Can region labeling alter taste impressions and willingness to pay? A field experiment with chocolate bars

Abstract

U.S. consumers purchase foods from regions all over the world. The impressions they have of these different regions’ economic status and the notions of food quality and safety they attribute to these regions could have a significant impact on their taste perceptions and willingness to pay (WTP). Using chocolate bars, this study examined these issues by comparing the influence of labels for two economically developed (U.S. and Europe) and two developing (Africa and South America) regions. Participants in field experiments sampled both labeled and unlabeled pieces of chocolate bars from each region to complete taste evaluations, while the Becker-DeGroot-Marschak (BDM) mechanism was used to determine WTP for each. Accompanying results showed significantly higher perceived food quality, safety, and economic status for the developed regions. Comparisons between labeled and unlabeled versions of chocolate indicated participants preferred the taste of and were willing to pay more for chocolate from developed regions, with European chocolate first and African chocolate last. In comparing labeled and unlabeled versions of the same chocolate, it was found that origin labels typically raised taste evaluations and WTP significantly. This was counter to hypotheses for developing regions, and suggested consumers appreciate the benefit of origin information. It appears providing origin information can benefit the impression of a food, even in instances where consumers have concerns regarding the region. Implementing voluntary or mandatory labeling could be useful to raise product evaluations even for ones from developing regions.