L'éco-étiquetage des produits est-il crédible ? Proposition d'un cadre d'analyse

Some consumers derive utility from buying and using products produced with environmentally friendly practices. Because the use of ecologically sound practices is usually a credence attribute in the final product, means of informing consumers are necessary. Problems of adverse selection can occur when important product attributes are credence in nature. We suggest an analysis framework that provides keys to decipher the environmental content of product claims and the process to give more or less credibility to the claims? contents. This second analysis corresponds notably to the means of defining, verifying and signalling the environmental attributes. We apply these keys to a sample of environmental claims and provide circumstantial evidence of our reasoning. We also stress the potentialities of several regulators ? e.g. public authorities, environmental unions ? which can increase claims? credibility by defining the « rules of the game ». Classification JEL : D11, D21, L15.