Support Theme: Analysis of public and politicians attitudes and expectations

Support Theme leader: Prof Giorgos Sakellaris

Click Here to find out about the EPOBIO Social Attitudes Survey

See the publications section for reports and presentations from this theme.

Summary

While there is a broad existing knowledge-base to support the use of bio-renewables for energy and manufacture of consumer products in order to sustain economic growth, a number of non-technical, social barriers continue to prevent the realisation of this potential. These barriers may be attributed to market factors (i.e. high cost of the raw materials used as feedstock or lack of established supply chains), administrative complexity and deficient regulatory frameworks, as well as differing social acceptance of the applications involving genetic modification.

Alongside scientific innovation and technical infrastructure it is important to take into consideration the social background that affects both the adoption of new technologies and the market uptake of novel bio-products. This requires quantitative and qualitative social research of the public, private sector and policy makers’ attitudes and expectations upon which support or opposition is based. Scientific awareness, risk and benefit perception, media effects, widespread beliefs and social fears, as well as trust in institutions involved in the debate associated with agricultural and industrial biotechnology, all are intertwined in the formation of attitudes and expectations. In addition, their study becomes more complicated if different outputs of non-food applications or different stages of the production process are considered and compared. Thus, the "Attitudes and Expectations" Support Theme faces the challenge of integrating analysis of technical and non-technical barriers for every individual project to define the content of Flagship Themes.

Detailed information

This Support Theme will work in parallel to those addressing technical issues, so that an overall assessment of recommendations on specific products/ applications could be achieved. Methodologically, this demands the adoption of a "case-study" approach, where issue-specific opinions will be explored. Previous research suggests that attitudes towards biotechnology are not homogeneous across different applications of biotechnology. They also differentiate between countries or specific target groups.

Differences in attitudes between various target groups can be explained by theories of risk perception and consideration of the expected benefits. There is empirical evidence regarding the gap in risk perception between scientists and the public, with the former being rational and the later having a rather emotionally based perception. The role of the media is vital in influencing the public opinion. In addition, the risks and benefits associated with plant GM applications may be differently assessed by members of different stakeholder groups (such as farmers, industry investors and environmental organizations) depending on their interests and their attested positions.

In this way, a range of views give shape to the public debate and the political agenda, determining the social trajectory of a new technology product. This is why an investigation of public attitudes and the social factors which determine them - for example the role of the mass media - is so crucial. In the present study a combination of different research tools and techniques will be used (survey, in-depth interviews and focus groups, media analysis of textual material), so that both quantitative and qualitative data will be collected and analysed.

Public perception is also a matter of awareness and objective information. In this respect communication tools play a very important role in order to achieve a well informed public, responsible and participating. The social climate around certain bio-products and applications then will orientate science communication by indicating the areas with high possibility of success or those to which special attention should be given. Questions such as what kind of incentives/benefits can motivate the public towards a friendlier approach to biotechnology shall find an answer and problems in identifying the roots of public misunderstanding or disapproval of the outcomes of scientific and technological innovation will be resolved.