The effectiveness of misinformation corrective strategies and implications for consumers' food preferences and policy attitudes

Abstract

This study investigates the effect of food biotechnology misinformation on consumer demand and attitudes toward bioengineered food and tests the effectiveness of pre-bunking and debunking mitigation strategies. Using choice experiment data from a sample of 1270 U.S. consumers, we find that exposure to misinformation has a significant effect on consumers' food preferences and policy attitudes. We also find that while pre-bunking is an effective mitigating strategy, debunking by itself is not sufficient. Our findings suggest that preemptively warning consumers about misinformation and the tactics used to spread it is more effective than merely correcting the misinformation afterward.