Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-q99xh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-25T17:47:31.534Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Discounting Spotted Apples: Investigating Consumers' Willingness to Accept Cosmetic Damage in an Organic Product

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 January 2015

Chengyan Yue ,
Frode Alfnes  and
Helen H. Jensen
Chengyan Yue
Affiliation:
Departments of Applied Economics and Horticultural Science, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN
Frode Alfnes
Affiliation:
Department of Economics and Resource Management, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Aas, Norway
Helen H. Jensen
Affiliation:
Department of Economics, Iowa State University, Ames, IA
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The appearance of organic produce is often less than perfect because of limited methods of avoiding plant diseases. We combine hypothetical and real auction mechanisms to investigate how cosmetic damage affects Consumers' willingness to pay for 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, the cosmetic damage has a larger impact on the willingness to pay for organic apples than for conventional apples.

Keywords

appearanceapplesexperimental auctionsorganicwillingness to payD12Q13
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics , Volume 41 , Issue 1 , April 2009 , pp. 29 - 46
Copyright
Copyright © Southern Agricultural Economics Association 2009

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Acebron, L.B., and Dopico, D.C. “The Importance of Intrinsic and Extrinsic Cues to Expected and Experienced Quality: An Empirical Application for Beef.” Food Quality and Preference 11(2000):229–38.Google Scholar
Alfnes, F., “Valuing Product Attributes in Vickrey Auctions When Market Substitutes Are Available.” European Review of Agricultural Economics (in press 2009).Google Scholar
Alfnes, F., and Rickertsen, K. “European Consumers' Willingness to Pay for U.S. Beef in Experimental Auction Markets.” American Journal of Agricultural Economics 85,2(2003):396–405.Google Scholar
Alfnes, F., Rickertsen, K., and Ø. Ueland. “Consumer Attitudes toward Low Stake Risk in Food Markets.” Applied Economics 40(2008):3039–49.Google Scholar
Alfnes, F., Guttormsen, A., Steine, G., and Kolstad, K. “Consumers' Willingness to Pay for the Color of Salmon: A Choice Experiment with Real Economic Incentives.” American Journal of Agricultural Economics 88,4(2006):1050–61.Google Scholar
Baker, G. “Consumer Preferences for Food Safety Attributes in Fresh Apples: Market Segments, Consumer Characteristics and Marketing Opportunities.” Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics 24,1(1999):80–97.Google Scholar
Blend, J.R., and van, E.O. Ravenswaay. “Measuring Consumers' Demand for Ecolabeled Apples.” American Journal of Agricultural Economics 81,5(1999):1072–77.Google Scholar
Boland, M., and Schroeder, T. “Marginal Value of Quality Attributes for Natural and Organic Beef.” Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics 34,1(2002):39–49.Google Scholar
Brown, J., Cranfield, J.A.L., and Henson, S. “Relating ConsumerWillingness-to-Pay for Food Safety to Risk Tolerance: An Experimental Approach.” Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics 53,2(2005):249–63.Google Scholar
Corrigan, J., and Rousu, M. “An Internal Validity Test for Field Auction Experiments.” Unpublished paper, 2008.Google Scholar
Darby, M.R., and Karni, E. “Free Competition and the Optimal Amount of Fraud.” The Journal of Law & Economics 16(1973):67–88.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Greene, W.H. Econometric Analysis, 5th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 2002.Google Scholar
Hobbs, J.E., Bailey, D., Dickinson, D.L. and Haghiri, M. “Traceability in the Canadian Red Meat Sector: Do Consumers Care?” Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics 53,1(2005):47–65. ,Google Scholar
