Perception bias, social embedding and consumer willingness to pay for chilled pork packaging: empirical analysis based on multiple experiments
ISSN: 0007-070X
Article publication date: 13 November 2023
Issue publication date: 8 January 2024
Abstract
Purpose
The paper proposes a research method to verify the perception bias of consumers on the freshness preservation effects of vacuum packaging (VP) and modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) chilled pork packages, the influence of “sensory experience” on correcting consumers' perception bias of packaging performance and willingness-to-pay (WTP) enhancement channels.
Design/methodology/approach
Using data from 458 and 188 participants who completed the contingent valuation method (CVM) and auction experiment, respectively, the study aimed to uncover consumers' packing quality perception bias and WTP, and investigated the societal factors that contribute to variations in WTP.
Findings
The CVM experiment revealed that although consumers' high perception bias rate toward MAP to maintain freshness, as compared to lab test results, came along with low WTP premium to cost rate with sensory experience in the auction experiment, the proportion of consumers with quality perception bias decreased from 49.85% to 34.46%, while the WTP premium to cost rate for MAP increased largely by 36.7%. Perceptive embedding has a positive effect on chilled pork packaging WTP, while normative embedding decreases WTP.
Originality/value
The findings emphasize the need of public policies to promote positive consumption attitudes, while whittling the negative consumption norms, to increase the WTP for packaged child pork and promote the chilled pork market formation.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This work is supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 72073118), the major project of National Social Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 19ZDA106), and the major project from Zhejiang Social Science Planning Office “Comprehensive Formation of Green production and Life style Research”.
Jiehong Zhou and Fei Han share equal contribution as co-first authors. They also share the senior authorship.
Citation
Zhou, J., Han, F., Han, X. and Yan, Z. (2024), "Perception bias, social embedding and consumer willingness to pay for chilled pork packaging: empirical analysis based on multiple experiments", British Food Journal, Vol. 126 No. 2, pp. 645-661. https://doi.org/10.1108/BFJ-02-2023-0096
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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