Health Information Campaigns and Genetically Modified Food Labels in the Seafood Market

• Main Author: Weir, Michael Joseph
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: DigitalCommons@URI 2019
• Subjects: Atlantic salmon
• Online Access: https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/oa_diss/840; https://doi.org/10.23860/diss-weir-michael-2019; https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/context/oa_diss/article/1868/viewcontent/Weir_uri_0186A_12226.pdf

In this dissertation I investigate consumer responses to two forms of information provision in the seafood market: health information campaigns and genetically modified food labels. Using data from a seafood auction experiment, I explore sources of heterogeneity among auction participants and their responses to health information in the context of current United States Departments of Agriculture and Health and Human Services policy goals using a mixed effects finite mixture model. My second and third chapters explore the potential effect of the forthcoming National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard on demand for genetically modified seafood. Considering the new labeling standard and the development of a genetically modified fish I collect data using an online choice experiment to investigate 1) consumer preferences and willingness to pay for Atlantic Salmon fillets with labels denoting the presence or absence of GM technology and 2) influence of behavioral measures on consumer preference for GM seafood using an application of machine learning techniques. The use of these techniques allows for rigorous identification of treatment effects that hold important implications for policy makers in the ever adapting “Information Age.”