Thailand has experienced severe air-quality problems for the past 10 years. Complicating this situation, the Thai government allocates an insufficient budget for the management of air pollution. Using the contingent valuation method, this paper estimates the willingness to pay for air-quality improvement in Thailand to reveal the benefits that people will gain if air-quality improves. The results show that the total benefits from air-quality improvement would be 18.8 billion baht in 2020. The Thai government can use these findings as a guideline to redistribute its budget to address air pollution more effectively.

This article aims to empirically investigate the role of claims of credence attributes in the launch of food and drink products using a large dataset of new product development by food companies in China. A multinomial regression model is employed to analyze the association between the type of product launch and the positioning claims adopted by firms. The results provide evidence that claims of credence attributes play an important role in the product launch strategy of firms. Food companies tend to choose the most cost‐effective strategies to launch products with credence attributes. Hence, claims that are seen as most important for consumers are more likely to be engendered for the more costly launch approach. For example, the attribute of food safety is highly important in China and its use is related to launching brand new products which generally is the most costly launch strategy. In contrast, other credence attributes, such as “environmentally sustainable,” are linked to relatively simpler and cheaper strategies, such as new packaging. Given most studies on credence attributes have focused on the consumer side, results of this study fill in the gap of understanding how food suppliers respond to consumer demand for food products with credence attributes.

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The primary objectives of this research focused on developing a sustainable tourism model for the Pha Wang Nam Khiao -Pha Khao Phu Luang Forest Reserve in order to sustain forest area and develop local community simultaneously. The sustainable tourism model was created based on site potential, stakeholders' opinions, and cost-benefit analysis. The results showed that the destinations were ranked in high potential for tourism development. The majority of tourists paid attention to forest resources education program and sport outdoor activities. Benefit-cost ratio (BCR) equaled to 1.81 and internal rate of return (IRR) equaled to 16.38, showing suitability and worthiness for developing tourism in Wang Nam Khiao forest reserve. Tourism development strategies have been proposed, including: (1) developing facilities and services for conservation and sustainable tourism; (2) personnel training for sustainable development; and (3) tourism marketing for niche market.

Based on the concept of a livable and global age-friendly city, pavements are a public facility that the city should provide to the people. Appropriate pavements will be beneficial for the people, particularly for good quality of life for the elderly to move around in the city. This study explored the behaviour of the elderly in the use of pavements and the problems confronted. The study also evaluated the value of the pavement walking area as it reflected the benefits of pavements to the elderly by applying the Contingent Valuation Method (CVM). During March-May 2017, data were collected using interviews with 601 elderly living in Bangkok. The study indicated that the main problem for senior citizens regarding their use of pavements was from being disturbed by motorbikes riding on the pavements. The average value of pavement for the elderly was about THB 160 (USD 5.30) per person per year. Thus, the benefits of pavements to the elderly in Bangkok was approximately THB 158 million (USD 5.2 million) per year. Thus, policy makers should make proper budget allocations for elderly-friendly pavement management and seriously address the problems confronting the elderly in using pavements, to maximize the usefulness of pavements not only for the elderly but also for the public and to support a sustainable urban development.

Biodegradable mulch films (BDMs) technology is an environmentally-friendly substitute to traditional plastic mulch films in agricultural production. Given the high price and it is new to the market, it is not easy for farmers to accept and adopt it. This paper aims to explore the key factors affecting farmers’ adoption of and willingness to pay for BDMs to understand the complex process of farmers’ decision-making. This paper employs a double hurdle model to explore the multi-stage decision-making process in the adoption of BDMs using the sample of 1247 observations from Yunnan province China, where two mechanisms of decision-making (i.e., direct rejection of technology and lack of resources) were used to capture zero willingness to pay (WTP) for BDMs. The results indicate the two-stage decision-making process, where the role of technology-specific characteristics is more important than adopter-specific characteristics in the adoption of BDMs in China – training for understanding and using the technology has a positive effect on both the adoption and willingness to pay. The paper is the first attempt that empirically analyses the determinants of farmers’ WTP for BDMs. It contributes to the literature on adoption analysis by 1) considering farmers’ adoption choices as a two-step process by using a hurdle model and 2) addressing the importance of technology-specific characteristics on farmers’ WTP for BDMs. Understanding the role of factors on different stages of farmers’ decision-making could assist policymakers in designing programs, specifically tackling difficulties confronting farmers at different stages of decision-making.

PurposeThis paper aims to empirically investigate the role of product positioning in the launch of food and drink products using a large dataset of new product development by food companies in Australia (AU) and New Zealand (NZ). As such, positioning through credence attribute claims can be associated with product launch strategies, including brand-new products, expansion of product ranges, new packaging and relaunch, as a response to market demand.Design/methodology/approachText analysis was used to investigate the descriptions of food claims using Structured Query Language, providing a word list of food claims and further filtered and categorised into groups of claims. Multinomial regression models were then employed to analyse the association between product launch strategies and food claims adopted by firms.FindingsThe results of this paper provide evidence that positioning via food claims play an important role in product launch strategies in both AU and NZ. Types of food claims matter differently to firms' product launch decisions in the two markets. The “green” and “ethical” attributes are found to be associated with new launches in NZ but not in AU. Claims that are seen as most important for consumers are more likely to be engendered for the more costly launch approach.Originality/valueThis study is amongst the first studies that addresses the role of positioning in product launch strategies of food companies. The results and findings provide insights into the different prevailing credence attributes from the firm side and help policymakers to regulate the delivery of information about credence attributes to consumers.