•Potential of labels to influence consumer choice is limited.•Influence of fair trade labels is larger than that of organic labels.•Organic labels are largely ignored when choosing chocolate.
We ...investigate to what extent consumers base food purchases on the information implied by the presence of a label. Firstly, we study whether consumers are able to identify the environmental and social labels associated with a particular good or service. Secondly, we analyze whether consumers find the product information implied by the presence of a label trustworthy. Thirdly, we examine the desirability, including taste, of sustainably produced goods compared to conventional goods. Fourthly we calculate consumers’ marginal willingness to pay for environment-friendly and socially desirable goods, and finally, we identify groups of consumers with different preference patterns. Specifically, we performed a survey including a stated choice experiment of consumer decisions concerning the purchase of chocolate in Flanders (Belgium), focusing on fair trade and organic labels. Overall, we find that fair trade labels for chocolate are more likely to influence consumer choice than organic labels in Flanders. For most of the consumers the organic label seems to become superfluous when selecting a self-indulgent treat such as chocolate.
As our behavioral patterns change due to the COVID-19 crisis, our impact on nature and the environment changes too. Pollution levels are showing significant reductions. People are more aware of the ...importance of access to local green and blue spaces. By analyzing online search behavior in twenty European countries, we investigate how public awareness of nature and the environment has evolved during the COVID-19 crisis. We find that the crisis goes hand in hand with a positive shift in public awareness of nature-related topics, but that awareness of environmental topics remains unaffected. While the decreasing pollution levels and media attention may reduce the overall sense of urgency to tackle pollution problems, the increased experience with local natural resources may strengthen public support for a recovery program that puts the transition towards a more sustainable economic system centrally.
► Labels effect the implicit weight that consumers attach to product characteristics. ► Information provision is crucial because of credence characteristic of organic labels. ► Choice experiment set ...up to estimate change in willingness-to-pay for organic labels. ► Green market can be expanded by more accurate information provision. ► Preference heterogeneity is observed which requires tailoring policies to specific consumer groups.
We investigate how the provision of objective information about the environmental and health impact of organic labels by policy makers can influence the willingness-to-pay of consumers for labeled organic apples in Flanders (Belgium). Using a stated choice experiment, we initially find that Flemish consumers are willing to pay a positive price premium of some 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 increases to 57 eurocent per kilogram. Using a conditional logit model with covariates and a mixed logit model, we find evidence of preference heterogeneity. Also, the effect of information provision is more pronounced for certain groups of consumers such as non-vegetarians, infrequent buyers of organic products and members of a nature protection organization. As such, this paper illustrates that there is a role for policy makers and CSR producers in providing more accurate and reliable information about socially responsible production processes. Moreover, it is important to take the observed preference heterogeneity into account and tailor policies to specific consumer groups.
•DCEs have been increasingly used in the food research domain over the last 20 years.•We structure our review according to the stages in setting up a DCE.•We compare the state of the art in general ...and in food research.•We identify methodological innovations that are promising for future food research.
Discrete choice experiments (DCEs) have become an often-used research method in food research due to their ability to uncover trade-offs made when choosing among multiple alternatives, especially when dealing with credence attributes. Insights into the main elements of the consumers’ decision-making process are key to informing both public and private policies related to food production and consumption. However, DCEs are not confined to this field of study. This narrative methodological review sets out to provide a critical appraisal of the state of the art of DCEs in food research. We logically structure our review by comparing the field-independent state-of-the-art to its application in the specific food choice research domain. The comparison is presented for each of the steps required in implementing DCEs and allows for the identification of areas of improvement in best practice. We find that food research has adopted many of the methodological advances over the years, but further improvements are encouraged and outlined. Recommendations for future research are discussed.
Studying traffic related externalities in the city of Gent (Belgium), we find little to no evidence that observed spatial dependencies in actual (objective) externality levels play a direct role in ...determining spatial dependencies in the willingness to pay (WTP) for changes in the city’s mobility policy. Investigating alternative factors that can influence WTP-estimates, however, reveals that higher stated (subjective) externality levels are positively correlated with higher WTP for reducing exposure to noise, air and odor pollution. Our results suggest complex interactions between housing decisions, perceived externality levels and WTP-estimates. Thus, allowing for subjective perceptions, sorting behavior and patterns in individuals’ characteristics can result in WTP-estimates that are not spatially correlated even though the underlying externalities are spatially correlated.
This study aims to determine the main factors shaping millennials’ willingness to consider leasing a smartphone in Flanders (Belgium). An innovative approach, namely a discrete choice experiment ...(DCE), is adopted to address this issue. A DCE is a quantitative, survey-based, technique used for eliciting individual preferences. The results show that support for leasing smartphones cannot be taken for granted. Three consumer classes had significantly different attitudes, revealing that a majority of respondents were not open to leasing smartphones. The main barriers were the uncertainty regarding the consequences of entering into a lease contract, financial considerations and the role smartphones play in determining the self-identity of young consumers. Environmental concerns, financial considerations and a desire to own the latest model were stated as possible drivers of adopting such a product-service system.
•Support from consumers for leasing smartphones cannot be taken for granted.•Discrete choice experiments are useful in determining consumers’ preferences.•Uncertainty and the extended self are important barriers.•Environmental concerns and a desire to own the latest model are important drivers.•Financial consequences are mainly determined by the smartphone’s expected life span.
Bibliometric indicators and bibliometric techniques have been used in the domains of business and economics (BE) in the context of network studies and the evaluation of universities, journals and ...researchers, among other purposes. Using a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats analysis as a general framework, we present an overview of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats related to the use of mainstream bibliometrics in BE. Several weaknesses in the use of bibliometric indicators for research evaluation in BE, and, in general, are discussed. Misuse of bibliometric indicators may lead to goal displacement and gender bias. Yet, being aware of possible problems leads to opportunities for further developments and applications of bibliometrics in the field of BE. We propose that traditional research evaluation should evolve into evaluative inquiry, a method where bibliometric indicators play a role, but in which all aspects of life and work of a scientific professional can be taken into account and assessment is relabelled in positive terms such as organizational and individual development, care and support.
Carbon leakage has become a key issue in global climate initiatives. This study aims to examine the effectiveness of various policy solutions for mitigating carbon leakage, as explored extensively in ...the literature. Employing a meta-regression analysis, this paper analyzes 416 leakage ratio estimates extracted from 39 economic studies published in English and Chinese between 2004 and 2022. These estimates evaluate the effects of diverse climate policies and modeling assumptions on carbon leakage. The results confirm that both ‘intra-region’ and ‘cross-border’ anti-leakage policies significantly impact carbon policy regions. The findings imply to policymakers that, although the implementation of border carbon adjustments provokes international debate under current WTO regulations, the ‘intra-region’ policies, which are more politically feasible, can achieve comparable effectiveness.
•Intra-region anti-leakage policies significantly impact carbon policy effectiveness.•Cross-border anti-leakage policies significantly impact carbon policy effectiveness.•Intra-region policies reduce the carbon leakage ratio while avoiding trade tensions.
Every five years, the Dutch government employs sand replenishment to combat coastal erosion and to accommodate sea level rise. However, the transportation of sand from the North Sea to the coastline ...has negative societal consequences such as air pollution and habitat loss. Through a social cost-benefit analysis, this study raises the question of whether the current replenishment policy is optimal for preserving the coastline. The alternative approach studied in this analysis is the installation of the nature-based solution of shellfish reefs that hold sand and adapt to rising sea levels. Implementing shellfish beds would reduce the need for sand deposition, thereby decreasing emissions and aligning with climate goals such as the Green Deal Shipping. Moreover, shellfish provide extra benefits such as denitrification and biodiversity conservation. By weighing the costs and benefits against each other, deploying shellfish reefs for coastal defense along the Dutch coastline is found to be welfare enhancing. Despite the positive result, the sensitivity analysis reveals two nuances. First, the placement of shellfish beds is only beneficial for society when they also give provisioning services like food supply. Second, there is uncertainty regarding the sand retention capacity of shellfish beds and the ecosystem development of shellfish. Conducting pilot studies can provide more insight to reduce these uncertainties. This study raises the question of the adequacy and long-term viability of the current sand nourishment policy in the Netherlands in the context of climate change and the increased frequency of extreme weather events.
•Using shellfish reefs for coastal defense along the Dutch coastline is welfare-enhancing.•Provisioning services are key to generating net benefits from shellfish reefs.•Nature-based solutions should be considered in coastal management.
We explore and illustrate the potential consequences of identity salience on stated choice valuation outcomes. The dual role of individuals as citizens and as consumers is brought to the foreground ...when considering investments in wind energy. To this end, we use two different settings in a stated choice experiment to elicit household preferences: one based on the decision to buy a home with particular characteristics in the neighbourhood of a wind farm and one based on the decision to support a policy to locate a wind farm in the respondent's municipality. By including a shared set of attributes to describe the wind farm in both settings, we are able to analyse the impact of identity salience on stated preferences. In the home setting, identity salience has no significant effect. In the policy setting, the consumer framing mitigates (when positive) or reinforces (when negative) the identity effect of the setting for the preferences regarding the number of wind turbines, the visibility of the wind turbines and the noise levels associated with the wind park. This finding suggests that it may be easier to shift a respondent's focus from public to private than vice versa. Our results illustrate that valuation exercises triggering a different role at the individual level will likely result in different valuation outcomes. By doing so, we issue a warning to researchers and policy makers to reflect about the objectives and set-up of valuation studies when using them for policy evaluation purposes. If the context of such a study is not adequately taken into account, potentially misleading messages and policy conclusions can emerge.
•The impact of role salience is investigated in the context of wind project assessments.•Different settings trigger a consumer or citizen role when eliciting stated preferences.•Consumer salience results in responses dominated by private considerations.•Citizen salience results in responses dominated by more public-spirited responses.•Identity salience has an impact on both estimated WTP and reported attitudes.
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