Consentement à payer pour des pêches conventionnelles et biologiques : n'y a-t-il que le physique qui compte ?

Given the increasing differentiation in the characteristics of fresh products in sales areas, the aim of this paper is to study consumer interest for particular attributes like production methods and the physical characteristics of the products. For that purpose, we conducted a laboratory experiment with several information stages that allows us to measure consumers willingness to pay for conventional and organic peaches and for peaches with specific physical characteristics (with defects and perfectly ripped). Results suggest that on average, consumers are willing to pay more for organic than for conventional peaches given identical physical characteristics. Regarding the presence of defects, we find they cause a relatively small devaluation of the products. In addition, the willingness to pay for organic peaches with defects is on average at least equal to the willingness to pay for conventional peaches without defects. Finally, when the information about ripeness is given, consumers are more likely to devalue the products harvested at the commercial date rather than promoting the product harvested at a most advanced stage of ripeness.