Myths and realities of the “new” green economy

This article details new research showing that the majority of U.S. consumers have strong inclinations to buy earth-sustainable food products. Contrary to prevailing beliefs in the industry, the market potential for these products is enormous—52 percent of consumers are willing to buy “green,” and nearly one-third (30 percent) can actually be considered as the core market for earth-sustainable food products. Yet these products currently represent only 2 percent of all food sales. This immense gap can be eliminated by turning our focus from supply (an endless stream of new product introductions) to demand (the needs of the consumer). Doing so requires a clear understanding of the consumer and the dispelling of several myths that pervade the marketplace today. Information in this article was taken from Phase 1 of The Hartman Report—Food and the Environment: A Consumer's Perspective, which examines the consumer segments in much more detail with regard to attitudinal, demographic, and psychographic profiles. The report was commissioned, in part, by The Kellogg Foundation, The Food Alliance, and Cascadian Farm. Phase II of the research more closely examines those segments that represent the key target markets for these products, including information on the effects of advertising, public relations, and labels in communicating environmentally sustainable product messages. Phase III will develop specific retail tactics that can be effective in delivering products and services to the most important segments. For information on obtaining a copy of the report, contact The Hartman Group at 206–451–9094.     

基于市场机制的农产品生态敏感度识别与政策建议——以云南西双版纳为例

关于生态农业的研究,已经在农学、生物学、地理学等领域积累了丰硕的成果。但是,这些研究大都着眼于生态农业的生产过程,即更多关注供给的角度,而很少从需求的角度来分析。本文从市场机制的角度出发,构建了消费者偏好与生产者策略的"传导模型",依据消费者对农产品生态敏感度的不同对其进行区分。对于"生态不敏感"的农产品,消费者对产品的生态敏感度低,这一偏好通过价格信号传导到生产者,使生产者采取大规模标准化的生产策略,对生态环境造成损耗;对于"生态强敏感"的农产品,消费者对产品的生态敏感度高,这一偏好能够通过价格信号传导到生产者,并使生产者采取生态化生产的策略,是绿色可持续的;对于"生态弱敏感"的农产品,市场存在分层现象,使得上述两种传导机制同时并存。消费者的偏好与愿意支付的溢价,生产者采用生态化生产方式的成本,以及证明产品品质的交易费用,是决定农产品生产能否在市场环境下自发实现绿色可持续的三个关键环节。培育绿色消费观念、提高生态农业的产出、健全产品质量监督体系是促进生态农业发展的三个着力点。     

Consumer understanding of product lifetimes

Throwing products away before they fail or are broken is at the heart of consumer behaviour in developed economies such as the UK. Products are often discarded for reasons of fashion, or to keep up with technological advances, rather than because they have reached the end of their functional life. Such behaviours contribute to resource depletion, greenhouse gas emissions, and physical waste which needs to be managed. Extending the length of time that products are kept in use (whether by their original or subsequent owners) can contribute to greater resource efficiency, with significant potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This research was undertaken to support the development of evidence-based policy in the UK on the role of longer product lifetimes in achieving sustainable consumption and waste prevention. Twelve qualitative discussion groups, involving 115 consumers, were carried out to explore consumer influences on product lifetimes including: which factors influence purchase decisions; the care of products in use; and disposal decisions. A new typology was developed to describe how products meet consumers’ various needs for ‘workhorses’, ‘investment’ and ‘up-to-date’ products; and how lifetime is an outcome of the ‘nature’ of a product (functional life) and its ‘nurture’ (lifetime in use) by consumers. The results demonstrate that consumers have come to expect constant and rapid up-dating of products. In particular, having the latest versions of products is strongly associated with personal identity and feelings of success in life. There is little evidence of concern about the environmental consequences of a ‘throwaway society’. The low cost of new products, which enables rapid updating for reasons of fashion, is a key barrier to encouraging consumers to keep products in use for longer. Some opportunities were identified however for certain ‘workhorse’ and ‘investment’ products that are valued more for their functionality than fashion.     

