Consumer willingness to pay for cheese with a social sustainability attribute

Abstract

The social dimension of sustainability is becoming very relevant on the consumer purchasing decision, especially in the food sector. This research analyzed the willingness to pay (WTP) of Chilean consumers for cheese with a social sustainability attribute using a double-bounded dichotomous choice format. Results showed that the WTP for a price premium depends on three variables: age, income and previous knowledge regarding social sustainability. The mean WTP is 7.5% over the average price of cheese; although, combining relevant variables and changing values over their range shows that firms can obtain up to a 12.9% price premium if they focus on younger and high income consumers that have a previous good knowledge about social sustainability practices. Additionally, this study presented a novel market oriented methodological approach for identifying and quantifying specific niche markets based on the WTP.

Consumers’ Willingness to Pay for Agri-Food Products Delivered with Electric Vehicles in the Short Supply Chains

“…Wu et al (2015) and Hicks et al (2009) showed that income is positively correlated with consumers' WTP for traceable food quality and increased food safety. Similarly, Echeverría et al (2021) found that Chilean consumers with higher incomes are more willing to pay for products with social sustainability attributes. Finally, our results showed that consumers' age can also lead to the differences in their food consumption habits, finding that as age decreases, consumers' WTP increases.…”