The influence of initial attitudes on responses to communication about genetic engineering in food production

Source credibility has been thought to be an important determinant of peoples' reactions to information about technology. There has also been much debate about the need to communicate effectively with the public about genetic engineering, particularly within the context of food production. Questionnaires were used to investigate the impact of source credibility, admission of risk uncertainty, and initial attitude towards genetic engineering on attitudes of respondents after information provision. 120 respondents with positive attitudes towards genetic engineering in food production were provided with persuasive information about the technology, where both source attribution and admission of risk uncertainty were systematically varied within the experimental design. Impact on perceptions of source credibility, informational qualities, and post intervention attitudes were examined, and compared to a second group of respondents who held initially negative attitudes towards genetic engineering, and who had been exposed to similar information interventions. As predicted by Social Judgment Theory, initial attitude was found to be an important determinant of post-intervention attitude. However, admission of risk uncertainty was also found to be influential in increasing acceptance and reducing rejection of the technology, possibly through the facilitation of elaborative processing. Contrary to previous research, prior attitudes had an impact on perceptions of both source credibility and informational quality. In terms of effective information provision about genetic engineering, it was concluded that scientific honesty is the best policy, and that lay understanding of scientific process is probably greater than hitherto assumed by experts. © 1998 Kluwer Academic Publishers.