Table 1.

Dependent and independent variables with definitions and descriptions

Variable	Description and measurement	Mean	Standard deviation	Min	Max
Dependent variables
Attitude change	Consumers change their intentions to purchase GM soybean oil after receiving the information. (1 = no change (base); 2 = a positive change, changing from “not purchase” to “unclear,” from “unclear” to “willing,” or from the “not purchase” to “willing”; 3 = a negative change, changing from “purchase” to “unwilling,” from “unclear” to “unwilling,” or from “willing” to “unclear”)	0.675 0.174 0.151	0.469 0.379 0.358	1 0 0 0	3 1 1 1
Explanatory variables
Information consistency	Whether the provided information is consistent with your initial attitude?
Completely inconsistent	(1 = completely inconsistent; 0 = otherwise)	0.046	0.210	0	1
Inconsistent	(1 = inconsistent; 0 = otherwise)	0.190	0.393	0	1
Neutral	(1 = neutral or unclear; 0 = otherwise)	0.386	0.487	0	1
Consistent(base)	(1 = consistent; 0 = otherwise)	0.353	0.478	0	1
Completely consistent	(1 = completely consistent; 0 = otherwise)	0.024	0.152	0	1
Source	One respondent was just provided one type of three cards.
GM department or experts	(1 = receiving Card A with information released by biotechnology research institutes, government departments about GM, or GM experts; 0 = otherwise)	0.491	0.500	0	1
Environmental organizations	(1 = receiving Card B with information released by environmental organizations; 0 = otherwise)	0.253	0.435	0	1
Non-GM individuals(base)	(1 = receiving Card C with information released by non-GM individuals and anonymous internet users; 0 = otherwise)	0.256	0.436	0	1
Source credibility	Trust in the sources in the received Card (1 = trust; 0 = distrust)	0.340	0.490	0	1
Interaction
Credibility of GM department or experts	The interaction of GM department or experts and source credibility (1 = trust in GM department or experts; 0 = otherwise)	0.216	0.412	0	1
Credibility of environmental organizations	The interaction of environmental organizations and source credibility (1 = trust in environmental organizations; 0 = otherwise)	0.133	0.340	0	1
Credibility of non-GM individuals (base)	The interaction of non-GM individuals and source credibility (1 = trust in non-GM individuals; 0 = otherwise)	0.050	0.218	0	1
Socio demographic characteristics
Age	Age of respondents in years.	30.54	9.157	16	71
Child	Whether there is a child under 6 years old at home? (1 = yes; 0 = no)	0.449	0.498	0	1
Main edible oil	Soybean oil is the main edible oil in the family. (1 = yes;0 = no)	0.572	0.495	0	1
Northern region	Including 5 cities: Huaian, Lianyungang, Suqian, Xuzhou, Yancheng. (1 = yes; 0 = otherwise)	0.293	0.455	0	1
Central region (base)	Including 3 cities: Nantong, Taizhou and Yangzhou. (1 = yes; 0 = otherwise)	0.152	0.359	0	1
Southern region	Including 5 cities: Nanjing, Suzhou, Wuxi, Changzhou and Zhenjiang (1 = yes; 0 = otherwise)	0.555	0.497	0	1

Other individual characteristics are showed and compared with the population in Table 2.