Consumer attitude toward nonconventional breeding

The current chapter discusses the relevance of consumer attitude for cereals and pseudocereals that are bred with nonconventional techniques. The specifics of where it can be expected that cereals and pseudocereals relate to consumer attitude formation, i.e., that they are deeply culturally ingrained, are part of many different food products, but also some negative and positive sentiments on specific attributes are introduced. Subsequently, the concept of attitude is discussed, where considering a theoretical approach of the psychology of attitudes, the role of cognitive, emotional, subconscious associations and their interplay in retrieval, formation, and change of attitudes are provided. Against this definition of attitude, consumer response to genetic modification as the most discussed nonconventional plant breeding technology is interpreted, and a number of dimensions which make specific application more or less acceptable are given. This leads to several suggestions to consider when breeding cereals and pseudocereals with nonconventional techniques.