Consumer willingness to pay for environmentally sustainable meat and a plant‐based meat substitute

Abstract

We investigate consumers' willingness to pay premiums for environmentally sustainably produced meat and plant‐based meat substitutes. We conducted a randomized control study coupled with an incentive‐compatible experimental auction. Treatment consisted of information nudges concerning the environmental and health externalities of meat production and consumption. Results show that demand for sustainably produced beef and a plant‐based meat substitute is inelastic. We elicited participants' time preferences to analyze whether consumer behavior varies with their time preference. Present‐biased treated female participants were willing to pay a significantly lower premium for sustainably produced beef compared to the present‐biased control female participants. Future‐biased treated participants had a higher probability of being willing to pay a premium for a plant‐based meat substitute compared to the control group. We discuss the policy implications and relevance of information nudging, such as labeling, and how the effect of such nudging varies with participant characteristics.

The effect of information nudges on online purchases of meat alternatives

“…Similarly, Fesenfeld et al (2021) found that despite health framed messages increasing individuals' concern about the impact of meat and fish consumption, these increased levels of concern do not translate into changes in behavioral intentions, willingness to pay, and demand‐side policy support. In line with this result, Katare et al (2022) provided evidence on the ineffectiveness of environmental and health information nudges at motivating consumers to pay price premiums for environmentally sustainably produced meat and plant‐based substitutes.…”

“…Thus, to increase consumers' motivation towards healthy and sustainable diets, nudges emerge as a key trigger to change consumers' behavior while maintaining their freedom of choice (Thaler & Sunstein, 2009). Behavioral interventions aimed to reduce meat consumption, such as the Meatless Monday campaign implemented in New York City public schools (Meatless Monday, 2019), usually provide individuals with information associated with the health and environmental benefits of reducing meat consumption (Campbell‐Arvai et al, 2014; Cordts et al, 2014; Graham & Abrahamse, 2017; Katare et al, 2022; Wolstenholme et al, 2020).…”

“…3 The authors suggested that information provision may increase consumers' awareness but may not result in behavioral intention changes. Katare et al (2022) showed that health and environment related information did not motivate participants to pay price premiums for environmentally sustainably produced beef and plant-based meat substitutes. As research showed, providing information could help increase consumers' awareness and acceptance of meat alternatives at a certain degree; strategies like nudging, message framing, and marketing campaigns could give consumers the opportunity to make healthier and sustainable food choices (Weinrich, 2019).…”

Prospects for Plant-Based Meat: Current Standing, Consumer Perceptions, and Shifting Trends

“…The ability of the PBM industry to price its products competitively with respect to conventional meat is one of the keys to success. The higher consumer acceptability of PBM depends on price equality with animal meat, which is related to the capability of the industry to scale up production [ 31 , 101 ]. PBM needs to become more affordable to compete with animal-based meat products, as affordability is associated with purchasing intentions.…”

New online market connecting Chinese consumers and small farms to improve food safety and environment

“…Nos résultats identifient également deux types INTRODUCTION Food safety problems together with environmental pollution, part of which may result from agricultural production, have caused serious health damages and emerged as a significant concern in the world (Pouliot & Wang, 2018;WHO, 2015), especially in developing countries, including China (Midingoyi et al, 2019;Wu et al, 2016;Zhang et al, 2017). The demand for safe and eco-friendly food has been growing, and consumers are willing to pay a price premium for various labels and claims for these food attributes, such as organic, sustainable, and green-food (Gerini et al, 2016;Jiang et al, 2019;Katare et al, 2022). Meanwhile, as the food system becomes rapidly industrialized, large scale farming gains advantages in producing standardized conventional food at a lower cost.…”