Paying for sustainability: A cross-cultural analysis of consumers’ valuations of food and non-food products labeled for carbon and water footprints

Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics

Volumn 63, Issue , 2016, Pages 50-58

  Grebitus, Carola ^a   Steiner, Bodo ^b,c   Veeman, Michele M ^c  

^a ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY   (United States)

^b UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN DENMARK   (Denmark)

^c UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA   (Canada)

Author keywords

Canada; Germany; Ground beef; Potatoes; Toilet paper; Yoghurt

Indexed keywords

EID: 84989883625     PISSN: 22148043     EISSN: 22148051     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/j.socec.2016.05.003     Document Type: Article

References (80)

1. Angulo, A.M., Gil, J.M., Tamburo, L., Food safety and consumers' willingness to pay for labeled beef in Spain. Paper presented at the 83rd EAAE Seminar, Chania, September, 4-6, 2003.
2. Baddeley, S., Cheng, P., Wolfe, R., Trade policy implications of carbon labels on food. Estey Centre J. Int. Law Trade Policy 13:1 (2012), 59–93.
3. Bethlehem, J., Can we make official statistics with self-selection web surveys?. Symposium 2008: Data Collection: Challenges, Achievements and New Directions. Component of Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 11-522-X; Statistics Canada's International Symposium Series: Proceedings, 2009.
4. Bethlehem, J., Selection Bias in Web Surveys. Int. Stat. Rev. 78:2 (2010), 161–188.
5. Bredahl, L., Determinants of consumer attitudes and purchase intentions with regard to genetically modified food–results of a cross-national survey. J. Consumer Policy 24:1 (2001), 23–61.
6. Chapagain, A.K., Hoekstra, A.Y., Volume 2: Appendices. Research Report Series ‘Value of Water’ No. 16., 2004, NESCOIHE, Delft.
7. Chapagain, A.K, Hoekstra, A.Y., The water footprint of coffee and tea consumption in the Netherlands. Ecol. Econ. 64:1 (2007), 109–118.
8. Chapagain, A.K., Orr, S., An improved water footprint methodology linking global consumption to local water resources: a case of Spanish tomatoes. J. Environ. Manage. 90:2 (2009), 1219–1228.
9. Chapagain, A.K., Hoekstra, A.Y., Savenije, H.H.G., Gautam, R., The water footprint of cotton consumption: an assessment of the impact of worldwide consumption of cotton products on the water resources in the cotton producing countries. Ecol. Econ. 60:1 (2006), 186–203.
10. Cohen, M.A., Vandenbergh, M., The potential role of carbon labeling in a green economy. Energy Econ. 34 (2012), 553–563.
11. Daly, A., Hess, S., de Jong, G., Calculating errors for measures derived from choice modelling estimates. February 2012 Transp. Res. Part B, 2012, 333–341.
12. De Miranda, S., Wong, S., Echeverría, R., Bartholomeu, D., Carbon Footprint Labeling: Challenges for Agricultural Exporters In Developing Countries. IATRC Policy Brief #PB2012-07, 2012 http://iatrc.software.umn.edu/publications/policybriefs/PB2012-07.pdf.
13. De Pelsmacker, P., Driesen, L., Rayp, G., Do consumers care about ethics? Willingness to pay for fair‐trade coffee. J. Consumer Affairs 39:2 (2005), 363–385.
14. Economist (2011). “Following the footprints.” June 2nd 2011.
15. Edwards-Jones, G., Plassmann, K., York, E., Hounsome, B., Jones, D., Canals, M., Vulnerability of exporting nations to the development of a carbon label in the United Kingdom. Environ. Sci. Policy 12 (2009), 479–490.
16. Ercin, A.E., Hoekstra, A.Y., Carbon and Water Footprints. Concepts, Methodologies and Policy Responses. 2012, United Nations World Water Assessment Programme, Paris, France.
17. Erdem, T., Chang, S.R., A cross-category and cross-country analysis of umbrella branding for national and store brands. J. Acad. Mark. Sci. 40 (2012), 86–101.
18. Erdem, T., Swait, J., Valenzuela, A., Brands as signals: a cross-country validation study. J. Mark. 70:1 (2006), 34–49.
19. Erdem, T., Zhao, Y., Valenzuela, A., Performance of store brands: a cross-country analysis of consumer store-brand preferences, perceptions, and risk. J. Mark. Res. 41:1 (2004), 86–100.
