Consumers' Responses to Front vs. Back Package GM Labels in Japan

A number of studies show that consumers are willing to pay premiums for GM-Free foods. In this paper, we examine the effect, if any, that GM-Free messages have on product selection by the consumer. We made sample products which differed in the use of the labels and conducted two experiments: a choice experiment and a memory recall experiment. The result of our choice experiment demonstrates that the consumer who shows general concern about GM foods without relevant biotech knowledge responds to GM-Free messages on front labels. On the other hand, the result of our memory recall experiment shows that the consumer with relevant biotech knowledge uses the product information on back labels. Thus, firms can positively influence the product selection of biotech un-savvy consumers by placing GM-Free message on front labels.