A field experiment to design healthier foods: Consumer valuation of butter production processes

Improving the nutritional quality of butter may require altering conventional production processes. This study investigates potential trade-offs between consumer preferences for more conventional production processes, and better nutritional quality. We use incentive-compatible experimental auctions to elicit the willingness-to-pay (WTP) for different butters of eighty-six French consumers. We compare WTP for eleven butters and butter-substitutes with various processes and nutritional characteristics, in two successive information conditions 1 – Process, 2 – Process + Nutrition information). The results show that, in the presence of information about process characteristics, consumers value conventional over innovative processes. Additional information about nutritional properties changes the value of products, increasing the value of those with good nutritional content and decreasing that of less beneficial products. However, product differentiation on the basis of nutritional criteria reduces consumers’ WTP for the entire range of products, indicating the existence of a trade-off in favor of their preferences for process characteristics.

► Experimental auctions are used to elicit consumer value of butter characteristics.
► French consumers value conventional processes more than innovative ones.
► Information on the nutritional properties increases the value of innovative processes.
► Conventional processes are less valued in the presence of nutritional information.