Consumer preference for food products addressing multiple dimensions of poverty: Evidence from China

Abstract

Poverty alleviation products are made by impoverished producers and marketed as such to improve producers’ returns. We implement an online discrete choice experiment on rice in China to explore consumer preference for products specifically labelled as poverty alleviation products that represent multiple dimensions of poverty. We also differentiate the nature of public and private goods in terms of poverty alleviation products. Compared to products with unknown producer income, rice produced by impoverished producers with the lowest income attracts a higher willingness to pay (WTP). Poor women producers lead to the highest WTP compared to poor senior producers and producers with disabilities. Offering additional income information after revealing types of impoverished producers may not continuously improve WTP. However, presenting the private good attributes supplements the value of public good characteristics. Our analysis provides implications on how to combat poverty through the market, and policymakers may consider a complete labelling scheme to facilitate the development of poverty alleviation products.