Examining sustainability surcharges for outdoor apparel using Adaptive Choice-Based Conjoint analysis

Abstract

In order to explore the compensatory effects between sustainability aspects and willingness to pay (WTP), the vast majority of studies applies Choice-Based Conjoint analysis (CBC). However, this method suffers from multiple restrictions (e.g., limited number of factors includable) resulting in biased WTP estimations. In contrast, the advanced and more realistic Adaptive Choice-Based Conjoint analysis (ACBC) allows – inter alia – incorporating all facets of sustainability and capturing the nowadays increasingly complex purchase decision process holistically. No other study has measured WTP with ACBC in the context of sustainable clothing yet. Based on expert interviews, we conduct an ACBC utilizing the ‘summed price’ approach and incorporating the insights gained from the Calibration section. While the latter one allows to refine the purchase likelihood and thus, enables more accurate WTP estimations, it has yet been largely neglected by previous sustainability literature. Our findings indicate significant differences in WTP and surcharges for each feature contingent on gender and the ecological orientation of consumers. While very green consumers rather emphasize the impact of sustainability-related features (e.g., materials (18.43%), labels (12.90%), country-of-origin (13.14%)), price represents by far the most influential driver for less green consumers (42.37%), followed by design (12.54%).