Is this Food “Local?” Evidence from a Framed Field Experiment
Date
2019-04
Authors
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Publisher
Department of Applied Economics and Statistics, University of Delaware, Newark, DE.
Abstract
In the marketplace, consumers often see foods labeled as “local.” But laws regarding
what foods can be labeled as local vary, and how consumers perceive the definition of such labels has received little attention. To study this question, we designed a framed field experiment that took advantage of the small distances in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States and oyster harvesting locations. In this novel study, consumers were
presented with purchase decisions for a food that could be accurately characterized by
multiple definitions of the term local, some definitions based on mileage and others on
political boundaries. We analyze responses from 374 adult consumers to estimate
willingness to pay (WTP) for oysters labeled as local using these various definitions.
We find that consumers are responsive to the label definitions. Consumers are less
willing to pay for local oysters defined as harvested within 400 miles (the USDA
definition of a local food) than for local oysters harvested within 100 miles and 25 miles.
Consumers’ WTP increases when local is defined as being harvested in a region
associated with the same state of the purchase decision than when harvested in an
adjacent state. Interestingly, the highest WTP is when no specific definition of local is
provided to consumers.
Description
Keywords
Local foods, Label definition, Framed field experiments