = otherwse 17 POINTOFPUR 1 f the respondent nfluenced by pont of purchase ads; 0 = otherwse

7 Govndasamy and Pudur Hspanc Consumers Preferences for Genetcally Modfed Ethnc Produce 45 Table 1. Descrpton of Explanatory Varables (Contnued). S.No Varable Descrpton Mean Std.Dev Demographc Varables 18 URBAN 1 f the respondent lves n urban area; = otherwse 19 YEARS_LIVE years lvng at current locaton HSIZE Household sze BELOW17 Number of chldren below 17 years age group 22 AGE36TO50 I f the respondent age was between and HSCHOOL 1 f the respondent educaton was hgh school; 0 = otherwse 24 EMPLOYED 1 f the respondent was employed by someone else; 0 = otherwse 25 SELF_EMP 1 f the respondent was self-employed; = otherwse 26 RETIRED 1 f the respondent was retred; 0 = otherwse 27 INC_LES20 1 f the respondent ncome was less than $20,000; 0 = otherwse 28 INC_20TO40 1 f the respondent ncome was between $20,000 and 39,999; 0 = otherwse 29 INC_125TO150 1 f the respondent ncome was between $125,000 and 149,999; 0 = otherwse 30 MARRIED 1 f the respondent was marred; 0 = otherwse 31 FEMALE 1 f the respondent s Female; 0 = otherwse 32 ETH_ LANG 1 f the respondent does not speak ethnc language; 0 = otherwse 33 US_BORN 1 f the respondent born n U.S.; 0 = otherwse

8 46 November 2009 Journal of Food Dstrbuton Research 40(3) them were wllng to buy country-of-orgn labeled ethnc produce f avalable (COOL_MOREWTB), and about 54 percent of the respondents were wllng to buy recently ntroduced ethnc produce or produce new to the market (NEWMRKT _WTB). In terms of nfluence of the advertsements, 55 percent of the respondents were nfluenced by outof-store advertsements (OUT_STORE_ADD) and 22 percent were nfluenced by pont-of-purchase advertsements (POINTOFPUR). The thrd group of varables ncludes demographcs of the survey respondents such as the locaton of resdence, years lvng at current locaton, household sze, number of chldren below 17 years of age n a famly, age, educaton, employment status, and ncome. About 39 percent of the respondents belong to the urban segment (URBAN). The respondent s average tme lvng at the current locaton (YEARS_LIVE) was about 13 years, the average household sze (HSIZE) was 3.82 persons, and the average number chldren below 17 years age (BELOW17) was 1.43 persons per famly. About 42 percent of the respondents belong to the age group between 36 and 50 (AGE36TO50) and 35 percent of them had fnshed hgh school (HSCHOOL). In the case of employment, 61 percent of the respondents were employed by someone else (EMPLOYED), 12 percent were self-employed (SELF_EMP) and four percent were retred (RETIRED). In terms of ncome, 19 percent of the survey respondents earned less than $20,000 (INC_LES20), 27 percent earned between $20,000 and $39,999 (INC_20TO40), only one percent reported ncome between $125,000 and $149,999 (INC_125TO150). About 61 percent of the respondents were marred (MARRIED) and 76 percent of them were females (FEMALES). Around 11 percent of the respondents had not spoken ther ethnc language (ETH_LANG) and 63 percent of them were born n Unted States (US_BORN). Results An ordered probt model was used to explan the Hspanc consumer preferences and acceptance of genetcally modfed ethnc produce. Table 2 provdes the overall coeffcents and estmated model margnal effects of the explanatory varables. The table also shows the estmated values of unrestrcted (.e., full model) and restrcted (.e., slope coeffcents are zero) log-lkelhood functon, ch-square statstcs of model sgnfcance, and model predcton success rate. The overall sgnfcance of the ndependent varables s tested usng the ch-square dstrbuton of the log-lkelhood functon. The null hypothess of β = 0 was rejected at the 99-percent confdence level. The McFadden s R-square was 0.08, and represents the rato of maxmum lkelhoods computed wth and wthout the explanatory varable set. It s analogous to the R-square of the conventonal regresson model (Greene 1997). Estmated coeffcents of threshold parameters µ j satsfed the condton specfed n the above equaton. As expected, µ j s are postve and statstcally sgnfcant at the 99-percent confdence level, whch mples no specfcaton error n µ j. Another statstcal property avalable for probt models s productvty ablty, whch reflects the match between the actual rankngs and those predcted by the model. The model predcted 223 of 326 cases correctly, or 68 percent, whch s hgh for ordered probt models. The ordered probt model results n terms of margnal effects explan the degree of wllngness to buy genetcally modfed ethnc produce (Table 2). As can be seen from Table 2, the overall model ndcates that varables NEWMRKT_WTB, EM- PLOYED, INC_LES20, and INC_20TO40 postvely nfluence Hspanc consumer s wllngness to buy GM ethnc produce. The model ndcates that PACKG_SAME, RETIRED, INC_125TO150 and US_BORN negatvely nfluence Hspanc consumer s wllngness to buy GM fruts and vegetables. Because the magntude of the estmated coeffcents n an ordered probt model tself provdes lmted nformaton about the margnal effects of the ndependent varables on the probablty of wllngness to buy GM ethnc produce equalng ntermedate values, the margnal effects are dscussed below for those varables that are sgnfcant (Table 2). The margnal effects n Table 2 show how an ncrease of one unt of the ndependent varable changes the probablty of wllngness to buy GM ethnc produce, f the ndependent varable s contnuous. If the ndependent varable s bnary, the margnal effect shows how the probablty of wllngness to buy ethnc GM ethnc produce change f the bnary varable swtches. For example, the margnal effect of NEWMRKT_WTB at wllngness to buy GM ethnc produce value Y 3 s , whch means that a respondent who s wllng to buy recently ntroduced products wll be about sx

