In this study, conjoint measurement (see hereafter) was used to confront consumers with realistic multiattribute choice decisions. Instead of studying their attitudes or preferences, their willingness to pay was measured. As such, the importance of the price factor was explicitly taken into account. Furthermore, willingness to pay is assessed as a measurement of buying intention that can be considered a realistic proxy for actual behavior. A fair-trade coffee label needs to be efficiently monitored and subjected to third-party certification in order to become credible. This implies additional costs and a price premium for the consumer. Indeed, fair-trade coffee is more expensive than non–fair-trade coffee. Based on the willingness to pay for this label, the size of the potential fair-trade coffee–buying population was estimated.
As is the case with ethical consumption in general, not everyone is equally likely to buy fair-trade products. For instance, Littrell and Dickson (1999) found that buyers of cultural (ethnic) fair-trade products were demographically quite homogeneous and consisted of highly educated, well-off Caucasian women in their forties. A large proportion of them were teachers, health professionals, and social workers. Idea Consult (2002) concluded that the Belgian fair-trade consumer is relatively highly educated and has a relatively high income and social status. In addition, personal values appear to play a role in fair-trade buying behavior. For instance, Littrell and Dickson (1999) found that buyers of cultural fair-trade products attached more importance to altruism, equality, peace, and a beautiful and environmentally secure world, and less importance to inner-directed values such as self-respect and inner harmony. In this study, consumers are segmented according to their willingness to pay for different coffee attributes (including the fair-trade attribute). The consumer segments are then defined based on sociodemographic characteristics and their terminal and instrumental values.
In this study, conjoint measurement (see hereafter) was used to confront consumers with realistic multiattribute choice decisions. Instead of studying their attitudes or preferences, their willingness to pay was measured. As such, the importance of the price factor was explicitly taken into account. Furthermore, willingness to pay is assessed as a measurement of buying intention that can be considered a realistic proxy for actual behavior. A fair-trade coffee label needs to be efficiently monitored and subjected to third-party certification in order to become credible. This implies additional costs and a price premium for the consumer. Indeed, fair-trade coffee is more expensive than non–fair-trade coffee. Based on the willingness to pay for this label, the size of the potential fair-trade coffee–buying population was estimated.As is the case with ethical consumption in general, not everyone is equally likely to buy fair-trade products. For instance, Littrell and Dickson (1999) found that buyers of cultural (ethnic) fair-trade products were demographically quite homogeneous and consisted of highly educated, well-off Caucasian women in their forties. A large proportion of them were teachers, health professionals, and social workers. Idea Consult (2002) concluded that the Belgian fair-trade consumer is relatively highly educated and has a relatively high income and social status. In addition, personal values appear to play a role in fair-trade buying behavior. For instance, Littrell and Dickson (1999) found that buyers of cultural fair-trade products attached more importance to altruism, equality, peace, and a beautiful and environmentally secure world, and less importance to inner-directed values such as self-respect and inner harmony. In this study, consumers are segmented according to their willingness to pay for different coffee attributes (including the fair-trade attribute). The consumer segments are then defined based on sociodemographic characteristics and their terminal and instrumental values.
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