Consumers’ willingness to pay for organic chicken breast: Evidence from choice experiment

E. J. Van Loo¹, V. Caputo², R. M. Nayga Jr.³, J.-F. Meullenet¹ and S. C. Ricke^1*

Abstract
This paper assesses consumers’ willingness to pay (WTP) for organic chicken using a choice experiment. Specifically, we examined consumers’ WTP for a general organic label and a USDA certified organic label on chicken breast.

Our results indicate that consumers are willing to pay a premium of 1.193$/lb (34.8%) for the general organic label and 3.545 $/lb (103.5%) for the USDA organic label.

WTP also differs between demographic groups as well as between different types of consumers based on the purchase frequency of organic meat products. The WTP premium for a general/USDA organic label was lowest for the non-buyers (−29.6% and 26.2%), followed by the occasional buyers (35.7% and 97.3%). The habitual buyers were willing to spend a premium of 146.6% for general and 244.3% for USDA certified organic labeled chicken breast.

For all buyer types, USDA organic certification was valued more than the general organic label implying that consumers trust the USDA organic products more than a general organic label.


Source
Food Quality and Preference (2011) 22: 603-613
DOI: 10.1016/j.foodqual.2011.02.003


Author Locations and Affiliations
(1) Department of Food Science, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR 72704, United States
(2) Department of Agricultural Economics and Engineering, Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna, Viale Fanin 50, Bologna, Italy
(3) Department of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR 72701, United States
* Corresponding author, E-mail sricke@uark.edu


Posted July 2011