Consumer willingness to pay for production attributes of cotton apparel

Abstract

We investigate US consumers' willingness to pay for cotton apparel production and country of origin attributes. Using a choice‐based conjoint experiment and information treatments, we examine the preferences of 727 US shoppers for the attributes: cotton fiber production systems and country of manufacture of the cotton fiber. Random utility theory is the basis for the survey's responses analysis to estimate willingness to pay (WTP) values for the attributes. Choices made by consumers are modeled using a mixed logit model in WTP space estimated using simulated maximum likelihood procedures. Results show that consumers are willing to pay more for cotton apparel from the United States than apparel from other countries, and more for apparel made from fiber produced in organic systems than in conventional systems. Only some subgroups of consumers were found to be affected by exposure to an information treatment regarding potential labor exploitation in cotton farms and textile mills. [EconLit Citations: D12].

Consumer preferences for worker and supply chain risk mitigation in the beef supply chain in response to COVID‐19 pandemic

“…There are few studies that have examined consumer preferences for items like worker safety or industry structure. A recent paper by Boufous et al (2021) did investigate consumer WTP for cotton produced in China under conditions believed to violate human rights in Xinjian province. Despite ample evidence of worker impacts, more direct examinations of WTP for worker safety in meat processing are scant.…”