No abstract

In this study, consumers' willingness to pay for farming, slaughter and processing, distribution and marketing, and government certification information was investigated in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, China using an experimental auction and real choice experiment based on incentive compatibility of the nonhypothetical elicitation method. No significant differences in consumers' willingness to pay were revealed by the experimental auction and real choice experiment on the whole, and results from both nonhypothetical experimental methods demonstrated that consumers were willing to pay certain premiums for all four types of traceability information and had the highest willingness to pay for government certification information. These results indicate that consumers trust in pork safety protection under governmental supervision. Moreover, it was found that government certification information played a significant role in improving consumer utility, demonstrating that consumers paid close attention to safety risks in farming. Therefore, this study predicts that the introduction of governmental supervision into the pork traceability system and establishment of a system for collecting traceability information starting from the stage of pig farming will play important roles in meeting consumer demands for pork quality and safety, as well as promoting the development of traceable food policies. JEL classifications: Q18

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to reveal the actual consumer demand for traceable pork by investigating consumer preferences for pork with combined levels of traceability information based on differences in individual consumer preferences, in order to support the government in decision making regarding the gradual construction of safe food markets. Design/methodology/approach – Combinations of four types of traceability information, including farming, slaughter and processing, distribution and sales, and government certification, with price were randomly designed. To identify consumer preferences for these attribute combinations of traceable pork, 215 consumers in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province were investigated using a real choice experiment and the mixed logit model. Findings – Significant heterogeneity was observed in consumer preferences for traceable pork. The information of farming, slaughter and processing, distribution and marketing, and government certification could significantly improve consumer utility. Moreover, consumers had the highest preference for government certification information. Originality/value – Although numerous studies have been performed on consumer preferences for food safety attributes using a real choice experiment, almost none of them focus on Chinese consumers. Therefore, this study is an attempt to fill this gap. The conclusions of this study can serve as a reference for the Chinese government in developing safe food consumption policies. Although Chinese consumers have cried out for improvement of pork safety, they have different preferences for traceability information; thus, the government must promote traceable food step-by-step, using consumer preferences as a starting point.

The Chinese government has always promoted the pork traceability system; however, expensive traceable pork of limited variety containing single-level safety information cannot meet the differentiated consumer demand of the Chinese market. A survey was conducted of 2,080 consumers in five cities distributed in east, south, southwest, northeast, and central China, in which traceable pork hindquarter profiles were constructed by combining traceable safety information attributes with government certification, appearance, and price. Individual consumers' part-worth utilities were estimated using a choice experiment and hierarchical Bayesian inference. On this basis, combined with ordinary pork hindquarter profiles in the real market, different traceable pork hindquarter profiles were set to develop seven market schemes. Furthermore, market shares of each scheme were simulated using the random first choice method. Most consumers chose appearance rather than safety in the choice experiment, which also indicated that traceable safety information certified by the government had a higher part-worth utility. Simulation results suggested that a larger market share could be better achieved by supplying 513 514 CANADIAN JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS multilevel traceable pork hindquarters in the market at the same time, rather than by supplying singlelevel traceable pork hindquarters. Moreover, income was found to be the key factor in determining consumers' demand. Le gouvernement chinois a toujours fait la promotion du système de traçabilité des porcs. Toutefois, les produits traçables, qui sont couteux, peu variés et accompagnés d'un seul niveau d'information sur la salubrité, ne peuvent satisfaire la demande particulière des consommateurs chinois. Un sondage dans lequel figuraient des renseignements sur les quartiers arrière de porcs, dont de l'information sur la salubrité, la certification du gouvernement, l'apparence et le prix, aété réalisé auprès de 2080 consommateurs dans cinq villes situées dans l'est, le sud, le sud-ouest, le nord-est et le centre de la Chine. Nous avons estimé les utilités partielles des consommateursà l'aide des méthodes des choix discrets et de l'inférence bayésienne hiérarchique.À partir de ces données, combinéesà des renseignements sur des quartiers arrière de porcs ordinaires sur le marché réel, nous avonsélaboré sept scénarios de marché. Nous avons aussi simulé les parts de marché de chaque scénarioà l'aide de la méthode du premier choix aléatoire. Dans la méthode des choix discrets, la plupart des consommateurs ont choisi l'apparence plutôt que la salubrité, ce qui indique que l'information sur la salubrité certifiée par le gouvernement avait une utilité partielleélevée. Les résultats de la simulation autorisentà penser qu'il serait possible de conquérir une plus grande part de marché si les quartiers arrière de porcsétaient accompagnés d'information de plusieurs niveaux en même temps plutôt que d'information d'un seul niveau. D'après nos résultats, le revenu représente le facteur clé dan...

Willingness to pay (WTP) for pork with different traceability information was investigated in 143 consumers in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, China, using experimental auctions combined with real choice experiments based on incentive compatibility and external validity of non-hypothetical elicitation. The results indicated that participants had the highest WTP for government certification information, attached the greatest importance to farming information and comprehensive traceability information on the whole. Therefore, emphasis of Chinese government should be placed on prevention and regulation of potential safety risks in pig farming. Also, effective transfer of traceability information should be guaranteed through government certification.