Consumer willingness to pay for environmentally sustainable meat and a plant-based meat substitute

Abstract

We investigate consumers' willingness to pay premiums for environmentally sustainably produced meat and plant-based meat substitutes. We conducted a randomized control study coupled with an incentive-compatible experimental auction. Treatment consisted of information nudges concerning the environmental and health externalities of meat production and consumption. Results show that demand for sustainably produced beef and a plant-based meat substitute is inelastic. We elicited participants' time preferences to analyze whether consumer behavior varies with their time preference. Present-biased treated female participants were willing to pay a significantly lower premium for sustainably produced beef compared to the present-biased control female participants. Future-biased treated participants had a higher probability of being willing to pay a premium for a plant-based meat substitute compared to the control group. We discuss the policy implications and relevance of information nudging, such as labeling, and how the effect of such nudging varies with participant characteristics.