The influence of perceived benefits on acceptance of GM applications for allergy prevention

Allergic diseases, such as hay fever and food allergy, affect an increasing part of the population in Westernized countries and have a negative impact on the patient's quality of life. Allergy prevention measures that focus on reducing the allergenic load are currently developed, and these may include the use of genetic modification of allergenic plants. Such developments should take societal concerns about genetic modification into account. We examined the attitude of allergic and non-allergic respondents towards applications of genetic modification for allergy prevention in one food allergy application (apple) and two hay fever applications (birch, grass). Attitude towards genetic modification was described in terms of 'benefits' and 'rejection factors.' We found that respondents suffering from self-reported allergy perceived greater benefits associated with the birch application as compared to non-sufferers. The perceived benefits increased with an increasing impact of allergic complaints on quality of life. No differences were found between sufferers and non-sufferers for the food allergy application. The impact of perceived benefits on acceptance was larger than that of rejection factors. This supports the idea that acceptance of genetic modification is primarily a function of perceived personal benefit. Novel genetically modified products that are perceived to be beneficial by some consumers may consequently experience an increased consumer acceptance.