Are risk or benefit perceptions more important for public acceptance of innovative food technologies: A meta-analysis

•Both risk and benefit perceptions influence food technology acceptance.•Risk and benefit perceptions are negatively related to each other.•The correlation coefficients for all three relationships exhibited a high degree of variability.•Future research should clarify potential moderators of the variability in correlation coefficients.

Research goalThis paper pursued two goals: first, to investigate the much disputed question of whether risk or benefit perceptions are more influential in people's acceptance of food technologies and second, to shed light on the relationship between the two perceptions.Scope and approachIn total, 26 studies were selected for a random-effects meta-analysis.Key findings and conclusionsThe results suggest a high degree of variability in correlation coefficients for all three investigated relationships. This paper presents the insights gained into the perception and acceptance of food technologies, the relationships between these three factors and discusses potential moderators of the relationship strengths. Furthermore, this paper's discussion offers insights for future risk communication research by highlighting important research gaps and possibilities.