Willingness to Pay for Eco-Labeled Food in Forests: Integrated View from South Korea

Jang-Hwan Jo, Ji Yeon Yang and Taewoo Roh
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Jang-Hwan Jo: School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QY, UK
Ji Yeon Yang: Department of Global Business, The University of Suwon, Business School 810, 17 Wauan-gil, Bongdam-eup, Hwaseong-si 18323, Gyeonggi-do, Korea
Taewoo Roh: Department of International Trade and Commerce, Soonchunhyang University, Unitopia 901, Soonchunhyang-ro 22, Sinchang-myeon, Asan-si 31538, Chungchungnam-do, Korea

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 23, 1-14

Abstract: Due to global interest in the improvement of national income and quality of life, eco-labeled food (ELF) for sustainable consumption and personal healthcare has been increasing. This study aims to contribute to two research streams by examining the quality of ELF in forests (ELFF). First, this study intends to estimate the willingness to pay (WTP) of ELFF producers for the certification verified by the government-supported institution and investigate the difference in certification costs between the actual certificating authority and ELFF producers. Second, this study aims to figure out the perception mechanism of how consumers who would like to purchase ELFFs recognize the effect of enhanced certification. These efforts may contribute to the research on how to raise interest in the production of ELF-related products and sustainable consumption. To achieve the purpose of this study, we adopted contingent valuation methods (CVM) to measure WTPs using interview-based surveys with 40 ELF producers and ordinary least squares (OLS) regression to examine the effect of certification with 112 consumers who experienced ELF consumption. Results of this study provide theoretical and practical implications by looking at the relationship between ELF certification and sustainable consumption from a stakeholder’s perspective. This study intends to expand the research field of ELF from agriculture to forestry products. It provides a basis for providing practical implications for policymakers who propose sustainable consumption.

Keywords: contingent valuation methods; eco-labeled food; willingness to pay; sustainable consumption (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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