Are French consumers ready to pay a premium for eco-labeled seafood products? A contingent valuation estimation with heterogeneous anchoring

Could the future French eco-label for fresh seafood products find its place in the French market? This study employs a contingent valuation method to estimate French consumers' willingness-to-pay (WTP) for eco-labeled fresh seafood products. We exploit original data from a survey carried out in 2010, where 626 participants responded to a double-bounded dichotomous choice model, through an ascending or descending bid system. Controlling for shift and anchoring effects in random effect probit models, we significantly improve estimation of WTP and its determinants for the three species studied (monkfish, lobster, sole), in particular when using heterogeneous anchoring. We show that WTP is positively correlated to respondents' income, and also to their environmental concern, to living alone, to living far from the coast, and to trusting NGOs or public institutions more than producer organizations to implement an eco-label. We also show that the mean price premiums do not differ between species. Finally, on average, the maximum premium consumers accepted to pay is approximately 10% of the product price.