Exploring the potential behavior of consumers towards transgenic forest products: the Greek experience

Recently, the interest in wood products and bioenergy applications of transgenic forest trees is increasing worldwide, though plantations have been established to this purposes only in China. Information on the anticipated attitudes of consumers towards products from genetically-modified forest trees would therefore be of a particular interest both for developers and policy makers. This study investigated the purchasing behavior of potential Greek consumers towards the products from transgenic forest trees. In 2011, a survey was conducted based on randomly selected interviews of 418 potential consumers from all over Greece. Principal Components Analysis (PCA) was performed to identify the main factors affecting the potential purchasing behavior of consumers towards products from transgenic forest trees. Hierarchical and non- hierarchical cluster analysis was applied to PCA scores to identify homogeneous groups of consumers sharing a similar purchasing behavior. Discriminant analysis was used to cross-validate cluster membership of consumers based on PCA factors. Four groups of consumers showing similar potential purchasing behavior towards the products of transgenic forest trees were identified: (a) those interested in the quality of products; (b) those oriented towards lower prices; (c) those influenced by curiosity and labeling issues; and (d) consumers mainly interested in health safety issues and environmental impacts. Finally, a most frequent profile for each group of consumers was outlined according to their demographic characteristics and their opinions on the use of transgenic-tree derived products. Although it is unlikely that products from GM forest trees will be marketed in the next 10 to 15 years, information on the anticipated attitudes of consumers has to be taken into consideration by the developers and policy makers.