Do consumers care about clean labels? Willingness to pay for simple ingredient lists and front‐of‐package labels on beef and plant‐based burgers

Abstract

AbstractWe use an online hypothetical discrete choice experiment to examine willingness to pay for two dimensions of a clean label: simple ingredient lists and front‐of‐package labels. Experimental subjects were asked to choose between beef burgers, plant‐based burgers, and hybrid burgers made with beef and plant protein. The burgers had either a simple or complex ingredient list and could also be labeled as organic or an excellent source of protein. Subjects were divided into two treatments: a treatment in which ingredient lists were always visible, and a treatment in which the ingredient lists were only visible if subjects clicked on the product image (click treatment). Subjects were willing to pay a premium of $4.55–$5.58 for products with simple ingredient lists in the visible ingredient treatment (relative to base prices of $5.00 to $12.50). This premium was reduced to $1.82–$2.29 in the click treatment. Willingness to pay for the organic and excellent source of protein labels was considerably lower and was generally insignificant, ranging from ‐$0.17 (and statistically insignificant) to $0.73. Willingness to pay for simple ingredient lists and front‐of‐package labels were not correlated, suggesting that demand for these attributes does not stem from an underlying preference for clean labels.