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Do Japanese consumers care about sustainable fisheries? Evidence from an auction of ecolabelled seafood

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  • Uchida, Hirotsugu
  • Roheim, Cathy A.
  • Wakamatsu, Hiroki
  • Anderson, Christopher M.

Abstract

This paper investigates Japanese consumers’ willingness to pay for Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) ecolabelled seafood using a sealed bid, second price auction. Participants in an experiment in Tokyo were provided varying degrees of information about the status of world and Japanese fisheries and the MSC program in sequential rounds of bidding on ecolabelled and nonlabelled salmon products. A random-effects tobit regression shows that there is a statistically significant premium of about 20 per cent for MSC-ecolabelled salmon over nonlabelled salmon when consumers are provided information on both the status of global fish stocks and the purpose of the MSC program. This premium arises from a combination of an increased willingness to pay for labelled products and a decreased willingness to pay for unlabelled products. However, in the absence of experimenter-provided information, or when provided information about the purpose of the MSC program alone without concurrent information about the need for the MSC program, there is no statistically significant premium.

Suggested Citation

  • Uchida, Hirotsugu & Roheim, Cathy A. & Wakamatsu, Hiroki & Anderson, Christopher M., 2014. "Do Japanese consumers care about sustainable fisheries? Evidence from an auction of ecolabelled seafood," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 58(2), April.
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:aareaj:260084
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.260084
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    5. Gregori, M. & Nassivera, F., 2014. "Health and Green consciousness in consumer behavior: a case study on Eco-labelled food products," Politica Agricola Internazionale - International Agricultural Policy, Edizioni L'Informatore Agrario, vol. 2014(3).
    6. Chengyan Yue & Yufeng Lai & Jingjing Wang & Paul Mitchell, 2020. "Consumer Preferences for Sustainable Product Attributes and Farm Program Features," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(18), pages 1-19, September.
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    8. Shi, Longzhong & Chen, Xuan & Qiu, Jingran & Li, Li, 2022. "Consumers Preferences for Eco-Labels and the Impact of Information: A Choice Experiment on Aquatic Food Products in China," 2022 Annual Meeting, July 31-August 2, Anaheim, California 322209, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    9. Bronnmann, Julia & Asche, Frank, 2017. "Sustainable Seafood From Aquaculture and Wild Fisheries: Insights From a Discrete Choice Experiment in Germany," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 113-119.
    10. Raineau, Yann & Giraud-Héraud, Éric & Lecocq, Sébastien & Pérès, Stéphanie & Pons, Alexandre & Tempère, Sophie, 2023. "When health-related claims impact environmental demand: Results of experimental auctions with Bordeaux wine consumers," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 204(PA).
    11. Kai-Lih Chen & Wei-Hsin Kong & Chi-Cheng Chen & Je-Liang Liou, 2021. "Evaluating Benefits of Eco-Agriculture: The Cases of Farms along Taiwan’s East Coast in Yilan and Hualien," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(19), pages 1-23, September.
    12. Higgins, Kieran & Hutchinson, W. George & Longo, Alberto, 2020. "Willingness-to-Pay for Eco-Labelled Forest Products in Northern Ireland: An Experimental Auction Approach," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    13. Michael Grimm & Nathalie Luck & Franziska Steinhübel, 2023. "Consumers' willingness to pay for organic rice: Insights from a non‐hypothetical experiment in Indonesia," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 67(1), pages 83-103, January.
    14. Esther Blanco & Javier Lozano, 2015. "Ecolabels, uncertified abatement, and the sustainability of natural resources: an evolutionary approach," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 25(3), pages 623-647, July.
    15. Loana Garraud & Jennifer Beckensteiner & Olivier Thébaud & Joachim Claudet, 2023. "Ecolabel certification in multi-zone marine protected areas can incentivize sustainable fishing practices and offset the costs of fishing effort displacement," Post-Print hal-04158288, HAL.
    16. Lucio CECCHINI & Biancamaria TORQUATI & Massimo CHIORRI, 2018. "Sustainable agri-food products: A review of consumer preference studies through experimental economics," Agricultural Economics, Czech Academy of Agricultural Sciences, vol. 64(12), pages 554-565.

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