| Abstract: |
How are consumer attitudes towards eco-labeled products affected by a
profusion of labels? This article provides both theoretical and empirical
insight into this issue. Assuming that consumers perceive a label both as a
sign of quality and of a particular characteristic of a product, we deduce
theoretical determinants for preferences for three types of label: a health
label, an eco-label and a fair trade label. Using a French survey on seafood
products, the estimation of a rank-ordered multinomial logit with random
intercepts shows a certain proximity between the profiles of pro-eco-label and
pro-fair trade label consumers, whereas pro-health label individuals have a
more distinct profile: The two former are more likely to be young men mainly
concerned with fishing conditions, whereas the latter are older married women
with children who pay attention to the product form. We relate preferences for
labels to degree of altruism, environmental consciousness and other
socio-economic features. |