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If You Can't Trust the Farmer, Who Can You Trust? The Effect of Certification Types on Purchases of Organic Produce

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  • Lynn Hunnicutt
  • John Keith
  • Ruby Ward

Abstract

An information asymmetry exists in the market for organic produce since consumers cannot determine whether produce is organically or conventionally grown. Various methods may solve this problem including signaling, reputation, and certification. Signaling and reputation may not work well, because signals are noisy, and reputation may be difficult for a producer to establish. Certification of the farm and its growing methods shows the most promise. A survey instrument testing the efficacy of certification is presented along with empirical analysis suggesting that no notable difference existed between independent certification methods, although independent certification had significantly different effects than self-certification.

Suggested Citation

  • Lynn Hunnicutt & John Keith & Ruby Ward, 2002. "If You Can't Trust the Farmer, Who Can You Trust? The Effect of Certification Types on Purchases of Organic Produce," Working Papers 2002-18, Utah State University, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:usu:wpaper:2002-18
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Urutyan, Vardan E., 2007. "Market Assessment and Development for Organically Grown Produce in Armenia," 106th Seminar, October 25-27, 2007, Montpellier, France 7914, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    3. Grolleau, Gilles & McCann, Laura M.J., 2012. "Designing watershed programs to pay farmers for water quality services: Case studies of Munich and New York City," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 87-94.
    4. Sackett, Hillary & Shupp, Robert & Tonsor, Glynn, 2016. "Differentiating “Sustainable” From “Organic” And “Local” Food Choices: Does Information About Certification Criteria Help Consumers?," International Journal of Food and Agricultural Economics (IJFAEC), Alanya Alaaddin Keykubat University, Department of Economics and Finance, vol. 4(3), pages 1-15, July.
    5. Kim Sønderskov & Carsten Daugbjerg, 2011. "The state and consumer confidence in eco-labeling: organic labeling in Denmark, Sweden, The United Kingdom and The United States," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 28(4), pages 507-517, December.
    6. Dabbert, Stephan & Lippert, Christian & Zorn, Alexander, 2014. "Introduction to the special section on organic certification systems: Policy issues and research topics," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(P2), pages 425-428.
    7. Napitupulu, Togar Alam & Natawidjaja, Ronnie S., 2009. "Adding value to fresh and processed produce through product certification," Working Papers 121040, United Nations Centre for Alleviation of Poverty Through Secondary Crops' Development in Asia and the Pacific (CAPSA).
    8. Zorn, A. & Lippert, C. & Dabbert, S., 2013. "Zur Nichteinhaltung von Vorschriften des ökologischen Landbaus in Deutschland und in der Schweiz – Statistische Analyse einzelbetrieblicher Daten," Proceedings “Schriften der Gesellschaft für Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaften des Landbaues e.V.”, German Association of Agricultural Economists (GEWISOLA), vol. 48, March.
    9. Zorn, Alexander & Lippert, Christian & Dabbert, Stephan, 2012. "Zur Nichteinhaltung Von Vorschriften Des Ökologischen Landbaus In Deutschland Und In Der Schweiz – Statistische Analyse Einzelbetrieblicher Daten," 52nd Annual Conference, Stuttgart, Germany, September 26-28, 2012 133414, German Association of Agricultural Economists (GEWISOLA).
    10. András István Kun & Marietta Kiss, 2021. "On the Mechanics of the Organic Label Effect: How Does Organic Labeling Change Consumer Evaluation of Food Products?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-25, January.
    11. González-Azcárate, Mario & Cruz-Maceín, José Luis & Bardají, Isabel, 2022. "Certifications in short food supply chains in the region of Madrid. Part of the alternative?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 195(C).
    12. Felix Zoll & Caitlin K. Kirby & Kathrin Specht & Rosemarie Siebert, 2023. "Exploring member trust in German community-supported agriculture: a multiple regression analysis," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 40(2), pages 709-724, June.
    13. Adina-Roxana MUNTEANU, 2015. "The Third Party Certification System For Organic Products," Network Intelligence Studies, Romanian Foundation for Business Intelligence, Editorial Department, issue 6, pages 145-151, December.
    14. Xin Lin & Shu-Chen Chang & Tung-Hsiang Chou & Shih-Chih Chen & Athapol Ruangkanjanases, 2021. "Consumers’ Intention to Adopt Blockchain Food Traceability Technology towards Organic Food Products," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(3), pages 1-19, January.

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