2022, Volume 25, Paper 3
ISSN: 2209-6612

Issues in the Adoption and Promotion of a Low Carbon Emissions Label for Beef

Rolf Schneeberger – Postgraduate student, Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, University of Melbourne, Parkville.
Garry Griffith – Associate Professor, Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, University of Melbourne, Parkville.

Abstract

In recent years, concern about climate change has increased consumer interest in sustainability issues. Consumers have become more meticulous in their food choices, involving in their decisions different aspects such as where their food comes from and the background associated with it. This new scenario shapes an innovative framework for the value chain, where carbon emissions (CE) labels could emerge as an attractive opportunity, providing information about the environmental impact of a product. Through a systematic literature review, this paper assesses consumers’ willingness to pay premium prices for beef products labelled with CE information. The existing literature on this topic is extremely scarce. The willingness to pay for CE has been researched more extensively for other groceries than for beef alone, just as sustainability labels have not been researched in-depth in contrast with other credence attributes. Therefore, studies investigating these broader topics are analysed and their conclusions extrapolated to beef to understand potential consumer reactions to CE labelling. The findings show that consumers claim to support ecological ideas and value the CE label but are not willing to pay higher prices to have access to this information. Instead, they prefer to buy a less carbon-intensive substitute option.

Keywords: Carbon emissions, willingness to pay, beef, ecological labels, sustainability

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