The role of organic and fair trade labels when choosing chocolate

Abstract

We investigate to what extent consumers base food purchases on the information implied by the presence of a label. Firstly, we study whether consumers are able to identify the environmental and social labels associated with a particular good or service. Secondly, we analyze whether consumers find the product information implied by the presence of a label trustworthy. Thirdly, we examine the desirability, including taste, of sustainably produced goods compared to conventional goods. Fourthly we calculate consumers’ marginal willingness to pay for environment-friendly and socially desirable goods, and finally, we identify groups of consumers with different preference patterns. Specifically, we performed a survey including a stated choice experiment of consumer decisions concerning the purchase of chocolate in Flanders (Belgium), focusing on fair trade and organic labels. Overall, we find that fair trade labels for chocolate are more likely to influence consumer choice than organic labels in Flanders. For most of the consumers the organic label seems to become superfluous when selecting a self-indulgent treat such as chocolate.