Factors Influencing Consumer Purchase Intention of Genetically Modified Foods in Sri Lanka

Abstract

The rapid expansion in the worldwide cultivation of GM crops and the abundance of GM foods in the market has resulted in a great concern over the impact of them on consumers. Consumer purchase intention plays a vital role when determining the future of GM crops and foods in Sri Lanka. Therefore it is important to study the factors affecting the consumer purchase intention of GM foods. But except one article, no sufficient literature is available in Sri Lanka regarding this concept. This study is conducted to study the influence of some selected factors such as consumers’ GM knowledge, opinion towards use of modern technology in food production, risk perception and reading labels on food items that affect the purchase intention of GM foods of Sri Lankan consumers. Target population for this quantitative research is the consumers in Western Province of Sri Lanka. Primary data was collected from 100 respondents and simple random sampling method was used to select the respondents. Online standard questionnaire survey was conducted to gather data and multiple regression analysis was used to analyze the data. This study will primarily be useful for GM foods importers and distributors to identify the factors influencing the consumer purchase intention of GM foods and consider those factors when implementing their future marketing strategies. Since it is an emerging topic, it will be beneficial to researchers, policy makers and all other interested parties in the future as well.