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Discounting Spotted Apples: Investigating Consumersï¾’ Willingness to Accept Cosmetic Damage in an Organic Product

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  • Yue, Chengyan
  • Alfnes, Frode
  • Jensen, Helen H.

Abstract

Organic producers have limited methods of avoiding plant diseases that result in cosmetic damage to produce. Therefore, the appearance of organic produce is often less than perfect. We use an experimental auction to investigate how cosmetic damage affects consumersï¾’ willingness to pay for organic apples. We find that 75% of the participants are willing to pay more for organic than for conventional apples given identical appearance. However, at the first sight of any imperfection in the appearance of the organic apples, this segment is significantly reduced. Furthermore, we find that there is a significant effect of interaction between cosmetic damage and product methods. Even though most consumers say they buy organic products to avoid pesticides, we find that cosmetic damage has a larger impact on the willingness to pay for organic apples than for conventional apples.

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  • Yue, Chengyan & Alfnes, Frode & Jensen, Helen H., 2009. "Discounting Spotted Apples: Investigating Consumersï¾’ Willingness to Accept Cosmetic Damage in an Organic Product," Staff General Research Papers Archive 12693, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:isu:genres:12693
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    7. Chiaverina, Pierre & Drogué, Sophie & Jacquet, Florence, 2024. "Do Farmers Participating in Short Food Supply Chains Use Less Pesticides? Evidence from France," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 216(C).
    8. Strzok, Jesse Lance, 2012. "Willingness-to-Pay for Organic Food Products and Organic Purity: Experimental Evidence," ISU General Staff Papers 201201010800003857, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
    9. M. Lefebvre & C. Biguzzi & E. Ginon & S. Gomez-y-Paloma & S. R. H. Langrell & S. Marette & G. Mateu & A. Sutan, 2017. "Mandatory integrated pest management in the European Union: experimental insights on consumers’ reactions," Review of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Studies, Springer, vol. 98(1), pages 25-54, July.
    10. Khachatryan, Hayk & Behe, Bridget K. & Campbell, Benjamin L. & Hall, Charles R. & Dennis, Jennifer H., 2013. "Does Eye Tracking Reveal More About the Effects of Buying Impulsiveness on the Green Industry Consumer Choice Behavior?," 2013 Annual Meeting, August 4-6, 2013, Washington, D.C. 150333, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    11. Razzolini, Tiziano, 2013. "How much trustworthy and salubrious an organic jam should be? The impact of organic logo on the Italian jam market," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 1-13.
    12. Marette, Stéphan & Messéan, Antoine & Millet, Guy, 2012. "Consumers’ willingness to pay for eco-friendly apples under different labels: Evidences from a lab experiment," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(2), pages 151-161.
    13. McFadden, Jonathan R. & Huffman, Wallace E., 2017. "Willingness-to-pay for natural, organic, and conventional foods: The effects of information and meaningful labels," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 214-232.
    14. Vaneesha Dusoruth & Hikaru Hanawa Peterson, 2020. "Food waste tendencies: Behavioral response to cosmetic deterioration of food," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(5), pages 1-22, May.
    15. Chengyan Yue & Yufeng Lai & Jingjing Wang & Paul Mitchell, 2020. "Consumer Preferences for Sustainable Product Attributes and Farm Program Features," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(18), pages 1-19, September.
    16. Chengyan Yue & Ben Campbell & Charles Hall & Bridget Behe & Jennifer Dennis & Hayk Khachatryan, 2016. "Consumer Preference for Sustainable Attributes in Plants: Evidence from Experimental Auctions," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(2), pages 222-235, April.
    17. Makhal, Annesha & Thyne, Maree & Robertson, Kirsten & Mirosa, Miranda, 2020. "“I don't like wonky carrots†- an exploration of children's perceptions of suboptimal fruits and vegetables," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    18. Ribeiro, Jose Eduardo & Gschwandtner, Adelina & Revoredo-Giha, Cesar, 2021. "Estimation of a Hedonic Price Equation for Chicken Meat in the UK: Does the Organic Attribute Matter?," 2021 Conference, August 17-31, 2021, Virtual 314942, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    19. Joseph Seong & Simone Valle de Souza & H. Christopher Peterson, 2023. "Seeds of Industry Sustainability: Consumer Attitudes towards Indoor Agriculture Benefits versus Its Advanced Technology," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-21, January.
    20. Ozge Dinc‐Cavlak & Ozlem Ozdemir, 2021. "Comparing the willingness to pay through three elicitation mechanisms: An experimental evidence for organic egg product," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 37(4), pages 782-803, October.
    21. Vincent Canwat & Myles Oelofse & Stephen Onakuse & Andreas de Neergaard, 2020. "Effects of certified‐organic production on supplier failures and potential income effects of supplier failures on producers: Evidence from vegetable and macadamia producers in Kenya," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 36(4), pages 751-769, October.
    22. Lucca Zachmann & Chloe McCallum & Robert Finger, 2024. "Spraying for the beauty: Pesticide use for visual appearance in apple production," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 55(4), pages 621-638, July.
    23. Skuza, Nathan & McCracken, Vicki & Ellis, Joan, 2015. "Compensation Fees And Willingness To Pay: A Field Experiment On Organic Apples," International Journal of Food and Agricultural Economics (IJFAEC), Alanya Alaaddin Keykubat University, Department of Economics and Finance, vol. 3(3), pages 1-13, July.

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