Consumer evaluation of digital product passport information: Evidence from a conjoint analysis in Japan

This study evaluates consumers' valuation of product information provided through the Digital Product Passport (DPP), a policy initiative introduced under the European Union's Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation. The DPP is a digital record, accessible via data carriers such as QR codes, and designed to support the transition toward a circular economy. While regulatory and industry perspectives on the DPP have been widely discussed, the consumer perspective remains underexplored. This study addresses that gap by applying a choice-based conjoint analysis to quantify consumer preferences for key types of information: sourcing, manufacturing/distribution, recycling, and durability. To this end, an online survey was conducted in March 2025 with 1036 Japanese respondents who evaluated products in three sectors: textiles, electronics, and batteries. The results show that consumers incorporate DPP information into product evaluation, while the types of information they value differ across product sectors when making trade-off decisions. In the textile and electronics sectors, positive price coefficients were observed. Several interpretations are possible, including perceived quality and respondents' interpretation of the price levels presented in the survey. In contrast, in the battery sector, the price coefficient was not statistically significant, and interpretation is more limited, as batteries were evaluated in the broader context of EV purchases. Overall, the study highlights the relevance of DPP information for consumers and its potential role in product evaluation.