Increasing the Sustainability of Ecological Food Signaling: Are Sustainability Tags More Valuable than Eco-Labels and Other Salient Attributes?

Abstract

The effectiveness of eco-labels has dominated research on ecological food signaling. Building on signaling theory, we investigate the impact of sustainability tags (i.e., unverified sustainability claims) compared to eco-labels (i.e., actual awarded eco-certificates) on consumers’ choices and willingness to pay (WTP). We add to the underdeveloped “non eco-labels” literature on sustainability signaling by documenting that a green sustainability tag had a higher importance score and utility compared to an eco-label. The tag led to larger “green segments” valuing sustainability as the most important attribute when buying salmon fillets. Furthermore, consumers were willing to pay 23.1% more for fillets with sustainability tags. This was significantly higher than the additional value ascribed to fillets with MSC eco-labels. This increase in WTP was mediated by perceived familiarity, where tags were rated higher in familiarity compared to eco-labels. The majority of consumers were unfamiliar with frequently used seafood eco-labels (ASC/MSC).

Keywords: Sustainability signaling, sustainability tags, eco-labels, active retailing, environmental sustainability, multi-attribute decision making