20. FAO, Climate Change and Food Systems: Global Assessments and Implications for Food Security and Trade., 2015, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
21. Field, C.B., Barros, V.R., Mach, K.J., Mastrandrea, M.D., van Aalst, M., Adger, W.N., Arent, D.J., Barnett, J., Betts, R., Bilir, T.E., Birkmann, J., Carmin, J., Chadee, D.D., Challinor, A.J., Chatterjee, M., Cramer, W., Davidson, D.J., Estrada, Y.O., Gattuso, J.-P., Hijioka, Y., Hoegh-Guldberg, O., Huang, H.Q., Insarov, G.E., Jones, R.N., Kovats, R.S., Romero-Lankao, P., Larsen, J.N., Losada, I.J., Marengo, J.A., McLean, R.F., Mearns, L.O., Mechler, R., Morton, J.F., Niang, I., Oki, T., Olwoch, J.M., Opondo, M., Poloczanska, E.S., Pörtner, H.-O., Redsteer, M.H., Reisinger, A., Revi, A., Schmidt, D.N., Shaw, M.R., Solecki, W., Stone, D.A., Stone, J.M.R., Strzepek, K.M., Suarez, A.G., Tschakert, P., Valentini, R., Vicuña, S., Villamizar, A., Vincent, K.E., Warren, R., White, L.L., Wilbanks, T.J., Wong, P.P., Yohe, G.W., Technical summary. Field, C.B., Barros, V.R., Dokken, D.J., Mach, K.J., Mastrandrea, M.D., Bilir, T.E., Chatterjee, M., Ebi, K.L., Estrada, Y.O., Genova, R.C., Girma, B., Kissel, E.S., Levy, A.N., MacCracken, S., Mastrandrea, P.R., White, L.L., (eds.) Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability. Part A: Global and Sectoral Aspects. Contribution of Working Group II to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2014, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA, 35–94.
22. Financial Times, Tesco Steps Back on Carbon Footprint Labeling. January 31, By, 2012, Louise Lucas and Pilita Clarke.
23. Galloway, J.N., Burke, M., Bradford, G.E., Naylor, R., Falcon, W., Chapagain, A.K., Gaskell, J.C., McCullough, E., Mooney, H.A., Oleson, K.L.L., Steinfeld, H., Wassenaar, T., Smil, V., International trade in meat: the tip of the pork chop. Ambio 36:8 (2007), 622–629.
24. Ger, G., Belk, R.W., Cross-cultural differences in materialism. J. Econ. Psychol. 17:1 (1996), 55–77.
25. Grebitus, C., Jensen, H.H., Roosen, J., US and German consumer preferences for ground beef packaged under a modified atmosphere – Different regulations, different behaviour?. Food Policy 40 (2013), 109–118.
26. Grebitus, C., Steiner, B., Veeman, M.M., Personal values and decision making: evidence from environmental footprint labeling in Canada. Am. J. Agric. Econ. 95:2 (2013), 397–403.
27. Grebitus, C., Steiner, B., Veeman, M.M., On the role of human values and trust when food is labeled for environmental footprints: insights from Germany. Food Policy 52 (2015), 84–91.
28. Guardian, (2015), Trans-Pacific Partnership could prevent clearer food labelling., 2015 http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/feb/28/trans-pacific-partnership-could-prevent-clearer-food-labelling-health-advocates.
29. Guenther, M., Saunders, C.M., Tait, P.R., Carbon labeling and consumer attitudes. Carbon Manag. J. 3:5 (2012), 445–455.
30. Guerrero, L., Guàrdia, M.D., Xicola, J., Verbeke, W., Vanhonacker, F., Zakowska-Biemans, S., Scalvedi, M.L., Consumer-driven definition of traditional food products and innovation in traditional foods. a qualitative cross-cultural study. Appetite 52:2 (2009), 345–354.
31. Henley W. (2013), Will we ever see water footprint labels on consumer products? The Guardian: Friday 23rd August 2013, http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/water-footprint-labels-consumer-products.
32. Hensher, D., Hypothetical bias, choice experiments and willingness to pay. Transp. Res. Part B 44 (2010), 735–752.
33. Hessing, M., Summerville, T., Canadian Natural Resource and Environmental Policy: Political Economy and Public Policy. 2007, UBC Press.
34. Internet World Stats, Canada Internet Usage, Broadband and Telecommunications Reports. http://www.internetworldstats.com/am/ca.htm, accessed January 2016, 2016.
35. IPCC, Fifth Assessment Report - Climate Change. http://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar5/wg1/, accessed November 23, 2015, 2013.
36. Jaeger, S.R., Andani, Z., Wakeling, I.N., MacFie, H.J., Consumer preferences for fresh and aged apples: a cross-cultural comparison. Food Qual. Preference 9:5 (1998), 355–366.
