A PRELIMINARY STUDY OF CHINESE CONSUMERS' WILLINGNESS-TO-PAY FOR FRUIT PRODUCED WITH SUSTAINABLE ATTRIBUTES

Abstract

Producing food in a sustainable way has become an important issue in developed countries but thus far it has been given little attention in Asian countries. Although some consumers in Asia believe sustainable food production is important, this by no means indicates that their purchase behaviour would change accordingly. To explore the relationship between sustainable fruit production and consumers’ attitude and purchasing behaviour, this study conducted eight focus groups across four major cities in China. The results show that Chinese consumers had very limited knowledge of sustainable production, although they acknowledged that less carbon emission, less water use and biodegradable packaging were good for the environment. The study also revealed that consumers’ willingness to pay a premium for sustainability attributes differed from attribute to attribute. Willingness to pay was also affected by income and gender, and most importantly, the level of trust consumers had in the certification issued by authorities for accrediting those sustainability attributes.