Marketing and consumption of paternity tests

Initially DNA paternity tests were government policy driven tests to identify biological fathers for child support purposes. It was not a straightforward market though, as government agencies did not buy the tests; rather, they delivered customers to the providers. These consumers were both men and women. It follows that the early markets for testing were quite narrowly focused. In the last decade however, commercially marketed tests have attracted widespread public interest and tapped into a range of different markets. The process of market development was initially serendipitous, driven by the coincidence of interests of industry entrepreneurs and men’s rights activists. This paper briefly traces the development of a market for genetic paternity testing in the Australian context. Drawing from empirical work, it then profiles the various consumers of paternity tests, discussing their reasons for testing, the type of testing (whether the test was accredited or not), the extent to which the test was instigated by them or by someone else and what were the typical outcomes of testing for each consumer category.