Does Fair Trade Compete with Carbon Footprint and Organic Attributes in the Eyes of Consumers? Results from a Pilot Study in Scotland,The Netherlands and France

Several studies on ethical and social food attributes have shown that consumers, especially in developed countries, are willing to pay a price premium for fair trade foods products. However, there is a scant literature on how consumers’ preferences and willingness to pay (WTP) for fair trade products are affected by the presence of other ethical food attributes. To fill this gap, a choice experiment was conducted in Scotland, the Netherlands and France to assess consumers’ preferences and WTP for ethical attributes, i.e., fairtrade, organic, and lower carbon footprint, of bananas and to find out whether this ethical food attributes are competing in real markets. The results showed that in the three countries consumers are willing to pay a price premium for the three ethical food attributes. The results showed that in the current market situation these ethical foods are not generally competing against each other. Nonetheless, they are likely to become competing for consumer’s money at least when: (1) the price of organic foods is decreased significantly, (2) the price for fairtrade food products is set higher than consumers’ WTP, and (3) bananas labeled as having lower carbon footprint are made available in retail stores and sold at a price lower than consumers’ WTP.     

Is local produce more expensive? Challenging perceptions of price in local food systems

This research examines price in local food systems to identify whether the perception that local is more expensive is justified. This study seeks to contribute to the field by addressing the dearth of quantitative price and availability research and building upon existing empirical research by considering a broader range of distribution channels and organic produce. Without a stronger understanding of pricing structures and distribution models, local food initiatives are based on assumptions rather than evidence. Using a case-study approach of the Region of Waterloo (Ontario, Canada), price and product data were collected at 11 outlets over a 6-month period. The study involved regression analysis of six locally produced fruits and vegetables based on local, Ontario, and organic attributes associated with the products and comparison with consumer willingness-to-pay research. Results show that local produce in the case study is not consistently more expensive than the non-local option. Both price discounts and premiums are found, depending on the product. These findings challenge the “local is more expensive” assumption and support suggestions that local food systems can be spaces for social inclusion. The organic attribute is associated with a price premium in all cases and may create confusion among consumers given frequent overlap between the local and organic attributes. Proponents of local food can use the results of this study to inform programme and policy development. Most notably, the study suggests that education around the distinction between local and organic as well as challenges to the price perception could be of benefit.     

Sustainable Food Consumption: Exploring the Consumer “Attitude – Behavioral Intention” Gap

Although public interest in sustainability increases and consumer attitudes are mainly positive, behavioral patterns are not univocally consistent with attitudes. This study investigates the presumed gap between favorable attitude towards sustainable behavior and behavioral intention to purchase sustainable food products. The impact of involvement, perceived availability, certainty, perceived consumer effectiveness (PCE), values, and social norms on consumers’ attitudes and intentions towards sustainable food products is analyzed. The empirical research builds on a survey with a sample of 456 young consumers, using a questionnaire and an experimental design with manipulation of key constructs through showing advertisements for sustainable dairy. Involvement with sustainability, certainty, and PCE have a significant positive impact on attitude towards buying sustainable dairy products, which in turn correlates strongly with intention to buy. Low perceived availability of sustainable products explains why intentions to buy remain low, although attitudes might be positive. On the reverse side, experiencing social pressure from peers (social norm) explains intentions to buy, despite rather negative personal attitudes. This study shows that more sustainable and ethical food consumption can be stimulated through raising involvement, PCE, certainty, social norms, and perceived availability.     

Sustainable consumption in Brazil: Identification of preliminary requirements to guide product development and the definition of public policies

Sustainable product development is closely related to sustainable consumption. The understanding of consumers' purchase, use and discard behaviours may facilitate the identification of requirements to guide manufacturers in the development of sustainable goods and services. The aim of this paper is to investigate consumers' perception about factors that motivate or discourage the consumption of sustainable products to identify demands and convert them into requirements. South Brazilian green and traditional consumers were asked to complete an exploratory qualitative questionnaire. Their answers were organized and compared to identify differences and similarities between the demands of these two groups. Furthermore, demands were converted into requirements for packages, products, manufactures, stores planning and discard systems. The interpretation of factors that motivate or discourage the purchase of sustainable products given by interviewees led to the creation of a list of possible public policies or programmes, aiming to support sustainable consumption. The results demonstrate the necessity of further quantitative investigation between consumer groups, for validation purposes.     

