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Audiovisual pesticide label: A digital expert to promote accurate pesticide use

Author

Listed:
  • Chen, Juhui
  • Bai, Junfei
  • Lu, Xi
  • Ma, Yinghui
  • Zhou, Meng

Abstract

Text-based pesticide labels have been widely proven to be dysfunctional in guiding and educating farmers on the proper use of pesticides in many developing countries. The existing studies, however, fail to explore more economically effective approaches for activating label information content. In this study, through a well-designed lab-in-the-field experiment, we propose and empirically verify that an audiovisual label affixed with a QR code encoded with a pesticide operation video can significantly reduce the overuse of pesticides by approximately 15% on average and improve dosage accuracy. Audiovisual labels not only decrease pesticide use among farmers already using labels but also encourage more farmers to follow label instructions, broadening the reduction in pesticide usage. The stronger effects are observed among farmers who distrust retailers but trust labels, as well as among those with relatively higher levels of education, suggesting that trust and education jointly shape the effectiveness of audiovisual labels.

Suggested Citation

  • Chen, Juhui & Bai, Junfei & Lu, Xi & Ma, Yinghui & Zhou, Meng, 2026. "Audiovisual pesticide label: A digital expert to promote accurate pesticide use," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:chieco:v:95:y:2026:i:c:s1043951x25002585
    DOI: 10.1016/j.chieco.2025.102600
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