Sustainable agri-food products: A review of consumer preference studies through experimental economics

Abstract

In the last few decades, the interest of consumers towards sustainable agri-food products has been growing. This trend reflects changes in the consumption patterns, which have been deeply influenced by the increased sensitivity concerning social and environmental issues. In this sense, several studies, with different methodological approaches, have investigated consumers’ willingness to pay and its determinants for products with different sustainability labels. To systematise the obtained results, this paper offers a review of the studies that used experimental economics in studying consumer preferences for sustainable food and agricultural products. The 41 studies included in the review were selected on the basis of the pre-identified criterion according to the systematic review approach. Albeit discordant, the results show that a large share of consumers is willing to pay a premium price for products with eco-friendly and organic certifications. Animal welfare, ‘local’ production, or social certification appear to have a lower influence on consumer choice of purchasing. Additional information is able to modify consumer expectations and consequentially their willingness to pay, depending on the individual’s responsibility and awareness.

Examining the Role of Local Products in Rural Development in the Light of Consumer Preferences—Results of a Consumer Survey from Hungary

“…In total, only 12% of the respondents were willing to pay a premium of 10% or more. As a result of a literature review, Checchini et al [65] concluded that (based on the given examined sources), "local" production generally had less impact on consumers' willingness to pay. Although few studies deal with comparative examinations on willingness to pay for different local products, experience shows that consumers' willingness to pay also varies from product to product.…”

The economic and environmental sustainability of extra virgin olive oil supply chains: An analysis based on food miles and value chains

“…Several studies (Akaichi et al, 2016;Cecchini et al, 2018;Polenzani et al, 2020) underlined the demand for locally produced food is increasing due to consumers' growing attention towards environmental and social sustainability: these results suggest that the use of environmental information labels could be a product differentiation mechanism and generate more support for sustainable companies.…”

“…Several studies on supply chains have recently focused on sustainability issues in response to the growing concern for the environmental impact of food supply chains (Training and Research Institute for Transport [isfort in Italian], 2013; Cicatiello et al, 2012b). This growing consumer environmental attention results in an increase in the demand for locally produced food that is considered safer for health, and towards more social and environmental sustainability (Akaichi et al, 2016;Cecchini et al, 2018;Polenzani et al, 2020).…”

Reputation and Trust Within the Fair Trade Movement in Brazil

“…FT products are nowadays readily available in Europe, the United States, and Canada, where there is a large and growing number of consumers willing to pay a higher price for goods with FT certification (Cecchini et al, 2018; Robbins, 2013; Verhoef & van Doorn, 2016). The entire FT system is managed in a very participatory way, and it can be considered a network of networks that link their stakeholders with consumers all over the world.…”