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

Abstract

This study aims at investigating the consumers’ willingness to pay (WTP) for agri-food products delivered in the farmers markets with electric vehicles (EVs). The empirical analysis has been carried out by administering an online questionnaire to 273 consumers within a hypothetical context. A multiple price list has been provided in order to measure the price premium for 1 kg of oranges transported by EVs comparing with the ones transported by traditional vehicles. A Tobit regression model has been used for the data analysis in order to identify the most influential factors affecting the consumers’ WTP. Results suggest that consumers’ WTP is mainly influenced by environmental attitudes, knowledge and possibility of engaging in responsible purchasing, and the approval of friends and relatives (social norms). This study delivers insights into support both farmers’ choice to invest in EVs and policymakers to develop policies promoting this transition process. The main limitations of this study are related to the use of a random sample of respondents and to the social desirability bias linked to self-reported questions.

A study on the influence of product environmental information transparency on online consumers’ purchasing behavior of green agricultural products

“…According to the analysis of the model results in Figure 2 , it is clear that soil information transparency has a significant positive effect on competence trust ( β = 0.230, p < 0.05), and H1a is supported. This result is consistent with previous studies such as Chen (2007) , Laureti and Benedetti (2018) , and Mezger et al (2020) , in which consumers pay attention to the environmental and sustainability of the production process of agricultural products in terms of their impact on human health when making green produce purchases ( Galati et al, 2022 ), the active disclosure of soil information transparency of green agricultural products by online sellers promotes consumers’ perception of the competence of that online seller’s operational skills and expertise. However, the effect of soil information transparency on benevolence trust is negatively insignificant ( β = −0.138, p > 0.05), which is not consistent with the initial H1b .…”

“…The online seller provides timely information about the quality of irrigation water used in the production of green agricultural products products in terms of their impact on human health when making green produce purchases (Galati et al, 2022), the active disclosure of soil information transparency of green agricultural products by online sellers promotes consumers' perception of the competence of that online seller's operational skills and expertise. However, the effect of soil information transparency on benevolence trust is negatively insignificant (β = −0.138, p > 0.05), which is not consistent with the initial H1b.…”

“…Existing studies indicate that emissions from agricultural production are inextricably linked to pollution and climate change ( Rehman et al, 2021 ). GHG emissions from food distribution processes are also particularly important for the overall agricultural environment, especially in short transport supply chains where electric vehicles can reduce GHG emissions and consumers are willing to pay premium prices for products provided in a more sustainable manner ( Galati et al, 2022 , 2023 ). China’s food system is the largest contributor to GHG emissions, accounting for about 13.5% of the total global food system.…”

The effect of credence attributes on willingness to pay a premium for organic food: A moderated mediation model of attitudes and uncertainty

“…The motivations for organic food consumption have been extensively explored in previous literature. Studies have found that consumers' motivations for purchasing organic food include economic reasons (e.g., price), social/cultural reasons (e.g., social status), personal reasons (e.g., egoistic and altruistic values), and product reasons (e.g., attributes such as health and safety; Dorce et al, 2021;Galati et al, 2022;Knaggs et al, 2022;Wei et al, 2022). In particular, concern for health, environmental protection, food safety, and taste have been identified as the main purchase motivations for organic food (Hemmerling et al, 2015).…”

“…The other is based on consumers' psychological decision-making process. The influence of credence attributes on consumers' purchase attitudes and intentions was analyzed, and it was found that credence attributes such as health, safety, and environment-related factors of organic food all lead to positive attitudes and purchase intentions (Szolnoki and Hauck, 2020;Galati et al, 2022). These studies on credence attributes have provided insights into consumers' motivations for purchasing organic food.…”