Does safety information influence consumers’ preferences for controversial food products?

Abstract This paper uses experimental auctions to address two key research questions: are preferences for controversial food products a function of safety information, or personal attitudes and preferences? To what extent are consumers’ preferences for a controversial food product influenced by positive and negative scientific information? Experimental auctions for pasteurized and unpasteurized artisan cheese were conducted on computer tablets with participants at farmers’ markets in Michigan, New York and Vermont using a Becker-DeGroot-Marschak (BDM) auction mechanism. Along with the auctions, participants blindly evaluated the sensory characteristics of the cheeses and answered demographic questions and Likert scale questions about their attitudes towards food safety. We find that ideology, taste, and principle drive consumers’ preferences for unpasteurized cheese, as opposed to misinformation or ignorance. There is also evidence that artisan cheese consumers exhibit confirmation bias when exposed to information about pasteurization.