Effectiveness of China's Organic Food Certification Policy: Consumer Preferences for Infant Milk Formula with Different Organic Certification Labels

Abstract

China's current organic certification policy prohibits distribution of food in the Chinese market that has only obtained foreign organic certification but has not obtained Chinese organic certification, and prohibits the independent operation of foreign organic certification bodies in China. In this study, we use consumers’ willingness to pay (WTP) as a criterion for judging the effectiveness of China's organic certification policy. A choice experiment infant milk formula (IMF) with four attributes, including organic certification label, brand, country of origin, and price was conducted in Shandong province of China. Estimation with a mixed logit model revealed that consumers’ WTP for IMF with an American or European organic certification label was higher than IMF with a Chinese label. Moreover, consumers’ knowledge of organic food and food safety risk perceptions had an impact on their WTP. Results suggest scope for policy failure in that allowing independent certification in China by European and American organic certification bodies, or legal sale in the Chinese mainland market of IMF certified by American or European organic certification bodies, could increase consumer surplus beyond the status quo under the present policy regime.

Chinese Consumer Quality Perception and Preference of Traditional Sustainable Rice Produced by the Integrated Rice–Fish System

“…More environmentalists should be fostered in order to promote more environmentally friendly behavior. Respondents with a higher household income were willing to pay more for rice from the rice-fish system, consistent with some previous research that household income significantly affects organic or green food consumption [57,58].…”

“…Having children at home had a significant effect on consumer WTP, which suggests a potential over-generational concern about sustainable development [4]. Respondents with a higher household income were willing to pay more for rice from the rice-fish system, consistent with some previous research that household income significantly affects organic or green food consumption [57,58]. Compared to males, females might be willing to pay more for rice-fish system rice (at 10% and 5% significance level in the Interval and OLS regression, respectively).…”

The consumer of food products in organic markets of central Mexico

“…These results are consistent with those found in several other studies in which the largest proportion of consumers of organic food found in street and organic markets are women (Çabuk et al, 2014;Chen et al, 2014;Mohamada et al, 2014;Van Loo et al, 2014;Wu et al, 2014).…”

“…Finally, Wu et al (2014) identified three groups: "Consumers with low knowledge"; "Consumers with intermediate knowledge";a n d"Consumers with high knowledge" about organic food. The authors associate this aspect with the willingness to pay a premium price for organic products; they found that consumers with intermediate and high knowledge were willing to pay it, coinciding with the first two groups of consumers identified in this work.…”

Consumer preference for infant milk‐based formula with select food safety information attributes: Evidence from a choice experiment in China

“…Among the three organic labels, the highest WTP was expressed for U.S. organic label (US$ 18.899), followed by Zelanian organic label (US$ 13.288), and lastly by Chinese organic label (US$ 9.603). Second, frequent food safety incidents in the Chinese food industry, particularly the dairy industry, have adversely affected consumer confidence in domestically produced food products (Wu et al, 2014). Third, in terms of COO, respondents most preferred milk powder produced in the United States, and were willing to pay US$ 19.939 higher for production in the United States compared with that in China, and US$ 6.679 higher for production in New Zealand compared with that in China.…”