Jewish and not Jewish consumers’ preferences for a typical kosher product – an artefactual field experiment

Abstract

The demand for kosher foods is significantly increasing worldwide, however little is known about the characteristics and motivations driving consumer choices. Applying a non-hypothetical artefactual field experiment, we explore the driving forces of Jewish and non-Jewish consumers’ monetary preferences for a kosher product and its conventional counterpart. The product investigated in the study was pálinka, a protected designation of origin spirit, well known to Hungarian citizens and widely available in a kosher version.

163 over-aged consumers, nearly half of whom identified as Jewish, participated in incentive-compatible experiments in Budapest (Hungary). Findings show that respondents who prefer the kosher spirit tend to have higher education levels, consider kosher products healthier, and are primarily Jewish, with higher Power (sense of greater power) value. Surprisingly, findings reveal that non-Jewish respondents who value kosher product attributes have a higher willingness to pay a premium compared to Jewish consumers.