Hobbs, J.E., Kerr, W.A., and Phillips, P.W.B. “Identity Preservation and International Trade: Signaling Quality across National Boundaries.” Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics 49,4(2001):567–79.Google Scholar
Johnson, R.A., and Wichern, D.W.. Applied Multivariate Statistical Analysis, 5th ed. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall International, 2002.Google Scholar
Larue, B., West, G.E., Gendron, C., and Lambert, R. “Consumer Response to Functional Foods Produced by Conventional, Organic, or Genetic Manipulation.” Agribusiness, An International Journal 20,2(2004):155–66.Google Scholar
Loureiro, L.M., and Hine, S. “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(2002):477–87.Google Scholar
Loureiro, M.L., McCluskey, J.J., and Mit-tlehammer, R.C. “Assessing Consumer Preferences for Organic, Eco-Labeled, and Regular Apples.” Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics 26(2001):404–16.Google Scholar
Lusk, J.L., Feldkamp, T., and Schroeder, T.C. “Experimental Auction Procedure: Impact on Valuation of Quality Differentiated Goods.” American Journal of Agricultural Economics 86(2004):389–405.Google Scholar
Lusk, J.L., House, L.O., Valli, C., Jaeger, S.R., Moore, M., Morrow, B., and Traill, W.B. “Effect of Information about Benefits of Biotechnology on Consumer Acceptance of Genetically Modified Food: Evidence from Experimental Auctions in United States, England, and France.” European Review of Agricultural Economics 31 (2004):179–204.Google Scholar
Magnusson, E., and Cranfield, J.A.L. “Consumer Demand for Pesticide Free Food Products in Canada: A Probit Analysis.” Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics 53,1(2005):67–81.Google Scholar
McCall, R.B. Fundamental Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences, 8th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing, 2001.Google Scholar
Melton, B.E., Huffman, W.E., Shogren, J.F., and Fox, J.A. “Consumer Preferences for Fresh Food Items with Multiple Quality Attributes: Evidence from an Experimental Auction of Pork Chops.” American Journal of Agricultural Economics 78(1996):916–23.Google Scholar
Reed, J., Frazão, E., and Itskowitz, R. “How Much Do Americans Pay for Fruits and Vegetables?” Agriculture Information Bulletin No. AIB790, July 2004. Electronic Report from the Economic Research Service, USDA. Internet site: http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/aib790/ (Accessed January 8, 2008).Google Scholar
Roosen, J., Fox, J.A., Hennessy, D.A., and Schreiber, A. “Consumers' Valuation of Insecticide Use Restrictions: An Application to Appies.” Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics 23(1998):367–84.Google Scholar
Rozan, A., Stenger, A., and Willinger, M. “Willingness-to-Pay for Food Safety: An Experimental Investigation of Quality Certification on Bidding Behaviour.” European Review of Agricultural Economics 31,4(2004):409–25.Google Scholar
Thompson, G.D., and Kidwell, J. “Explaining the Choice of Organic Produce: Cosmetic Defects, Prices, and Consumer Preferences.” American Journal of Agricultural Economics 80(1998):77–287.Google Scholar
Umberger, W.J., and Feuz, D.M. “The Usefulness of Experimental Auctions in Determining Consumers' Willingness to Pay for Quality Differentiated Products.” Review of Agricultural Economics 26(2004):1–16.Google Scholar
U.S. Department of Labor. 2008. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Internet site: http://data.bls.gov/PDQ/outside.jsp?survey=ap (Accessed January 8, 2008).Google Scholar
Waugh, F.V. “Quality Factors Influencing Vegetable Prices.” Journal of Farm Economics 10,2(1928):185–96.Google Scholar
Wei, S., Singgih, S., Woods, E.J., and Adar, D. “How Important Is Appearance? Consumer Preferences for Mandarins in Indonesia.” International Journal of Consumer Studies 27(2003):406-11.Google Scholar
Whole Foods Market. “Nearly Two-Thirds of Americans Have Tried Organic Foods and Beverages.” Press release, November 18, 2005.Google Scholar
Williams, P.R.D.and Hammitt, J.K. “Perceived Risks of Conventional and Organic Produce: Pesticides, Pathogens, and Natural Toxins.” Risk Analysis 21,2(2001):319–30.Google Scholar