Consumer misperception and misinterpretation of food labels can lead to consumers not buying a product or purchasing products that do not align with their environmental or sustainability interests. Consumer purchasing behavior can be explained by looking at consumer food values or food quality attributes. This study aimed to (a) determine the effect label information has on consumer preference shares for selected sustainability-related food labels and (b) if correlations exist between food labels and food values. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to examine the comprehension of 12 different labels and identify how food labels relate to food value preferences. Responses from the best-worst scaling experiment of food value and environmental food label choice sets were analyzed using the random parameter logit model. Results reveal preference shares changed for each label as more information was provided to the respondents about the various labels included in the study. These findings should support food policy efforts requiring strict, clear label standards. Food labels should represent the food’s core food values to increase consumer preference for the product. These findings also further support the need for efforts to increase consumer knowledge and understanding of the labels on food packaging.

This study examines consumer preferences for three socially responsible products: minimal-pesticide strawberries, fair-trade bananas, and milk from pasture-fed cows. In-person survey data were collected in four states. Understanding preferences for these characteristics is difficult because they may appeal to different individuals depending on their personal attitudes and values. To address this issue, health, environmental and other attitudes are measured based on survey questions. Responses to these questions are used to produce explanatory factor scores. Stated preference models, both with and without factor scores, are estimated to evaluate the relative strengths of consumer preferences and motivations to purchase these products.

Ecolabels are part of a new wave of environmental policy that emphasizes information disclosure as a tool to induce environmentally friendly behavior by both firms and consumers. Little consensus exists as to whether ecocertified products are actually better than their conventional counterparts. This study seeks to understand the link between ecocertification and product quality. We use data from three leading wine-rating publications (the Wine Advocate, Wine Enthusiast, and Wine Spectator) to assess quality for 74,148 wines produced in California between 1998 and 2009. Our results indicate that ecocertification is associated with a statistically significant increase in wine quality rating. Being ecocertified increases the scaled score of the wine by 4.1 points on average. (JEL Classifications: L15, L66, Q13, Q21, Q56)

‘Natural’ is a popular food marketing term. Although it is not well-defined, it refers primarily to inputs used for food processing, rather than agricultural practices. Given the market success of organic and non-GMO labeled foods, other agricultural practices may have the potential to develop ‘natural’ market niches while also addressing sustainability goals. We assessed perceptions of natural for one specific set of agricultural practices, bird management methods in fruit crops, utilizing a series of four focus groups. In addition, we quantified consumer preferences for these methods with a national online survey (n = 1000). The most positively received methods, falconry and nest boxes, were typically described as more natural. Conversely, the most negatively received methods, live ammunition and methyl anthranilate spray, were frequently viewed as less natural. The majority of survey respondents indicated that controlling fruit-consuming birds with natural practices was important, but an even higher percentage deemed avoiding harms to personal health as important. Because falconry and nest boxes do not have perceived direct effects on human health, they are likely to have less market potential than more established ecolabels. Communicating the use of these practices to consumers, however, may result in consumers selecting them over other products, particularly if the associated price premiums are relatively modest.

The success of fair trade labels for food products imported from the Global South has attracted interest from producers and activists in the Global North. Efforts are under way to develop domestic versions of fair trade in regions that include the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. Fair trade, which is based on price premiums to support agricultural producers and workers in the Global South, has enjoyed tremendous sales growth in the past decade. Will consumers also pay a price premium to improve the conditions of those engaged in agriculture closer to home? To address this question, consumer willingness to pay for food embodying a living wage and safe working conditions for farmworkers was assessed with a national survey in the United States. The question format was a discrete choice (yes/no) response to one of four randomly selected price premiums, as applied to a hypothetical example of a pint of strawberries. Multilevel regression models indicated that respondents were willing to pay a median of 68% more for these criteria, with frequent organic consumers and those who consider the environment when making purchases most willing to pay higher amounts. Although the results should be interpreted with caution, given the well-known gap between expressed attitudes and actual behaviors, we conclude that there is a strong potential market opportunity for domestic fair trade.