The Impact of Information on the Willingness-to-Pay for Labeled Organic Food Products

32 Pages Posted: 7 Jun 2011

See all articles by Sandra Rousseau

Sandra Rousseau

KU Leuven - Brussels Campus

Liesbet Vranken

KU Leuven - Centre for Institutions and Economic Performance (LICOS)

Date Written: May 31, 2011

Abstract

Organic labels potentially play an important role in shaping consumer preferences for organic food products. Information implied by the presence of labels can be used by consumers to facilitate their consumption decisions. Therefore, we investigate the influence of the provision of objective information on the willingness-to-pay of consumers for labeled organic apples in Flanders (Belgium). Initially, we find that Flemish consumers are willing to pay a positive price premium of approximately 33 eurocent per kilogram for labeled organic apples. After the provision of information on the actual environmental and health effects of organic apple production, this price premium becomes even more pronounced and amounts to approximately 56 eurocent per kilogram.

Keywords: organic food production, willingness-to-pay, choice experiment, role of information

JEL Classification: Q01, Q51, D12

Suggested Citation

Rousseau, Sandra and Vranken, Liesbet, The Impact of Information on the Willingness-to-Pay for Labeled Organic Food Products (May 31, 2011). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1859285 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1859285

Sandra Rousseau (Contact Author)

KU Leuven - Brussels Campus ( email )

Warmoesberg 26
Brussel, 1000
Belgium

Liesbet Vranken

KU Leuven - Centre for Institutions and Economic Performance (LICOS) ( email )

Waaistraat 6 - box 3511
Leuven, 3000
Belgium

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
199
Abstract Views
1,025
Rank
275,958
PlumX Metrics