9 Govndasamy and Pudur Hspanc Consumers Preferences for Genetcally Modfed Ethnc Produce 47 percent more lkely to be wllng to buy GM ethnc produce compared to those who are not wllng to buy recently ntroduced products. The sgns of the margnal effects are potentally ambguous, except when Y = 0 or 2, whch are unambguous and opposte each other (e.g., Greene 1997; Powers and Xe 2000). The margnal effect shows that those who purchase all ethnc produce from typcal Amercan stores (ETH_BUY_AMER) are more lkely to buy GM ethnc produce compared to those who do not purchase all ethnc produce from typcal Amercan stores. Those who thnk that the prce of the produce s better n ethnc stores compared to Amercan stores (PRICE_BETTER) are more lkely to buy GM ethnc produce than are those who thnk otherwse. Those who are wllng to buy recently ntroduced ethnc products (NEWMRKT_WTB) are more lkely to buy GM ethnc produce than are those who are not wllng to buy recently ntroduced ethnc products. Those who are wllng to try recently ntroduced products are often openmnded and therefore may be more wllng to buy GM ethnc produce. Those who are employed by others (EMPLOYED) are more lkely to buy GM ethnc produce compared to homemakers and unemployed respondents. Those who earn less $20,000 (INC_LES20) and those who earn between $20,000 and $40,000 (INC_20TO40) are more lkely to buy GM ethnc produce compared to those who earn between $40,000 and $125,000. The margnal mpact also shows that those who thnk store avalablty s mportant (STORE_ AVBL_IMP) and those who thnk that packagng s not mportant (PACKG_NOTIMP) are less lkely to buy GM ethnc produce compared to those who thnk otherwse. Those who are retred (RETIRED) are less lkely to buy GM ethnc produce compared to homemakers and unemployed respondents. Those who earn between $125,000 and $150,000 (INC_125TO150) are less lkely to buy GM ethnc produce compared to those who earn between $40,000 and $125,000. The model also ndcates that females (FEMALE) are less lkely to buy GM ethnc produce compared to males. Those who do not speak the ethnc language (ETH_LANG) and those who were born n the U.S. (US_BORN) are less lkely to buy GM ethnc produce compared to those who speak ethnc language and those who were not born n the U.S., respectvely. Fgure 2 shows the margnal effects of some selected varables. These graphs present the magntudes of several margnal effects on the same scale wth statstcally sgnfcant effects hghlghted n shadow bars. All fgures relate to the nfluence of demographc varables on the wllngness to buy GM ethnc fruts and vegetables. As can be seen from the graphs, those who earn between $125,000 and $150,000 (INC_125TO150) have the most margnal negatve mpact on wllngness to buy GM ethnc produce. Lkewse, those who earn below $20,000 (INC_LES20) have the most postve mpact on wllngness to buy GM ethnc produce. Dscusson and Conclusons The concept of genetcally modfed s not new to frut and vegetable consumers. But the degree of acceptance of GM produce does vary among the ethnctes. Accordng to Hspanc ethnc survey results, about 13 percent of Hspanc consumers were wllng to buy genetcally modfed ethnc produce, around 22 percent of them were ndfferent to buyng GM ethnc produce, and 65 percent of the respondents were less wllng to buy genetcally modfed ethnc produce. On average, those who were wllng to buy genetcally modfed ethnc produce spent $26.68 on ethnc produce per vst, those who were ndfferent to buyng GM ethnc produce spent $20.93, and those who were less wllng to buy GM ethnc produce spent $21.40 dollars. The results from the ordered probt model ndcates that varables NEWMRKT_WTB, EMPLOYED, INC_LES20, and INC_20TO40 nfluence wllngness to buy GM ethnc produce postvely, whle the varables PACKG_SAME, RE- TIRED, INC_125TO150, and US_BORN negatvely nfluence Hspanc consumer s wllngness to buy GM ethnc fruts and vegetables. Those who earn between $125,000 and $150,000 (INC_125TO150) are less lkely to buy GM ethnc produce compared to those who earn between $40,000 and $125,000. Those who are wllng to buy recently ntroduced products (NEWMRKT_WTB) are more lkely to buy GM ethnc produce than are those who are not wllng to buy recently ntroduced products. Those who are wllng to try recently ntroduced products are often open-mnded and therefore may be more wllng to buy GM ethnc produce. Ths study examned the relatonshp between

