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Ignorance Is Bliss? Experimental Evidence on Wine Produced from Grapes Irrigated with Recycled Water

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  • Li, Tongzhe
  • McCluskey, Jill J.
  • Messer, Kent D.

Abstract

Agricultural industries are heavy users of water, which can be especially concerning in times of drought. One way to address agriculture's impact during droughts is to use recycled water for irrigation, but little is known about how consumers will respond to information disclosing that a food product was produced with recycled water. On the positive side, irrigation with recycled water is environmentally friendly. On the negative side, there is an “ick” factor that might repel consumers. We conducted a framed field experiment to evaluate consumers' responses to California and French wines made from grapes produced with recycled, conventional, and an unspecified type of water for irrigation. We find that consumers prefer not to know; their willingness to pay is greatest when the wine is made from grapes irrigated with an unspecified type of water. There is a discount for conventional irrigation water for both California and French wines, but it is statistically significant only for the California wines.

Suggested Citation

  • Li, Tongzhe & McCluskey, Jill J. & Messer, Kent D., 2018. "Ignorance Is Bliss? Experimental Evidence on Wine Produced from Grapes Irrigated with Recycled Water," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 153(C), pages 100-110.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:153:y:2018:i:c:p:100-110
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2018.07.004
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    2. Aaron J. Staples & Carson J. Reeling & Nicole J. Olynk Widmar & Jayson L. Lusk, 2020. "Consumer willingness to pay for sustainability attributes in beer: A choice experiment using eco‐labels," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 36(4), pages 591-612, October.
    3. Whiting, Alix & Kecinski, Maik & Li, Tongzhe & r, Kent D. Messer & Parker, Julia, 2019. "The importance of selecting the right messenger: A framed field experiment on recycled water products," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 161(C), pages 1-8.
    4. Soregaroli, Claudio & Ricci, Elena Claire & Stranieri, Stefanella & Nayga, Rodolfo M. & Capri, Ettore & Castellari, Elena, 2021. "Carbon footprint information, prices, and restaurant wine choices by customers: A natural field experiment," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 186(C).
    5. Erika Allen Wolters & Brent S. Steel & Muhammed Usman Amin Siddiqi & Melissa Symmes, 2022. "Public Water Policy Knowledge and Policy Preferences in the American West," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(5), pages 1-20, February.
    6. Kim, Hyunjung & Li, Tongzhe, 2024. "Rethinking the Significance of Scientific Information: A Field Experiment with Agricultural Producers," 2024 Annual Meeting, July 28-30, New Orleans, LA 344038, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    7. Li, Tongzhe & Roy, Danielle, 2021. "“Choosing not to choose”: Preferences for various uses of recycled water," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 184(C).
    8. Nadia A Streletskaya & Jura Liaukonyte & Harry M Kaiser, 2019. "Absence labels: How does information about production practices impact consumer demand?," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(6), pages 1-18, June.
    9. Sean F. Ellis & Maik Kecinski & Kent D. Messer & Clive Lipchin, 2022. "Consumer perceptions after long‐term use of alternative irrigation water: A field experiment in Israel," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 44(2), pages 1003-1020, June.
    10. Priestley, Samuel L. & Ganguly, Diya & Palma, Marco A. & Messer, Kent D., 2024. "Consumer Avoidance of Potentially Negative Information about Food," 2024 Annual Meeting, July 28-30, New Orleans, LA 343948, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    11. Tsigkou, Stavroula & Messer, Kent D. & Kecinski, Maik & Li, Tongzhe, 2021. "The impact of nontraditional irrigation water on consumers’ perception of food and non-food items: A field experiment in the United States," 2021 Annual Meeting, August 1-3, Austin, Texas 313940, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Product labeling; Stigma; Environmental benefits; Information; Framed field experiment;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
    • L15 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Information and Product Quality
    • O13 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Agriculture; Natural Resources; Environment; Other Primary Products
    • Q55 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environmental Economics: Technological Innovation

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