The influence of corporate social responsibility on consumers' attitudes and intentions toward genetically modified foods: evidence from Italy

The genetically modified food industry may contribute to environmental protection and sustainable development. Nevertheless, many consumers are skeptical about genetically modified foods and fear that their diffusion may have detrimental effects on the environment and public health. Given this situation, genetically modified food producers may benefit from understanding how to address such concerns through appropriate corporate social responsibility initiatives. However, there is scarce research investigating this issue. This paper contributes to this research stream by studying how consumers' perceptions about genetically modified food producers' corporate social responsibility initiatives impact said consumers' attitudes toward and intentions to buy such products. This research builds on the well-established model of corporate social responsibility proposed by Carroll (1979) and investigates this issue through a survey study of 260 Italian consumers. The results show that perceptions about producers' philanthropic and legal responsibilities favorably impact Italian consumers' attitudes toward genetically modified foods and their intentions to buy such products, respectively. Managers interested in developing the genetically modified food market could therefore focus on these responsibilities to foster favorable attitudes and intentions toward genetically modified foods. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.