10 48 November 2009 Journal of Food Dstrbuton Research 40(3) Table 2. Coeffcents and Margnal Effects of Ordered Probt Estmaton of Wllng to Buy Genetcally Modfed. Varable Coeffcent P Value Less Wllng to Buy Margnal Effects Indfferent to Buyng Wllng to Buy Constant Behavoral varables VISIT_TIMES ETH_SPND ETH_BUY_AMER *** ** DISTANCE Perceptonal varables STORE_AVBL_IMP ** *** LANG_IMP PRICE_IMP * PACKG_NOTIMP ** *** FRESHNESS_BETTER QUALITY_BETTER PRICE_BETTER ** * PACKG_SAME ** *** ORGNIC_MORE_WTB * COOL_MOREWTB NEWMRKT _WTB *** *** * OUT_STORE_ADD POINTOFPUR the Hspanc consumer percepton toward botechnology n the produce sector and ther economc, demographc, and value attrbutes. The results ndcate that a majorty of the Hspanc consumers do not have frm postons on botechnology. More specfcally, despte havng reservatons, partcularly about ts use, Hspancs are not prepared to reject ths technology. Thus the results of the survey may be used to nfluence future acceptance of GM technology. The results of ths study have mportant mplcatons for the agrcultural ndustry and can be used by GM ethnc produce growers and marketers to target consumers. Though ths survey represents the East Coast regon of the Unted States, results mght be applcable to all Hspanc ethnc populatons n the Unted States. References Ben-Akva, M. and S. R. Lerman Dscrete Choce Analyss. Cambrdge, MA: MIT Press. Chen, M. and H. L :The Consumer s Atttude toward Genetcally Modfed Foods n Tawan. Food Qualty and Preference 18:

11 Govndasamy and Pudur Hspanc Consumers Preferences for Genetcally Modfed Ethnc Produce 49 Table 2. Coeffcents and Margnal Effects of Ordered Probt Estmaton of Wllng to Buy Genetcally Modfed (Contnued). Varable Coeffcent P Value Less Wllng to Buy Margnal Effects Indfferent to Buyng Wllng to Buy Demographc varables URBAN * YEARS_LIVE HSIZE BELOW AGE36TO HSCHOOL EMPLOYED *** *** SELF_EMP ** RETIRED *** 0.071*** INC_LES *** *** *** INC_20TO *** *** INC_125TO *** *** * MARRIED FEMALE ** *** ETH_ LANG ** *** US_BORN *** 0.038*** Threshold µ LL Functon Restrcted LL Ch Square DF 33 McFadden R Overall Sgnfcance Hgh (@ 0.00) Predcton Success 68% * = 0.10, ** = 0.05, *** = 0.01

12 50 November 2009 Journal of Food Dstrbuton Research 40(3) Note: Hghlghted bars ndcate the sgnfcant margnal effects (at one-percent, fve-percent, and ten-percent sgnfcance levels) of demographcs varables. Fgure 2. Impact of Margnal Effects of Consumers Demographcs Varables on Wllngness to Buy Genetcally Modfed Produce.

