Consumers' willingness to pay for GLOBALGAP certified chicken: Empirical evidence from a consumer survey in Bangladesh

Concern regarding chicken meat safety and quality has increased in recent years due to frequent exposure of food-safety-related incidents in Bangladesh. In order to boost consumer confidence, the government of Bangladesh has taken a number of policy measures to improve the safety and quality of fresh foods. Among them, the introduction of fresh food certification is regarded as a critical tool for mitigating threats to food safety. However, little is known about whether Bangladeshi consumers are willing to pay a price premium for certified fresh foods, or what factors influence their willingness to pay (WTP). We particularly investigated consumers' WTP for two types of GLOBALG.A.P. (good agricultural practices) certified chicken (broiler and Sonali chicken) by using contingent valuation method (CVM). A survey was conducted on 384 consumers of Dhaka. Payment card method was employed to elicit WTP. Our findings reveal that consumers are willing to pay a premium of 45.87 BDT/kg (36.69%) for GLOBALG.A.P. certified live broiler and 51.98 BDT/kg (25.99%) for GLOBALG.A.P. certified live Sonali chicken. Interval data regression model was used. The result shows that consumers' age, education, monthly family income, chicken consumption per month and meat safety risk perception had a significant impact on their WTP for both types of chicken while taste was a significant factor only for broiler chicken. Nevertheless, gender, marital status and shopping responsibility had no significant impact on WTP. The findings on WTP for GLOBALG.A.P. certified chicken confirm that the government should introduce certification to meet increasing consumer demand for safe meat.