Product differentiation via corporate social responsibility: consumer priorities and the mediating role of food labels

Agriculture and Human Values

Volumn 33, Issue 3, 2016, Pages 597-609

  Costanigro, Marco ^a   Deselnicu, Oana ^b   McFadden, Dawn Thilmany ^a  

^a Veterinary Dentistry and Oral Surgery   (United States)

^b ORACLE CORPORATION   (United States)

Author keywords

Animal welfare; Best worst; Corporate social responsibility; Max diff; Organic; Valuation

Indexed keywords

EID: 84937905475     PISSN: 0889048X     EISSN: 15728366     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1007/s10460-015-9640-9     Document Type: Article

References (50)

1. Bagnoli, M., and S. Watts. 2003. Selling to socially responsible consumers: Competition and the private provision of public goods. Journal of Economics and Management Strategy 12: 419–445.
2. Baron, D. 2001. Private politics, corporate social responsibility and integrated strategy. Journal of Economics and Management Strategy 10: 7–45.
3. Benabou, R., and J. Tirole. 2010. Individual and corporate social responsibility. Economica 77(305): 1–19.
4. Bernard, J.C., and D.J. Bernard. 2009. What is it about organic milk? An experimental analysis. American Journal of Agricultural Economics 91(3): 826–836.
5. Castaldo, S., F. Perrini, N. Misani, and A. Tencati. 2009. The missing link between corporate social responsibility and consumer trust: The case of fair trade products. Journal of Business Ethics 84(1): 1–15.
6. Cornick, J., T. Cox, and B.W. Gould. 1994. Fluid milk purchases: A multivariate Tobit analysis. American Journal of Agricultural Economics 76(1): 74–82.
7. Costanigro, M., and J.L. Lusk. 2014. The signaling effect of mandatory labels on genetically engineered food. Food Policy 49(Part 1): 259–267.
8. Costanigro, M., D. Thilmany McFadden, S. Kroll, and G. Nurse. 2011. An in-store valuation of local and organic apples: The role of social desirability. Agribusiness 27(4): 465–477.
9. de Boer, I.J.M. 2003. Environmental impact assessment of conventional and organic milk production. Livestock Production Science 80(1–2): 69–77.
10. Deselnicu, O.C., M. Costanigro, D.M. Souza-Monteiro, and D. Thilmany McFadden. 2013. A meta-analysis of geographical indication food valuation studies: What drives the premium for origin-based labels? Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics 38(2): 204–219.
11. Donaldson, C., R. Thomas, and D.J. Torgerson. 1997. Validity of open-ended and payment scale approaches to eliciting willingness to pay. Applied Economics 29(1): 79–84.
12. Finn, A., and J.J. Louviere. 1992. Determining the appropriate response to evidence of public concern: The case of food safety. Journal of Public Policy and Marketing 11(2): 12–25.
13. Fisher, R.J. 1993. Social desirability bias and the validity of indirect questioning. The Journal of Consumer Research 20(2): 303–315.
14. Friedman, M. 1970. The social responsibility of business is to increase its profits. New York Times Magazine 13: 122–126.
15. Greening, D.W., and D.B. Turban. 2000. Corporate social performance as a competitive advantage in attracting a quality workforce. Business and Society 39(3): 254–280.
16. Hart, O. 1989. Economist’’ perspective on the theory of the firm. Columbia Law Review 89(7): 1757–1774.
17. Hartmann, M. 2011. Corporate social responsibility in the food sector. European Review of Agricultural Economics 38(3): 297–324.
18. Innovation Center for US Dairy. 2013. 2013 US Dairy Sustainability Report, http://www.usdairy.com/sustainability/reporting/us-dairy-sustainability-report. Accessed Dec 2014.
19. Kahneman, D., and A. Tversky. 1979. Prospect theory: An analysis of decision under risk. Econometrica 47(2): 263–292.
20. Kitzmueller, M., and J. Shimshack. 2012. Economic perspectives on corporate social responsibility. Journal of Economic Literature 50(1): 51–84.
21. Klein, J., and N. Dawar. 2004. Corporate social responsibility and consumers’ attributions and brand evaluations in a product-harm crisis. International Journal of Research in Marketing 21: 203–217.
22. Kong, D. 2012. Does corporate social responsibility matter in the food industry? Evidence from a nature experiment in China. Food Policy 37(3): 323–334.
23. Krystallis, A., C. Fotopoulos, and Y. Zotos. 2006. organic consumers’ profile and their willingness to pay (WTP) for selected organic food products in Greece. Journal of International Consumer Marketing 19(1): 81–106.
24. Lagerkvist, C.J., and S. Hess. 2011. A meta-analysis of consumer willingness to pay for farm animal welfare. European Review of Agricultural Economics 38(1): 55–78.
