The Value of Crop Diversification: Understanding the Factors Influencing Consumers’ WTP for Pasta from Sustainable Agriculture

Eleonora Sofia Rossi, Jose A. Zabala, Francesco Caracciolo and Emanuele Blasi
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Eleonora Sofia Rossi: Department of Economics, Engineering, Society and Business Organization (DEIM), University of Tuscia, Via del Paradiso 47, 01100 Viterbo, Italy
Emanuele Blasi: Agricultural and Food Economics, Department for Innovation in Biological, Agro-Food and Forest Systems (DIBAF), University of Tuscia, Via San Camillo del Lellis snc-, 01100 Viterbo, Italy

Agriculture, 2023, vol. 13, issue 3, 1-18

Abstract: (1) Background: The pressure that agricultural systems’ intensive management exerts on the environment concerns society. For this reason, the demand for sustainable foods is growing in the market. This study investigated consumers’ Willingness To Pay (WTP) for dry semolina pasta produced with raw materials from more diversified agricultural systems and which factors influence this choice. (2) Methods: The data, collected through a contingent valuation exercise, involved 185 Italian consumers. Through a Tobit model, the drivers influencing the WTP were selected. A latent class cluster analysis determined four different groups of consumers. (3) Results: The data highlighted a real social demand for sustainability. Consumers recognize a higher WTP for sustainable pasta. This value is influenced by drivers such as purchasing habits, personal characteristics, and environmental attitudes. (4) Conclusions: This work offers an approach, both from a market and political point of view, to how this higher potential WTP could be identified and redistributed among the value chain actors by structuring both marketing strategies for the different types of consumers and political tools able to help agri-food chains towards sustainability transition.

Keywords: WTP; contingent valuation; latent classes; agrobiodiversity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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