Effects of Multi-Level Eco-Labels on the Product Evaluation of Meat and Meat Alternatives—A Discrete Choice Experiment
Eco-labels are an instrument for enabling informed food choices and supporting a demand-sided change towards an urgently needed sustainable food system. Lately, novel eco-labels that depict a product’s environmental life cycle assessment on a multi-level scale are being tested across Europe’s retail...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-08-01
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| Series: | Foods |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2304-8158/12/15/2941 |
| _version_ | 1797586714547453952 |
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| author | Anna Kolber Oliver Meixner |
| author_facet | Anna Kolber Oliver Meixner |
| author_sort | Anna Kolber |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Eco-labels are an instrument for enabling informed food choices and supporting a demand-sided change towards an urgently needed sustainable food system. Lately, novel eco-labels that depict a product’s environmental life cycle assessment on a multi-level scale are being tested across Europe’s retailers. This study elicits consumers’ preferences and willingness to pay (WTP) for a multi-level eco-label. A Discrete Choice Experiment was conducted; a representative sample (n = 536) for the Austrian population was targeted via an online survey. Individual partworth utilities were estimated by means of the Hierarchical Bayes. The results show higher WTP for a positively evaluated multi-level label, revealing consumers’ perceived benefits of colorful multi-level labels over binary black-and-white designs. Even a negatively evaluated multi-level label was associated with a higher WTP compared to one with no label, pointing towards the limited effectiveness of eco-labels. Respondents’ preferences for eco-labels were independent from their subjective eco-label knowledge, health consciousness, and environmental concern. The attribute “protein source” was most important, and preference for an animal-based protein source (beef) was strongly correlated with consumers’ meat attachment, implying that a shift towards more sustainable protein sources is challenging, and sustainability labels have only a small impact on the meat product choice of average consumers. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T00:27:02Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-11088b16b1a24d90badc248395293170 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2304-8158 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T00:27:02Z |
| publishDate | 2023-08-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Foods |
| spelling | doaj.art-11088b16b1a24d90badc2483952931702023-11-18T22:55:18ZengMDPI AGFoods2304-81582023-08-011215294110.3390/foods12152941Effects of Multi-Level Eco-Labels on the Product Evaluation of Meat and Meat Alternatives—A Discrete Choice ExperimentAnna Kolber0Oliver Meixner1Institute of Marketing & Innovation, Department of Economics and Social Sciences, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Feistmantelstraße 4, A-1180 Vienna, AustriaInstitute of Marketing & Innovation, Department of Economics and Social Sciences, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Feistmantelstraße 4, A-1180 Vienna, AustriaEco-labels are an instrument for enabling informed food choices and supporting a demand-sided change towards an urgently needed sustainable food system. Lately, novel eco-labels that depict a product’s environmental life cycle assessment on a multi-level scale are being tested across Europe’s retailers. This study elicits consumers’ preferences and willingness to pay (WTP) for a multi-level eco-label. A Discrete Choice Experiment was conducted; a representative sample (n = 536) for the Austrian population was targeted via an online survey. Individual partworth utilities were estimated by means of the Hierarchical Bayes. The results show higher WTP for a positively evaluated multi-level label, revealing consumers’ perceived benefits of colorful multi-level labels over binary black-and-white designs. Even a negatively evaluated multi-level label was associated with a higher WTP compared to one with no label, pointing towards the limited effectiveness of eco-labels. Respondents’ preferences for eco-labels were independent from their subjective eco-label knowledge, health consciousness, and environmental concern. The attribute “protein source” was most important, and preference for an animal-based protein source (beef) was strongly correlated with consumers’ meat attachment, implying that a shift towards more sustainable protein sources is challenging, and sustainability labels have only a small impact on the meat product choice of average consumers.https://www.mdpi.com/2304-8158/12/15/2941multi-level labelseco-labelssustainabilitywillingness to paychoice experimentmeat attachment |
| spellingShingle | Anna Kolber Oliver Meixner Effects of Multi-Level Eco-Labels on the Product Evaluation of Meat and Meat Alternatives—A Discrete Choice Experiment Foods multi-level labels eco-labels sustainability willingness to pay choice experiment meat attachment |
| title | Effects of Multi-Level Eco-Labels on the Product Evaluation of Meat and Meat Alternatives—A Discrete Choice Experiment |
| title_full | Effects of Multi-Level Eco-Labels on the Product Evaluation of Meat and Meat Alternatives—A Discrete Choice Experiment |
| title_fullStr | Effects of Multi-Level Eco-Labels on the Product Evaluation of Meat and Meat Alternatives—A Discrete Choice Experiment |
| title_full_unstemmed | Effects of Multi-Level Eco-Labels on the Product Evaluation of Meat and Meat Alternatives—A Discrete Choice Experiment |
| title_short | Effects of Multi-Level Eco-Labels on the Product Evaluation of Meat and Meat Alternatives—A Discrete Choice Experiment |
| title_sort | effects of multi level eco labels on the product evaluation of meat and meat alternatives a discrete choice experiment |
| topic | multi-level labels eco-labels sustainability willingness to pay choice experiment meat attachment |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2304-8158/12/15/2941 |
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