CONSUMER PREFERENCES FOR GREEN RESTAURANT PRACTICES

Environment Agriculture Food (EAF) Group at the University of Chicago Consumer Research Team Green Restaurant Research Team Program on Global Environment at University of Chicago WHO ARE WE

The most important claims to impact willingness to pay are: 1. Local and Organic 2. Fair Trade 3. Carbon Reduction Onozaka, Yuko Et. Al., “Defining Sustainable Food Market Segments: Do Motivations and Values Vary by Shopping Locale,” American Journal of Agricultural Economics, January 2011 Summary of Others Findings

Opportunities to drive demand are: Recycling Use of double door Local sourced menu options Ray Wang, “Investigations of Important and Effective Effects of Green Practices in Restaurants,” Procedia : Social and Behavioral Sciences , Summary of Others Findings

About 85% of Americans are willing to pay something for green practices (Our survey confirms this for Chicagoans) Schubert, Kandampully, Solnet, Kralj “Exploring Consumer Perceptions of Green Restaurants in the US,” School of Tourism, University of Queensland, 2010 Summary of Others Findings

Survey of 321 patrons from Chicago Area via Surveymonkey General dining characteristics Consumer environmental concerns Willingness to pay for green practices General demographics OUR SURVEY

KEY QUESTIONS In the past MONTH, how many times have you purchased food from any of the following types of restaurants? Restaurant Purchases Monthly Restaurant TypeMeanSD WTP Corr Fast Food Fast Casual Pizza Casual Sit Down Fine Sit Down

KEY QUESTIONS On AVERAGE, how much do you spend when you eat out? Amount Paid MealAmount Breakfast$7.97 Lunch$10.93 Dinner $21.28

KEY QUESTIONS On a scale of 1-10, when choosing to visit a restaurant for DINNER, how important are the following characteristics about the restaurant? Restaurant Characteristics CharacteristicScore Menu8.4 Value for Money8.2 Convenient Location7.5 Informed Staff7.0 Ambiance6.8 Local Food Choices5.7 Energy/Water Conservation3.8 Recycling/Composting3.8 Organic Food Choices3.6

KEY QUESTIONS What characteristics do you expect green restaurants to exhibit? From most to least common: Tasty Modern Vegetarian Friendly Independent New Artisanal Expensive

KEY QUESTIONS How do you usually find out that a restaurant is engaged in environmentally friendly practices? From Most to Least Common While Dining Restaurant Website Publicity Friends/Family Social Media Another Website Community Outreach

Who are you serving? We divided patrons into three “clusters”- different groupings based on data analysis We segmented these clusters even more to determine their preferences with regards to certain environmental factors CONSUMER SEGMENTATION

CLUSTER DESCRIPTIONS 1: Not Engaged—not engaged with environmental issues; the food factor is ambiguous 2: Highly Engaged—people who are highly engaged in the environment and food issues 3: Eco-Conscious—people who are engaged in the environment but not food

DEMOGRAPHICS ClustersCountAverage Income Average Age Percent Female Not Engaged78$85, Highly Engaged 173$97, Eco- Conscious 45$64, Full Sample296$89,

AVERAGE SPENDING EATING OUT ClustersBreakfastLunchDinner Not Engaged$8.42$10.85$20.85 Highly Engaged$7.86$10.99$21.76 Eco-Conscious$7.65$10.80$20.05 Average$7.94$10.93$21.28

On a scale of 1-10, how does the fact that a food item is USDA Certified Organic affect your decision to buy the item? On a scale of 1-10, how much do you trust claims from restaurants about environmentally friendly practices? CONSUMER TRUST SURVEY QUESTIONS

CONSUMER TRUST ClustersUSDA Certification Trusting Restaurants Not Engaged Highly Engaged Eco-Conscious Average

Conjoint analysis for entrees between $15 - $19 Tested willingness to pay for: 80% of ingredients organic, 50% or no organic. Locally sourced ingredients v.s Not local CONJOINT INTRODUCTION

CONJOINT DATA RESULTS Price Premiums FeatureAllMaleFemale Not Engaged Highly Engaged Eco- Conscious 50% Organic$1.58$1.31$2.14$0$2.07$ % Organic Local

Price Premiums Feature 0 – 25,000 25,000 – 50,000 50,000 – 75,000 75,000 – 100, ,000 or more 50% Organic$1.31$1.13$1.87$1.72$ % Organic Local CONJOINT INCOME

CONJOINT AGE Price Premiums Feature – >60 50% Organic$2.20$2.00$1.30$ % Organic Local

While Chicago ranks 8 for frequency for carry out lunch, it is not in the top 20 for dine in lunch Chicagoans tend to describe themselves as “Foodies” more often then other Americans In terms of WTP for green practices Chicagoans are not different with the exception of highly educated consumers have higher WTP in Chicago then elsewhere CHICAGO VS USA Source: “Dinning Out,” Living Social, Washington, September 15, 2011.

Chicagoans are willing to pay a premium! Communicate: website draws consumers, during dining repeat business Consumers are more likely to believe green claims when they are specific and what they can relate to Eco-conscious consumers care more about green practices than foodies, but foodies care too Affluent women age 30-44: highest demand for green practices Consumers care most about local food and recycling GENERAL CONCLUSIONS

Green Chicago Restaurant Coalition Green Seal Public Policy Department at the University of Chicago Pam Cohen Nancy Himmelfarb Sabina Shaikh ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS