Functional food choices: Impacts of trust and health control beliefs on Canadian consumers’ choices of canola oil

We examine determinants of consumers’ choices of functional canola oil products that may contain genetically modified (GM) ingredients, with emphasis on the influences of trust and health control beliefs. We find that both generalized trust and trust in the food system tend to offset negative perceptions associated with the GM food and that respondents who believe in internal control over health are more likely to purchase functional food. Our results also show that joint inclusion of both personality traits (trust and control) provides a clearer interpretation of their impact on preferences. The disutility associated with GM food ingredients outweighs the value that respondents place on enhanced omega-3 content in a canola oil product, suggesting that commercial marketing of canola oil products using genetic modification to enhance levels of omega-3 content may be challenging. Policy implications are discussed.