37. Jones, G., Lubinski, C., Historical Origins of Environment Sustainability in the German Chemical Industry, 1950 s-1980 s. 2013, Harvard Business School Working Paper 14-018.
38. Kenward, A., Awash in Awareness: knowing a product's “water footprint” may help consumers conserve H2O. March 26 2010 Sci. Am., 2010 http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/water-footprint/.
39. Kilbourne, W., Grünhagen, M., Foley, J., A cross-cultural examination of the relationship between materialism and individual values. J. Econ. Psychol. 26:5 (2005), 624–641.
40. Kimura, A., Wada, Y., Kamada, A., Masuda, T., Okamoto, M., Goto, S., Tsuzuki, D., Cai, D., Oka, T., Dan, I., Interactive effects of carbon footprint information and its accessibility on value and subjective qualities of food products. Appetite 55:2 (2010), 271–278.
41. Kissinger, M., International trade related food miles – The case of Canada. Food Policy 37 (2012), 171–178.
42. Krystallis, A., Chryssohoidis, G., Consumers' willingness to pay for organic food: factors that affect it and variation per organic product type. Br. Food J. 107:5 (2005), 320–343.
43. Liu, T., Wang, Q., Su, B., A review of carbon labeling: standards, implementation, and impact. Renew. Sust. Energ. Rev. 53(C) (2016), 68–79.
44. Louviere, J.J., Hensher, D.A., Swait, J.D., Adamowicz, W., Stated Choice Methods: Analysis and Applications. 2000, Cambridge University Press.
45. Lusk, J.L., House, L.O., Valli, C., Jaeger, S.R., Moore, M., Morrow, J.L., Traill, W.B., Effects of information about benefits of biotechnology on consumer acceptance of genetically modified food: evidence from experimental auctions in the United States, England and France. Eur. Rev. Agric. Econ. 31:2 (2004), 179–204.
46. McDaniels, T.L., Axelrod, L.J., Cavanagh, N., Public perceptions regarding water quality and attitudes toward water conservation in the lower Fraser Basin. Water Resour. Res. 34:5 (1998), 1299–1306.
47. Menegaki, A.N., Tsagarakis, K.P., Economic valuation in Web surveys; A review of the state of the art and best practices. 2013, University of Amsterdam AIAS Working Paper 134.
48. Menapace, L., Colson, G., Grebitus, C., Facendola, M., Consumer Preferences for Extra Virgin Olive Oil with COOL and GI Labels in Canada. AgEcon Search, 2008 http://purl.umn.edu/6430.
49. Minx, J., Report to the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. 2007., 2007, Stockholm Environment Institute at the University of York and Department for Biobased Products at the University of Minnesota, London.
50. Ngene Manual (2012), http://www.choice-metrics.com/documentation.html.
51. NPR (2015), “No One's Talking About What The Pacific Trade Deal Means For Diets.” May 11, 2015, http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/05/11/405274514/no-ones-talking-about-what-the-pacific-trade-deal-means-for-diets.
52. Nocella, G., Hubbard, L., Scarpa, R., Farm animal welfare, consumer willingness to pay, and trust: results of a cross-national survey. Appl. Econ. Perspect. Policy 32:2 (2010), 275–297.
53. Notarnicola, B., Tassielli, G., Renzulli, P.A., Giudice, A.L., Life Cycle Assessment in the agri-food sector: an overview of its key aspects, international initiatives, certification, labelling schemes and methodological issues. Life Cycle Assessment in the Agri-food Sector, 2015, Springer International Publishing, 1–56.
54. Onozaka, Y., Hu, W., Thilmany, D.D., Can eco-labels reduce carbon emissions? Market-wide analysis of carbon labeling and locally grown fresh apples. Renew. Agric. Food Syst. 31:2 (2015), 1–17.
55. Peschel, A.O., Grebitus, C., Steiner, B., Veeman, M.M., How does consumer knowledge affect environmentally sustainable choices? Evidence from a cross-country latent class analysis of food labels. In press Appetite, 2016, 10.1016/j.appet.2016.02.162.
56. Powers, G. (2011), “Retailers move to put carbon footprint labels on products.” MSN Money, www.everydaymoney.ca/2011/06/retailers-move-to-put-carbon-footprint-labels-on-products.html, visited 12/4/2011.
57. RBC (2015), “RBC Canadian Water Attitudes Study 2015.” March 2015: http://www.rbc.com/community-sustainability/environment/rbc-blue-water/water-attitude-study.html.
