Consumers’ Attitude toward Sustainable Food Products: Ingredients vs. Packaging

Soyoung Seo, Hee-Kyung Ahn, Jaeseok Jeong and Junghoon Moon
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Soyoung Seo: Food Biz. Lab, Program in Regional Information, Seoul National University, Gwanak-gu 151-742, Korea
Hee-Kyung Ahn: School of Business, Hanyang University, 222 Wangsimni-ro, Seongdong-gu 133-791, Korea
Jaeseok Jeong: Graduate School of Pan-Pacific International Studies, Kyung Hee University Global Campus, Seochon-dong 17104, Korea

Sustainability, 2016, vol. 8, issue 10, 1-19

Abstract: The availability of and preference for eco-friendly products have increased; however, understanding of sustainable products is still insufficient because most studies have been focused only on organic products. The availability and understanding of organic products are high, but not complete. With regards to environmental protection, it is important to focus not only on the eco-friendly ingredients but also on the eco-friendly packaging because packaging has recently been found to be a primary cause of pollution. Through three studies, this article investigated the interaction between the effect of consumers’ willingness to buy (WTB), the price premium for eco-friendliness (internal: eco-friendly ingredients vs. external: eco-friendly packaging), and the product’s attributes. Three experimental studies were conducted to determine whether the consumers’ WTB and the price premium for sustainable products differ according to the eco-friendliness of the product and the product’s attributes. In Study 1 and Study 3, analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted; and, in Study 2, analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was conducted. The results of Study 1 and Study 2 suggested that the consumers’ WTB for sustainable products can differ according to the product’s attribute. Moreover, results of Study 3 revealed that consumers’ WTB and satisfaction for sustainable products can differ according to level of packaging.

Keywords: sustainable food product; organic food product; eco-friendly packaging; product attribute (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (11)

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