https://pages.stern.nyu.edu/~lbornkam/bios/rwiner/role_of_the_beneficiary.pdf

The Role of the Beneficiary in Willingness to Pay for Socially Responsible Products: A Meta-analysis

Many companies have made significant investments in socially responsible production practices for their products. Environmentally safe cleaning products, fair trade coffee, and sustainable seafood are just a few examples. In this paper, we conduct a meta-analysis of over eighty published and unpublished research papers across a large number of product categories to better understand differences in willingness to pay (WTP) for socially responsible products. In particular, we are interested in whether the beneficiary of the social responsibility program — humans, animals, or the environment — affects WTP. We use two dependent variables: the percentage premium people are willing to pay and the proportion of respondents who are willing to pay a positive premium. We find that the mean percentage premium is 16.8% and that, on average, 60% of respondents are willing to pay a positive premium. Importantly, across both dependent measures, we find that WTP is greater for products where the socially responsible element benefits humans (e.g., labor practices) compared to those that benefit the environment. Implications for retailers, manufacturers, and future research are discussed.

The Role of the Beneficiary in Willingness to Pay for Socially Responsible Products: A Meta-Analysis

During the past decade, tremendous growth has occurred in the use of nutrition symbols and rating systems designed to summarize key nutritional aspects and characteristics of food products. These symbols and the systems that underlie them have become known as front-of-package (FOP) nutrition rating systems and symbols, even though the symbols themselves can be found anywhere on the front of a food package or on a retail shelf tag. Though not regulated and inconsistent in format, content, and criteria, FOP systems and symbols have the potential to provide useful guidance to consumers as well as maximize effectiveness. As a result, Congress directed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to undertake a study with the Institute of Medicine (IOM) to examine and provide recommendations regarding FOP nutrition rating systems and symbols. The study was completed in two phases. Phase I focused primarily on the nutrition criteria underlying FOP systems. Phase II builds on the results of Phase I while focusing on aspects related to consumer understanding and behavior related to the development of a standardized FOP system. Front-of-Package Nutrition Rating Systems and Symbols focuses on Phase II of the study. The report addresses the potential benefits of a single, standardized front-label food guidance system regulated by the Food and Drug Administration, assesses which icons are most effective with consumer audiences, and considers the systems/icons that best promote health and how to maximize their use.

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Front-of-Package Nutrition Rating Systems and Symbols: Promoting Healthier Choices

The purpose of this study was to examine what consumer characteristics are related to willingness to purchase and selection of children's organic cotton clothing (OCC). A survey was conducted on mothers of pre-schoolers to collect data on mothers' environmental characteristics, involvement with OCC and children's clothing, children's clothing purchasing behaviour and willingness to purchase OCC. A buying scenario experiment was used to examine whether price and other product characteristics influenced the participants' selection of OCC. It was found that a mother's environmental concerns, environmental purchasing behaviour and recycling behaviour significantly affected their involvement in OCC, which further significantly determined mother's willingness to purchase OCC. However, mothers were not willing to pay a premium for purchasing children's OCC. A majority (59.5%) of the mothers who selected OCC in the buying scenario indicated fabric softness was the main reason for their selection. Preparing environmental education materials for consumers and producing OCC with high quality and good performance would help improve the acceptance of OCC in the market.

Quest for the eco‐apparel market: a study of mothers' willingness to purchase organic cotton clothing for their children

Using an innovative fabrication technique, eco-friendly faux leather (EFFL) has been newly developed as a green leather alternative for the Chinese and Korean markets. Value–belief–attitude logic drawn from the heuristic-systemic model (Zuckmand and Chaiken in Psychol Mark 15(7):621–642, 1998) and value–belief–norm theory (Stern et al. in Environ Behav 27(6):723–743, 1995) is proposed to explicate the consumer acceptance attitudes toward the EFFL product. The findings from the multi-group structural equation modeling analysis of online data (n = 600) support the relevancy of VBA logic in which utilitarian and hedonic value motivate pro-environmental belief, and the EFFL product attributes significantly mediate belief and positive attitude toward the EFFL product. The discrepancies across two countries and two age cohorts are noteworthy when pro-environmental belief and product-related information lead to different consumer VBA processes in specific market segments. This study presents insights which provide novel opportunities for managerial implementations and theoretical advancements in eco-friendly related subjects and issues.

Green Leather for Ethical Consumers in China and Korea: Facilitating Ethical Consumption with Value–Belief–Attitude Logic

The notable growth of the market in recent years indicates apparel consumers' interest in organic fibre products. Yet less is understood about how apparel consumers would respond to labelling for other credence attributes associated with animal-fibre products, such as animal welfare or eco-friendliness. An online survey of 507 US consumers was used to compare consumers' reactions with a variety of labelling schemes for wool product attributes, including animal-friendly, organic and environmentally friendly production. Consumer segments were created based on frequency of label choice, and analysis of variance and multinomial logit regression were used to identify and characterize the demographics and psychographics of the consumer segments that found labelling for animal welfare or environmental concerns appealing. The study identified a segment of consumers (19% of the sample) who were motivated to purchase apparel products labelled for animal welfare. These animal-focused consumers could be identified with relatively high accuracy from the demographic and psychographic variables in the model. The model variables, which included familiarity with organic products and self-perceived knowledge about environmental damage related to apparel production, were not effective in identifying the environment-focused apparel consumers. The results also demonstrated the ability of a general belief in animal rights to motivate the apparel consumers in the sample, suggesting that acting on a concern for animals could be a more powerful motivation for consumer behaviour than acting on a concern for the environment.

Yun Ju Chen

Papers

Labelling wool products for animal welfare and environmental impact