58. Rees, W.E., Ecological footprints and appropriated carrying capacity: what urban economics leaves out. Environ. Urbanization 4:2 (1992), 121–130.
59. Revelt, D., Train, K., Customer-specific Taste Parameters and Mixed Logit. Working paper, 1999, Department of Economics, University of California, Berkeley, USA.
60. Richey, A.S., Thomas, B.F., Lo, M.-H., Reager, J.T., Famiglietti, J.S., Voss, K., Swenson, S., Rodell, M., Quantifying renewable groundwater stress with GRACE. Published online 16 June Water Resour. Res., 2015, 10.1002/2015WR017349.
61. Ridoutt, B., Pfister, S., A revised approach to water footprinting to make transparent the impacts of consumption and production on global freshwater scarcity. Global Environ. Change 20 (2010), 113–120.
62. Ridoutt, B.G., Pfister, S., A new water footprint calculation method integrating consumptive and degradative water use into a single stand-alone weighted indicator. Int. J. Life Cycle Assess. 18:1 (2013), 204–207.
63. Rokeach, M., The Nature of Human Values. 1973, Free Press, New York.
64. Roshani Perera, L.C., Rathnasiri Hewege, C., An analysis of the controlling function of national culture in product choice preferences of Japanese consumers. Contemp. Manage. Res. 3:2 (2007), 119–138.
65. Rost, S., Gerten, D., Bondeau, A., Lucht, W., Rohwer, J., Schaphoff, S., Agricultural green and blue water consumption and its influence on the global water system. Water Resour. Res., 44(9), 2008, W09405, 10.1029/2007WR006331.
66. Saunders, C., Barber, A. and G. Taylor (2006), “Food Miles Comparative Energy/Emissions Performance of New Zealand's Agriculture Industry.” www.beehive.govt.nz/Documents/Files/Food%20Miles%20Executive%20Summary.doc.
67. Savage, S.J., Waldman, D.M., Learning and fatigue during choice experiments: a comparison of online and mail survey codes. J. Appl. Econ. 23 (2008), 351–371.
68. Schumacher, I., Ecolabeling, consumers' preferences and taxation. Ecol. Econ. 69 (2010), 2202–2212.
69. Shewmake, S., Okrent, A., Thabrew, L., Vandenbergh, M., Predicting consumer demand responses to carbon labels. Ecol. Econ. 119 (2015), 168–180.
70. Sorensen, G.S., Stoddard, A.M., Dubowitz, T., Barbeau, E.M., Bigby, J., Emmons, K.M., Berkman, L.F., Peterson, K.E., The influence of social context on changes in fruit and vegetable consumption: results of the healthy directions studies. Am. J. Public. Health. 97:7 (2007), 1216–1227.
71. Stancich, R. (2011), “Summary of global carbon labels.” http://www.climatechangecorp.com/content.asp?ContentID=5828, visited 12/4/2011.
72. Statista-Das Statistik Portal (2016), “Anteil der Internetnutzer in Deutschland in den Jahren 2001 bis 2015.“ http://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/13070/umfrage/entwicklung-der-internetnutzung-in-deutschland-seit-2001/; accessed January 2016.
73. Teisl, M.F., What we may have is a failure to communicate: labeling environmentally certified forest products. Forest Sci. 49 (2003), 668–680.
74. Thaler, R.H., Sunstein, C.R., Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth, and Happiness. 2008, Yale University Press.
75. Train, K., Discrete Choice Models with Simulation. 2nd ed., 2009, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.
76. Upham, P., Dendler, L., Bleda, M., Carbon labelling of grocery products: public perceptions and potential emissions reductions. J. Cleaner Prod. 19:4 (2011), 348–355.
77. Van Loo, E.J., Caputo, V., Nayga, R.M., Seo, H.S., Zhang, B., Verbeke, W., Sustainability labels on coffee: consumer preferences, willingness-to-pay and visual attention to attributes. Ecol. Econ. 118 (2015), 215–225.
78. Vecchio, R., Annunziata, A., Willingness-to-pay for sustainability-labelled chocolate: an experimental auction approach. J. Cleaner Prod. 86 (2015), 335–342.
79. Verbeke, W., Pérez-Cueto, F.J., de Barcellos, M.D., Krystallis, A., Grunert, K.G., European citizen and consumer attitudes and preferences regarding beef and pork. Meat Sci. 84:2 (2010), 284–292.
80. WWAP (United Nations World Water Assessment Programme), The United Nations World Water Development Report 2015: Water for a Sustainable World., 2015, UNESCO, Paris.