Are Consumers Willing to Pay More for Sustainable Products? A Study of Eco-Labeled Tuna Steak

Abstract

Abstract:A high demand for seafood leads to overfishing, harms the long-term health of seafood stocks, and threatens environmental sustainability in oceans. Sustainability certification is one of the major sustainability movements and is known as eco-labeling. For instance, in the tuna industry, leading tuna brands have committed to protecting sea turtles by allowing the tracing of the source of their tuna "from catch to can." This paper relies on an Internet survey on consumers from Kentucky conducted in July 2010. The survey investigates household-level tuna steak (sashimi grade) consumption and examines consumer preferences for eco-labeling ("Certified Turtle Safe" (CTS) in this study) while mimicking individuals' seafood procurement processes. A random parameter logit model is utilized, and willingness-to-pay measures are calculated based on model estimation results. It was found that respondents on average preferred turtle-safe-labeled tuna steak and were likely to pay more for it; however, they were less likely to purchase wild-caught species, and insignificant results were found for pre-frozen. Moreover, significant heterogeneities were found across individuals regarding tuna steak purchases. The findings indicate evidence of public support for environmental friendliness, particularly with regard to eco-labeling.

Consumer Empowerment in the Digital Economy: Availing Sustainable Purchasing Decisions

“…In this respect, Millennials are credited among the most empowered consumers, being described as a generation highly dependent on technology and permanently "wired" [52,53]. They consistently develop a socially responsible view on consumption and adhere to a sustainability framework in their general orientation, demanding transparency and sustainable actions from the companies they interact with [54][55][56][57]. Put in simple words, these empowered consumers vote with their wallets by paying heed to product labels and making responsible purchasing choices.…”

Toward a Sustainable Low-Carbon China: A Review of the Special Issue of “Energy Economics and Management”

“…Moreover, significant heterogeneities were found across individuals regarding tuna steak purchases. The findings indicate evidence of public support for environmental friendliness, particularly with regard to eco-labeling [19].…”

“…How pollution intensity is influenced by the direct and spatial spillover effects of environmental regulation was also explored [6]. One paper uses a logit model to examine purchasing propensities [19], another takes the establishment of Poyang Lake Eco-Economic Zone in 2009 as a quasi-natural experiment because of its exogeneity and utilizes the DID method to evaluate its influence on agricultural labor productivity [17].…”

“…Naturally, as in much recent research, consumer willingness to pay (WTP) for sustainable products is analyzed. One paper presents household-level tuna steak consumption, based on an investigation of consumer preference for the attributes of tuna and the impact of eco-labels, particularly Certified Turtle Safe (CTS) labels, on consumer demand, and examines individuals' perceptions and attitudes toward farm-raised and wild-caught tuna species based on an Internet survey [19]. The empirical study shows that respondents on average preferred turtle-safe-labeled tuna steak and were likely to pay more for it and they were less likely to purchase wild-caught species.…”

A responsible proposal for Italian seafood consumers’

“…In the last years, several studies investigated worldwide the consumer"s awareness and willingness to pay for sustainable seafood (Johnston et al, 2001;Johnston & Roheim, 2006;Erwann, 2009;Goyert et al, 2010;Masahiko, 2010;Roheim et al, 2011;Davidson et al, 2012;Xu et al, 2012;Fernández-Polanco et al, 2013;Sogn-Grundvåg et al, 2013;Uchida et al, 2014;Fonner & Sylvia, 2015;Blomquist et al, 2015;Salladarré et al, 2016, McClenachan et al, 2016Bronnmann & Asche, 2016;Zhou et al, 2016;Rickertsen et al, 2017;Sun et al, 2017;Vitale et al, 2017), showing as these aspects may not directly translated into sustainable consumer behavior (World Business Council for Sustainable Development, 2008;Clonan et al, 2011;Nguyen et al, 2010;Brécard et al, 2012;Richter et al, 2017). Indeed, the sustainable seafood consumption is a very intricate process, where different factors (intentions, attitudes, social norms, trust, knowledge, habits, situational and socioeconomic conditions) and their interactions can influence the consumer"s behavior (fig 1; Richter et al, 2017).…”