Consumer Demand for Fair Trade: Evidence from a Multistore Field Experiment

A-Tier
Journal: Review of Economics and Statistics
Year: 2015
Volume: 97
Issue: 2
Pages: 242-256

Score contribution per author:

1.341 = (α=2.01 / 3 authors) × 2.0x A-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

We provide new evidence on consumer demand for ethical products from experiments conducted in a U.S. grocery store chain. We find that sales of the two most popular coffees rose by almost 10% when they carried a Fair Trade label as compared to a generic placebo label. Demand for the higher-priced coffee remained steady when its price was raised by 8%, but demand for the lower-priced coffee was elastic: a 9% price increase led to a 30% decline in sales. While consumers attach value to ethical sourcing, there is significant heterogeneity in willingness to pay for it. © 2015 The President and Fellows of Harvard College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:tpr:restat:v:97:y:2015:i:2:p:242-256
Journal Field
General
Author Count
3
Added to Database
2026-01-25