Are consumers willing to pay more for electricity from cooperatives? Results from an online Choice Experiment in Germany

Sagebiel, Julian; Müller, Jakob; Rommel, Jens

doi:10.1016/j.erss.2014.04.003

Cited by 126 publications

(54 citation statements)

References 74 publications

(41 reference statements)

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“…While some companies ensure instantaneous generation from renewable sources at all times, other companies base their green power tariffs on Tradable Renewable Certificates which give rise to relabeling and fraud (cf. Sagebiel et al, 2014). It is difficult for consumers to observe the electricity generation process and assess its environmental impact, thus creating a potential "lemon market" (Akerlof, 1970) for renewable energy.…”

Section: Theoretical Framework and Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We used a d-efficient design, optimized for a multinomial logit model with priors taken from a previous study (Sagebiel et al, 2014), created with the software package NGene (ChoiceMetrics, 2012) which resulted in 24 choice sets divided into three blocks. Thus, each respondent faced eight choice sets.…”

Section: Experimental Design and Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Besides price, a supplier's general service, or the share of renewable energy, various characteristics of suppliers have been identified as important attributes of electricity contracts in discrete choice experiments (Amador et al, 2013;Murakami et al, 2015). Firm size, location, or commitments to price transparency affect consumers' willingness-to-pay (WTP) for electricity (Kaenzig et al, 2013;Sagebiel et al, 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Quality uncertainty and the market for renewable energy: Evidence from German consumers

2016

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Consumers can choose from a wide range of electricity supply contracts, including green power options. Electricity produced from renewable energy involves information asymmetries. With a sample of more than 2,000 German electricity consumers, we tested the proposition of a "lemon market" for renewable energy in a discrete choice experiment.Specifically, we found that, compared to investor-owned firms, additional willingness-to-pay (WTP) for renewable energy is approximately double when offered by cooperatives or municipally-owned electricity utilities. Consumers who are experienced with switching suppliers have an additional WTP of one Eurocent per kilowatt hour for cooperatives and two Eurocents for public enterprises. The results demonstrate that organizational transformation in dynamically-changing electricity markets is not only driven by political initiatives but also by consumers' choices on the market. Public policy may reduce information asymmetries by promoting government labeling of green energy products.

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Section: Theoretical Framework and Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Experimental Design and Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Quality uncertainty and the market for renewable energy: Evidence from German consumers

2016

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“…The identified aspects that should influence potential adopters are: the preference for locally produced electricity, the sensitivity to increases in the cost of electricity, and the reduced awareness on environmental issues. Sagebiel et al (2014) showed how in Germany customers have a slightly higher willingness to pay for renewable electricity produced within cooperatives. In particular, customers appears to be mainly attracted by the fact that electricity from a cooperative is produced from renewable resources and to a smaller extent they value the facts that this electricity is produced locally, democratically, and transparently.…”

Section: Determinants Selectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Willingness to pay Kaufmann et al (2013) and Sagebiel et al (2014) Table 10 Customer awareness Curtius et al (2012), Kaufmann et al (2013), and Tabi et al (2014) Table 11 Building ownership Sagebiel et al (2014) and Ebers and Wüstenhagen (2015) Macro-economy Hofman and Huisman (2012), Masini and Menichetti (2012), and Masini and Menichetti (2013) category a number of determinants have been selected. The LEM typology determinants have been derived from technical considerations based on the available scientific literature on distributed generation typologies aiming to generally cover all possible LEM typologies.…”

Section: The Selection Of the Determinantsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Business Model Innovation for Local Energy Management: A Perspective from Swiss Utilities

et al. 2016

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The successful deployment of the energy transition relies on a deep reorganization of the energy market. Business model innovation is recognized as a key driver of this process. This work contributes to this topic by providing to potential local energy management (LEM) stakeholders and policy makers a conceptual framework guiding the LEM business model innovation. The main determinants characterizing LEM concepts and impacting its business model innovation are identified through literature reviews on distributed generation typologies and customer/investor preferences related to new business opportunities emerging with the energy transition. Afterwards, the relation between the identified determinants and the LEM business model solution space is analyzed based on semi-structured interviews with managers of Swiss utilities companies. The collected managers' preferences serve as explorative indicators supporting the business model innovation process and provide insights into policy makers on challenges and opportunities related to LEM.

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Product differentiation by marketing and processing cooperatives: A choice experiment with cheese and cereal products

Grashuis

Magnier

2018

Agribusiness

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With ongoing consolidation of food retailers and segmentation of consumer preferences, agri‐food producers and manufacturers have increased motivation to pursue product differentiation. We study if and how farmer cooperatives can build brand equity to drive or support product differentiation. With emphasis on ownership type and product origin, we conduct two choice experiments with cheese and cereal consumers in the United States. The results of our multinomial logit model indicate farmer cooperatives can command a price premium as compared to store brands, but not as much as non‐cooperatives. Cheese and cereal consumers also indicate a general willingness to pay for product origin and family ownership attributes, but the effects are not always compatible with farmer cooperatives. Overall, although price premiums for cooperative brands and labels may exist across various product categories, the heterogeneity in willingness to pay estimates for other product attributes is suggestive of the difficulties farmer cooperatives face in pursuit of product differentiation. [EconLit citations: Q11, Q13, M30]

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Are consumers willing to pay more for electricity from cooperatives? Results from an online Choice Experiment in Germany

Cited by 126 publications

References 74 publications

Quality uncertainty and the market for renewable energy: Evidence from German consumers

Quality uncertainty and the market for renewable energy: Evidence from German consumers

Business Model Innovation for Local Energy Management: A Perspective from Swiss Utilities

Product differentiation by marketing and processing cooperatives: A choice experiment with cheese and cereal products

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