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Abstract:In an effort to support the long-term viability of the bioenergy industry through an end market for digestate, we investigated purchasing preferences for fertilizer product features in the home gardening market. We conducted a discrete choice experiment (DCE), presenting 504 respondents with a total of 6048 product attribute choices in a simulated context that replicated the tradeoff decisions made in the real marketplace. We analyzed the choice data using a hierarchical Bayes estimate to generate part-worth utilities for fertilizer product attributes. We then conducted a latent class analysis to identify market segments that could be expected to respond to differentiated product design strategies. We were able to quantify both purchasing preferences for fertilizer product attributes as well as the importance of each attribute to the perceived utility of a product. We were further able to identify five distinct market segments that make clear the potential for differentiated strategies in the home gardening market. We found both negative and positive price sensitivities, with sociodemographically distinct subgroups that favored low-, mid-, and high-priced products. We also found purchasing preferences for brand status, product labeling and nutrient values. Our results provide insights that should help product managers in the biogas industry develop marketing strategies to integrate digestate into a sustainable energy production system.

Biogas from anaerobic digestion has become an important element in the renewable energy portfolio of many countries. In anaerobic digestion, digestate is produced as a byproduct. This could be used to produce fertilizers and potting soils for home gardeners substituting mineral fertilizers or peat-based products. However, this depends on consumer willingness to pay (WTP) for such products, which we investigate in this study. To this end, we conducted a discrete choice experiment (DCE) with 507 private consumers. From the 6084 decisions made, we derived Bayesian part-worth utilities using a preference share model and so calculated the WTP for different proenvironmental attributes of potting-soil products. We also assessed the influence of proenvironmental attitudes on the WTP. We discovered five distinct consumer groups in our respondents. Some show a significant WTP for proenvironmental attributes such as “organic”, “peat free”, and “without guano”. Three descriptions of digestate as a “renewable resource”, a “fermentation residue”, or a “biogas residue” elicited three markedly different WTP responses across all classes, with “renewable resource” garnering the highest WTP and “biogas residue” the lowest. Consumers with a stronger proenvironmental attitude exhibited a higher WTP for proenvironmental attributes. Our results can help marketers of digestate-based potting soils discover suitable price points for their products and design differentiated pricing strategies across consumer groups.

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