Residential Preferences for River Network Improvement: An Exploration of Choice Experiments in Zhujiajiao,Shanghai, China

River networks have both ecological and social benefits for urban development. However, river networks have suffered extensive destruction as a result of urbanization and industrialization, especially in China. River restoration is a growth business but suffers poor efficiency due to a lack of social understanding. Assessing the benefits of river system restoration and recognizing public preferences are critical for effective river ecosystem restoration and sustainable river management. This study used a choice experiment with a multinomial logit model and a random parameter logit model to assess respondents’ cognitive preferences regarding attributes of river networks, and their possible sources of heterogeneity. Results showed that riverfront condition was the attribute most preferred by respondents, while stream morphology was the least preferred. Results also illustrated that the current status of each of three river network attributes was not desirable, and respondents would prefer a river network with a “branch pattern,” that is “limpid with no odor,” and “accessible with vegetation.” Estimated willingness to pay was mainly affected by household monthly income, residential location, and whether respondents had household members engaged in a water protection career. The assessment results can provide guidance and a reference for managers, sponsors, and researchers.     

Meeting Heterogeneity in Consumer Demand for Animal Welfare: A Reflection on Existing Knowledge and Implications for the Meat Sector

The legitimacy of the dominant intensive meat production system with respect to the issue of animal welfare is increasingly being questioned by stakeholders across the meat supply chain. The current meat supply is highly undifferentiated, catering only for the extremes of morality concerns (i.e., conventional vs. organic meat products). However, a latent need for compromise products has been identified. That is, consumer differences exist regarding the trade-offs they make between different aspects associated with meat consumption. The heterogeneity in consumer demand could function as a starting point for market segmentation, targeting and positioning regarding animal welfare concepts that are differentiated in terms of animal welfare and price levels. Despite this, stakeholders in the meat supply chain seem to be trapped in the dominant business model focused on low cost prices. This paper aims to identify conflicting interests that stakeholders in the meat supply chain experience in order to increase understanding of why heterogeneous consumer preferences are not met by a more differentiated supply of meat products produced at different levels of animal welfare standards. In addition, characteristics of the supply chain that contribute to the existence of high exit barriers and difficulty to shift to more animal-friendly production systems are identified. Following the analysis of conflicting interests among stakeholders and factors that contribute to difficulty to transform the existing dominant regime, different routes are discussed that may help and motivate stakeholders to overcome these barriers and stimulate the creation of new markets.     

Attribute-based analysis of hunters’ lease preferences

Understanding of hunter preferences for hunting lease attributes is important to landowners because such knowledge provides key information for managing and marketing fee-hunting in order to maximize revenues. Premised on this insight, we used attribute based modeling to investigate how hunter preferences for potential leases were influenced by lease and hunter-specific attributes. A mail survey of Mississippi licensed hunters provided the necessary data. Estimation results based on McFadden conditional logit regression suggested that lease attributes including game diversity, lease location relative to hunter residence, lease size, lease duration and lease rate influenced willingness to pay for additional units of lease attributes. Depending on the specific levels of these attributes, WTP could vary as much as $5.70 per acre. Of the hunter-specific attributes, age and income significantly influenced hunter decision to buy a lease or opt for status quo. Results of this study should assist landowners in increasing financial returns from fee-hunting endeavors through appropriate changes to their hunting access policies and wildlife management activities in response to hunter preferences regarding lease attributes.     

Estimating willingness to pay for a threatened species within a threatened ecosystem

This study conducts a choice experiment to determine the willingness to pay for Palouse Prairie conservation. The giant Palouse earthworm (Driloleirus americanus), a rare species endemic to the Palouse region, is included as an attribute of conservation and serves as a method for determining the willingness to pay for protecting the species. This method evaluates the value of the earthworm as an attribute of an overall willingness to pay for threatened ecosystem preservation rather than a direct willingness to pay for protecting the species. This method is expected to yield a more accurate measure of willingness to pay for rare species. The annual willingness to pay per household for the giant Palouse earthworm is $20.45 based on the conditional logit model and $19.30 based on the mixed logit model. Ranking and relative importance are included as methods for representing a non-monetary value and importance of the giant Palouse earthworm.     

