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.