Consumers' willingness-to-pay for sustainable food products: the case of organically and locally grown almonds in Spain

Abstract Organically and locally grown products have positive environmental impacts due to the reduction in the greenhouse emissions required for their production. This paper contributes to this research stream by investigating consumers' preferences and their willingness to pay for almonds that have different sustainable labels: distance claims (100 km, 800 km, and 2000 km) and the organic logo established by the European Union. To achieve the objective, consumers participated in a non-hypothetical choice experiment; latent class modeling was employed to identify distinct patterns of valuation. The results suggest that consumers were willing to pay a positive price premium for locally grown (traveled the shortest distance) and organically produced almonds, whereas they were not willing to pay a price premium for almonds that have traveled longer distances. Moreover, the findings show that consumer preferences for these claims were heterogeneous, with three consumer segments identified as: “conventional consumers”, “short distance consumers”, and “sustainable consumers”. Overall results confirm the results of previous studies because Spanish consumers were willing to pay a premium price for those almonds that are organically and locally produced, and, therefore, generate fewer greenhouse gases emissions. The findings of this study added scientific value to scholars of sustainable consumer behavior because of the use of Real Choice Experiment. Since no-hypothetical evaluation method simulates real markets with real products and a transaction of money, real choice experiment provides better approximations of true willingness to pay for organic and local almonds. Therefore real choice modeling eliminates hypothetical and social bias. The results of this study contribute to insights in the promotion of sustainable consumption among citizens by policy makers. In this regard, promotional and educational campaigns could drive different segments of consumers to increase their knowledge on the benefits of reduction of the quantity of GHG emissions required for organic and locally grown production.

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