Browsing by Author "Savchenko, Olesya"
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Item Fresh Foods Irrigated With Recycled Water: A Framed Field Experiment on Consumer Response(Department of Applied Economics and Statistics, University of Delaware, Newark, DE., 2018-01) Xu, Huidong; Savchenko, Olesya; Kecinski, Maik; Messer, Kent D.; Li, TongzheRecycled water is one potential solution to meeting the growing demand for irrigation water in the U.S. and worldwide. However, widespread adoption of recycled water by agriculture will depend on consumers’ acceptance of food crops grown with this water. In a revealed-preference dichotomous-choice framed field experiment, this study elicits consumers’ willingness to pay (WTP) for fresh produce irrigated with recycled water. It also evaluates consumers’ behavioral responses to information about the environmental benefits and potential health risks of recycled irrigation water. The results suggest that consumers are less willing to pay for produce irrigated with recycled water than for produce irrigated with water of an unspecified type. Information about potential health risks associated with recycled water reduces consumers’ WTP by nearly 50% while information about its environmental benefits does not have a substantial impact. However, a behavioral intervention that presents individuals with a balanced information treatment leads to a 30% increase in mean WTP for produce irrigated with recycled water relative to the experimental control. However, this effect is only found with vegetables and not with fruit, perhaps because fruit is usually consumed raw. Most of the demographic characteristics analyzed in the experiment did not influence consumers’ likelihood of purchasing produce irrigated with recycled water; the exception was presence of a child in the household—those consumers were less likely to purchase the produce, particularly fruits, irrigated with recycled water.Item Mitigating Stigma Associated with Recycled Water: Aquifer Recharge and Trophic Levels(Department of Applied Economics and Statistics, University of Delaware, Newark, DE., 2019-12) Ellis, Sean F.; Savchenko, Olesya; Messer, Kent D.Stigmatization of water and food products can constrain markets and prevent the implementation of scientifically safe solutions to environmental problems, such as water scarcity. Recycled water can be a cost-effective, dependable, and safe solution to water shortages, however, consumers generally either require a large reduction in price to purchase and eat products made with recycled water or reject such products outright. If emerging agricultural technologies, such as recycled water are to be used to address growing water shortages worldwide, policymakers and industry stakeholders must identify effective strategies for mitigating stigma. Using a field experiment involving 314 adult participants, we test the effectiveness of two stigma-mitigating techniques that have not previously been explored. Our analysis suggests that passing recycled water through a natural barrier, such as an aquifer, removes the stigma consumers would otherwise attach to it. We also find that the trophic level an organism occupies in the food chain influences stigmatizing behavior. The greater the steps in the food chain between an organism and the use of recycled water, the less it is stigmatized. A plant crop used for food possesses the same qualities and contagions as the water with which it is irrigated but a food animal that eats that crop does not, or at least not to the same extent. These results have important implications for efforts to promote large-scale potable and non-potable recycled water projects and the use of recycled water in the agricultural industry.