日本促进可持续消费经验的启示

日本相对丰富的促进可持续消费经验对我国正在大力推动绿色生活方式的形成有较好的参考价值。本文介绍了日本循环社会法律框架下循环再生利用法和绿色采购促进法对促进可持续消费的作用,以及可持续消费的最新实践活动,并从循环再生利用法律法规建立、深化公共绿色采购评估、发布面向普通消费者产品清单、建立消费者发声通道、提升消费者意识、促进消费者导向管理等方面提出对我国推动绿色消费的启示。     

Does an energy efficiency label alter consumers' purchasing decisions? A latent class approach based on a stated choice experiment in Shanghai

In this paper we conducted a hypothetical choice experiment in Shanghai, China, to examine whether the China Energy Efficiency Label influences consumers' choices of air conditioners and refrigerators. A latent class approach was applied to observe both heterogeneities among the respondents and product brands. Our results suggested that consumers in Shanghai were well aware of the China Energy Efficiency Label and tended to pay more attention to products with such labels. In addition, air conditioners and refrigerators affixed with a hypothetical label that indicates saving in electricity bills compared with a standard model received significant preferences, which suggested that the more information manufacturers provide, the more their products would be preferred by consumers. Finally, weighted by class probability, the willingness to pay values for more energy efficient refrigerators were higher than those for more energy efficient air conditioners, implying that Shanghai consumers have greater incentive to pay more for appliances they use more frequently.     

绿色消费的社会治理体系研究

绿色消费,伴随可持续发展战略的产生而逐步体现在居民日常生活中。消费什么主要由消费者自行决定,政府难以强求;是否消费绿色产品,受到收入、受教育程度、追求品质的动机等要素影响,购买消费品时还受认知过程、情绪过程、意志过程制约。绿色消费不仅要满足人体健康和社会需求,还要体现资源节约和环境保护基本国策要求,以实现消费品生产、流通、消费以及包装物回收利用全生命周期的环境影响最小化。政府可以通过政策激励、宣传教育、率先垂范等途径引导公众更多的消费绿色产品。     

Labels for Animal Husbandry Systems Meet Consumer Preferences: Results from a Meta-analysis of Consumer Studies

Political decision-makers in the European Union (EU) are currently discussing the introduction of a mandatory uniform labelling scheme for meat and milk that provides information on husbandry systems similar to the already existent labelling scheme in the EU egg market. The objective of this paper was to assess whether such information is relevant to consumers when buying meat and milk. The paper was based on a systematic synthesis of 53 scientific journal articles on empirical consumer studies. The review revealed that consumers perceived the aspects of outdoor access, stocking density and floor type as important factors influencing animal welfare. On average, consumers not only had a positive attitude towards more animal welfare-friendly husbandry systems with outdoor access and space allowance but were also willing to pay a price premium for products from such systems. All studies on consumer segmentation identified at least one consumer segment that placed great importance on animal welfare-friendly husbandry systems. Interestingly, many studies identified one or more other segments who still had a significant preference for animal welfare-friendly products even though other product attributes were more important to them. Based on the findings, the paper presents conclusions regarding the labelling of husbandry systems for meat and milk.     

Multiple attribute evaluation of landscape management

Economic approaches to the valuation of ecological services have several limitations. Some of these limitations can be overcome using the multiple attribute decision-making model developed in this paper. The model postulates that a private or public decision-maker selects a site/landscape management plan based on the biophysical and economic attributes of alternative management plans, the decision-maker’s preferences for attributes, and constraints on the selection of a management plan.Two cases are examined. Case A is a watershed consisting of publicly owned land that is managed at the site, management unit and landscape scales. Management is based on the philosophy of ecosystem management. Case B is a watershed composed of several privately owned units that are managed at the site scale by decision-makers whose primary motivation is economic profit. The preferred management plan in both cases is determined using a two-stage procedure. The first stage uses a stochastic programming model to identify the most efficient management plans for a site/landscape. The second stage determines which efficient management plan for a site/landscape is preferred by maximizing an expected utility function that is additive in the attributes and assumes that the decision-maker is risk neutral.Whether a land-management plan results in strongly or weakly sustainable resource conditions is evaluated. Strong sustainability requires the probability of exceeding the minimum acceptable value of an attribute to be greater than or equal to a pre-determined reliability level for each attribute. Weak sustainability requires the same condition except that it applies to a composite index of the attributes rather than each attribute. Bayes theorem is used to evaluate uncertainty about whether the state of a landscape is sustainable.     