25. Lockie, S. 2009. Responsibility and agency within alternative food networks: Assembling the citizen consumer. Agriculture and Human Values 26(3): 193–201.
26. Loomis, J. 2011. What’s to know about hypothetical bias in stated preference valuation studies? Journal of Economic Surveys 25(2): 363–370.
27. Loureiro, M.L., and S. Hine. 2002. Discovering niche markets: A comparison of consumer willingness to pay for local (Colorado grown), organic, and GMO-free products. Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics 34(3): 477–487.
28. Lusk, J.L., and B.C. Briggeman. 2009. Food values. American Journal of Agricultural Economics 91(1): 184–196.
29. Lusk, J.L., and F.B. Norwood. 2009. An inferred valuation method. Land Economics 85(3): 500–514.
30. Lusk, J.L., and F.B. Norwood. 2011. Animal welfare economics. Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy 33(4): 463–483.
31. Maignan, I., B. Hillebrand, and D. McAlister. 2002. Managing socially-responsible buying: How to integrate non-economic criteria into the purchasing process. European Management Journal 20(6): 641–648.
32. Maloni, M.J., and M.E. Brown. 2006. Corporate social responsibility in the supply chain: An application in the food industry. Journal of Business Ethics 68(1): 35–52.
33. Marley, A.A.J., and J.J. Louviere. 2005. Some probabilistic models of best, worst, and best–worst choices. Journal of Mathematical Psychology 49(6): 464–480.
34. McWilliams, A., and D. Siegel. 2001. Corporate social responsibility: A theory of the firm perspective. Academy of Management Review 26(1): 117–127.
35. Michaud, C., D. Llerena, and I. Joly. 2013. Willingness to pay for environmental attributes of non-food agricultural products: A real choice experiment. European Review of Agricultural Economics 40(2): 313–329.
36. Mohr, L.A., and D.J. Webb. 2005. The effects of corporate social responsibility and price on consumer responses. Journal of Consumer Affairs 39(1): 121–147.
37. Mohr, L.A., D.J. Webb, and K.E. Harris. 2001. Do consumers expect companies to be socially responsible? The impact of corporate social responsibility on buying behavior. Journal of Consumer Affairs 35(1): 45–72.
38. Moon, J., and D. Vogel. 2009. Corporate social responsibility, government, and civil society. In The Oxford handbook of corporate social responsibility, ed. A. Crane, A. McWilliams, D. Matten, J. Moon, and D.S. Siegel, 303–326. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
39. Musso, F., and M. Risso. 2006. CSR within large retailers international supply chains. Symphonya: Emerging Issues in Management (1): 1–14.
40. Nicholson, C.F., M.I. Gómez, and O.H. Gao. 2011. The Costs of increased localization for a multiple-product food supply chain: Dairy in the united States. Food Policy 36(2): 300–310.
41. Öberseder, M., B. Schlegelmilch, and V. Gruber. 2011. Why don’t consumers care about CSR? A qualitative study exploring the role of CSR in consumption decisions. Journal of Business Ethics 104(4): 449–460.
42. Onozaka, Y., and D.T. McFadden. 2011. Does local labeling complement or compete with other sustainable labels? A conjoint analysis of direct and joint values for fresh produce claim. American Journal of Agricultural Economics 93(3): 689–702.
43. Panapanaan, V.M., L. Linnanen, M.M. Karvonen, and V.T. Phan. 2003. Roadmapping corporate social responsibility in Finnish companies. Journal of Business Ethics 44(2/3): 133–148.
44. Pirsch, J., S. Gupta, and S.L. Grau. 2007. A framework for understanding programs corporate social responsibility as a continuum: An exploratory study. Journal of Business Ethics 70(2): 125–140.
45. Porter, M., and M.R. Kramer. 2006. Strategy and society. Harvard Business Review 84: 78–83.
46. Skarmeas, D., and C. Leonidou. 2013. When consumers doubt, watch out! The role of CSR skepticism. Journal of Business Research 66(10): 1831–1838.
47. Spar, D.L., and L.T. La Mure. 2003. The power of activism: Assessing the impact of NGOs on global business. California Management Review 45(3): 78–101.
48. US Census Bureau (USCB). n.d. State and County Quick facts (2007–2011). http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/08000.html. Accessed 1 Mar 2015.
49. Verbeke, W. 2005. Agriculture and the food industry in the information age. European Review of Agricultural Economics 3(3): 347–368.
50. Yuan, W., Y. Bao, and A. Verbeke. 2011. Integrating CSR initiatives in business: An organizing framework. Journal of Business Ethics 101(1): 75–92.