Does spatially targeted information boost the value of ecolabeling seafood? A choice experiment in Japan

The success of ecolabelling to promote sustainable fisheries hinges on information. We explore the effects of spatially targeted knowledge on willingness to pay for ecolabels using treatments that provide consumers with knowledge about the health of worldwide, domestic, and foreign fisheries, which can have differential effects for domestic and imported seafood. Analysis of data collected using a choice experiment indicates that spatial differences in knowledge do not necessarily influence the value of ecolabels. Knowledge of the state of domestic fisheries has no greater effect on the value consumers assign to sustainable domestic products than knowledge of world fisheries. We also find that the ecolabels generate premiums and that importing discounted the value regardless of whether additional information on fisheries was provided and of the type of spatial knowledge provided. The greatest premium for ecolabelled domestic products was achieved when the world fishery information was provided, but additional knowledge about the fishery did not affect the value of ecolabelled foreign products. Additionally, consumers who received information on the domestic fishery and viewed it as positive were willing to pay as much for the labelled domestic products as those who received information on world fisheries.