13 Govndasamy and Pudur Hspanc Consumers Preferences for Genetcally Modfed Ethnc Produce 51 Dttus, K. L. and V. N. Hllers Consumer Trust and Behavor Related to Pestcdes. Food Technology 477: Ensedel, E. F Botechnology and the Canadan Publc: Report on a 1997 Natonal Survey And Some Internatonal Comparsons. Unversty of Calgary, Alberta. Food Marketng Insttute (FMI) Trends n the Unted States: Consumer Atttudes and the Supermarket. Washngton, DC. Frewer, L. J., R. Shepherd, and P. Sparks The Interrelatonshp between Perceved Knowledge, Control and Rsk Assocated wth a Range of Food-Related Hazards Targeted at the Indvdual, Other People and Socety. Journal of Food Safety 14: Frewer, L., C. Hedderley, C. Howard, and R. Shepherd Objecton Mappng n Determnng Group and Indvdual Concerns Regardng Genetc Engneerng. Agrculture and Human Values 14(1): Govndasamy, R., R. VanVranken, W. Scarappa, A. Ayen, V. S. Pudur, K. Pappas, J. E. Smon, F. Mangan, M. Lamberts, and G. McAvoy Demographcs and the Marketng of Asan and Hspanc Produce n the Eastern Coastal U.S.A. New Jersey Agrcultural Experment Staton P documents/ramu/nr_ethnc_crops_results_ nov2007.pdf Govndasamy, R., B. Onyango, W. Hallman, H. Jang, and V. Pudur Publc Approval of Plant and Anmal Botechnology n Korea: An Ordered Probt Analyss. Food Polcy Insttute Workng Paper No. WP Greene, W Econometrc Analyss, 3rd edton. Englewood Clffs, NJ: Prentce-Hall. Inc. Hoban, T. J Consumer Acceptance of Botechnology: An Internatonal Perspectve. Nature Botechnology 15: Hoban, T. J Consumers Wll Accept Botech Foods. BT Catalyst. May Hoban, T. J Consumer Awareness and Acceptance of Bovne Somatotropn. Grocery Manufacturers of Amerca, Washngton, DC. Hoban, T. J. and P. A. Kendall Consumer Atttudes about Food Botechnology. Ralegh, NC: North Carolna Cooperatve Extenson Servce. Horna, D., R. Al-Hassan, and S. E. Tmpo Insectcde Use on Vegetables n Ghana: Would GM Seed Beneft Farmers? IFPRI Dscusson Paper, August. Ipsos-Red New Thoughts for Food: Consumer Perceptons and Atttudes toward Foods (Fnal Report). Wave 1 March. Wnnpeg, Mantoba. Jha, D. K BT Brnjal to Go Commercal Next Year. Busness Standard d September page.php?autono= Johnston, J Econometrc Methods. New York: McGraw-Hll. Judge, G., W. E. Grffths, R. C. Hll, H. Ltkepohl, and T. C. Lee Introducton to the Theory and Practce of Econometrcs. Toronto: John Wley and Sons. May, K Majorty Immune to Botech Health Scare: Wllng to Take Rsks. Pollara and Earnsclffe Research. scrpts/prnter/prnter.asp?f=/stores/ / html. Mucc, A., G. Hough, and C. Zlan Factors that Influence Purchase Intent and Perceptons of Genetcally Modfed Foods among Argentne Consumers. Food Qualty and Preference 15: Pennngs, J. M. E., O. Isengldna, S. H. Irwn, and D. L. Good The Impact of Market Advsory Servce Recommendatons on Producers Marketng Decsons. Journal of Agrcultural and Resource Economcs 29(2): Powers, D. A. and Y. Xe Statstcal Methods for Categorcal Data Analyss. San Dego, CA: Academc Press. Tubene, S Ethnc and Specalty Vegetables Handbook. Maryland Cooperatve Extenson, Unversty of Maryland, College Park-Eastern Shore. cvegetable.com/ethnc_specalty_vegetables_ Handbook2.html Tubene, S Market Potental for Ethnc Produce n the Md-Atlantc Regon. Maryland Cooperatve Extenson, Unversty of Maryland, College Park-Eastern Shore. U. S. Census Bureau Unted States Department of Commerce. Washngton, DC.