Environmental and consumer groups have called for mandatory labeling of
genetically engineered (GE) food products in the United States, stating that
consumers have the “right to know.” Herein, we use a nonhypothetical field
experiment to examine the willingness to pay for GE-labeled products, using
the only second-generation GE product currently on the U.S. market—GE
cigarettes. Our results suggest consumers pay less for GE-labeled cigarettes
when marketing information is absent. But, when presented with marketing
information on the attributes of the cigarette, we find no evidence that
consumers pay less for GE-labeled cigarettes.