Exploring the impacts of food label format on consumer willingness to pay for environmental sustainability: a choice experiment approach in the United Kingdom and Japan

Abstract

Although there are a plethora of food labels signalling environmental attributes, research examining the impact differing label formats have on preferences is limited. In a choice experiment concerning fruit choices in Japan and the United Kingdom, this study explores impacts on consumer willingness to pay across two formats representing those currently applied, and a nascent compass format. No single format systematically leads to higher or lower values. However, preferences for increased nutrient content are found to be very sensitive to label format, while preferences for carbon emissions reductions are not affected. This finding suggests a degree of homogeneity for public goods versus private. We find a distinction between the compass label design and formats employing text with implications for label design discussed.