Abstract

Considering the rejection by consumers of genetically modified foods, and that the country of origin is used as an indicator of quality, a study was done of the relative importance of the existence of genetic modification (GM), the origin and the price in the purchase of sunflower oil in Temuco through a survey of 400 people; at the same time different market segments were identified and characterized. It was determined by conjoint analysis that the existence of GM (36.0%) was slightly more important than country of origin (33.3%) and price (30.7%) in the total sample, with a preference for product with no GM, of Chilean origin and at a lower price. Three segments were distinguished by analysis of hierarchical conglomerates. The majority segment (45.5%) attributed great importance to the existence of GM and presented high rejection of transgenic vegetable oil. The second group (29.7%) assigned greater importance to the price and accepted Argentinean oil. The minority group (24.8%) attributed greater importance to country of origin and accepted Spanish oil. Regardless of the above distinctions, all groups expressed a greater preference for Chilean oil. The absence of GM in vegetable oil is a desirable condition for a large proportion of consumers (45.5%), but the rest were relatively indifferent to the existence or absence of genetic manipulation in this product.