Niagara region farmers' markets: local food systems and sustainability considerations

This article presents the findings of a survey of farmers' markets customers in the Niagara region of Ontario, Canada. The recent growth of farmers' markets in North America and the association of these markets with local food systems development provoke examination to gain insights into consumer motivations for patronizing these markets, and to then reflect on their potential role within locally oriented and sustainable food production systems. The survey carried out on customers of three Niagara region farmers' markets corroborates previous studies that noted that socioeconomic and cultural factors such as the importance of food freshness, support of local farmers and the local farm economy, and social interaction—embeddedness—are key expressions of people's support and interest in farmers' markets. This work serves to heighten our understanding of consumer attitudes toward direct marketing via farmers' markets, yields useful speculation about these markets and their roles in sustainable local food systems progress, and also raises critical questions about such customer patronage and associated farmers' markets potential in local food system development.     

Niagara region farmers' markets: local food systems and sustainability considerations

This article presents the findings of a survey of farmers' markets customers in the Niagara region of Ontario, Canada. The recent growth of farmers' markets in North America and the association of these markets with local food systems development provoke examination to gain insights into consumer motivations for patronizing these markets, and to then reflect on their potential role within locally oriented and sustainable food production systems. The survey carried out on customers of three Niagara region farmers' markets corroborates previous studies that noted that socioeconomic and cultural factors such as the importance of food freshness, support of local farmers and the local farm economy, and social interaction—embeddedness—are key expressions of people's support and interest in farmers' markets. This work serves to heighten our understanding of consumer attitudes toward direct marketing via farmers' markets, yields useful speculation about these markets and their roles in sustainable local food systems progress, and also raises critical questions about such customer patronage and associated farmers' markets potential in local food system development.     

Citizens’ Views on Farm Animal Welfare and Related Information Provision: Exploratory Insights from Flanders,Belgium

The results of two independent empirical studies with Flemish citizens were combined to address the problem of a short fall of information provision about higher welfare products. The research objectives were (1) to improve our understanding of how citizens conceptualize farm animal welfare, (2) to analyze the variety in the claimed personal relevance of animal welfare in the food purchasing decision process, and (3) to find out people’s needs in relation to product information about animal welfare and the extent to which the current information caters to these needs. The first study consisted of a survey conducted in three consecutive years (2000–2002, n = 521) and was complemented with more recent qualitative data from four focus group discussions (2006, n = 29). Citizens’ conceptualization of farm animal welfare matched reasonably well with those in the scientific literature, although it is clearly influenced by a lower level of practical experience and a higher weight of empathy. In general, respondents indicated that animal welfare was an important product attribute, although it was less important than primary product attributes such as quality, health, and safety. Moral issues, rather than a perception of higher quality, were the main influence on preferences for higher welfare products. At present, higher standards of animal welfare are mostly guaranteed within more general quality assurance schemes. Yet people’s decisions to not choose higher welfare products seems to be related to the perceptual disconnection between eating animal food products and the living producing animals. Respondents generally thought better information provision was required and the present level of provision was strongly criticized. In combination, the findings of both studies help inform the discussion about how citizens can be informed about animal welfare and the preferred content, source, and medium of such information. The paper also provides insights into citizens’ semantic interpretation of the concept of animal welfare (what wordings they use) and the range of relevance that animal welfare has for different groups that, in turn is useful in identifying which segments can be targeted. This can contribute to a more effective valorization of animal welfare as a product attribute.     

The call of different wilds: the importance of definition and perception in protecting and managing Scottish wild landscapes

Concepts of wild land have recreational, ecological and cultural dimensions, and place varying emphasis on physical landscape attributes and the perceptions of users. In Scotland, national and NGO policies show reasonable consistency in interpreting and defining ‘wild land’, emphasising the (perception of) lack of current human influence as a key criterion. This research used semi-structured interviews with key individuals and a questionnaire survey of land managers to evaluate concepts and perceptions of wild land in Scotland. Recognising that the conceptual and spatial definition of wild land is a key issue, a new typology is proposed. Weaknesses in the policy framework, as well as key potential threats to, and opportunities associated with, wild landscapes are identified. Management initiatives are fitted to the typology and divided into four management themes. Key recommendations are: (i) that national policy for wild landscapes needs to incorporate criteria, which recognise the multiple values deriving from such areas; and (ii) that future research should combine user group preferences with physical attribute information in determining what constitutes wild landscapes.