Prof. Michael Hiscox Department of Government Harvard University Just Supply Chain Conference Stanford, May 16-17, 2008 Consumer Demand for Ethical Standards: Field Experiments with Ethical Product Labeling
Will consumers pay extra for standards? What do we know about consumer demand for standards? Surveys: About 75% of consumers say that would pay more for products made with good labor standards Sales: The US market for Fair Trade Certified goods has grown by almost 50% per year since 2001 Our field experiments to test consumer responses to ethical product labeling: In-store experiments: label items/displays, alter prices Using eBay: auction labeled/unlabeled items
Our eBay auctions Coffee: created our own brand of fresh roasted beans; all Fair Trade certified Polo Shirts: sourced shirts from Cutter & Buck’s SA8000 certified suppliers Method: we sold labeled and unlabeled coffee and shirts in simultaneous auctions
eBay Auction Results COFFEE AUCTION PAIRS (n=81) Bid Prices: Total Prices (incl. shipping): Fair TradeControl%PremiumFair TradeControl%Premium Mean % % Std
eBay Auction Results SHIRT AUCTION PAIRS (n=28) Bid Prices: Total Prices (incl. shipping): SA 8000Control%PremiumSA 8000Control%Premium Mean % % Std
eBay Auction Results
New research on the way … In-store experiments with a leading grocery retailer: Experiments with labels, product displays, and prices, in all their New England stores Labels include retailer’s own-brand ethical label as well as Fair Trade Certified and Rainforest Alliance Certified Online experiments and surveys: Survey of all bidders in our eBay auctions to examine the socio-demographic predictors of ethical consumption Online retail store with treatments (labels, prices, information) randomized across individual shoppers