Consumers' willingness to pay for light, organic and PDO cheese: An experimental auction approach. Issue 3 (7th March 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: de-Magistris, Tiziana; Gracia, Azucena
• Editors: Verneau and Professor Christopher J. Griffith, Fabio
• Is Part Of: British food journal. Volume 118:Issue 3(2016)
• Page Start: 560
• Page End: 571
• Publication Date: 2016-03-07
• Subjects: Spain -- Food labels -- Cheese -- Auctions -- Preferences; Food industry and trade -- Periodicals; Food -- Marketing -- Periodicals; Food adulteration and inspection -- Periodicals; Food -- Periodicals; 381.456413
• DOI: 10.1108/BFJ-09-2015-0322
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0007-070X

Abstract

Abstract : Purpose: – The purpose of this paper is to assess consumers' willingness to pay (WTP) for three different food claims on semi-cured, pasteurized sheep milk cheese. In particular, the authors used a health-related claim (the nutritional claim indicating a reduced fat content: "light"), a regional claim ("designation of origin – PDO") and an organic claim (the European organic logo). Moreover, the authors investigated whether consumers' personal characteristics could influence their WTP for those types of cheese. Design/methodology/approach: – A home-grown experimental auction was applied in Spain during Spring 2012. The authors opted to use the n th random price with repeated rounds and without price feedback. Findings: – The results show that consumers were willing to pay more for PDO cheese, followed by organic and light cheese. Moreover, respondents who were female, older and with a university-level education showed some environmental concerns, influencing their WTP for different cheeses. Originality/value: – Empirical evidence on consumers' preferences for PDO, organic and nutritional claims, evaluated jointly, is lacking in Spain. Moreover, the home-grown auction has several merits in terms of real market simulation and consumer preference application.