No Palm Oil or Certified Sustainable Palm Oil? Heterogeneous Consumer Preferences and the Role of Information

Abstract

Public concerns about the adverse effects of palm oil production and consumption have contributed both to the development of certification standards for sustainable palm oil and to the promotion of palm-oil-free products. While research on consumer preferences for palm oil is growing, potential trade-offs between these two options—products containing certified palm oil versus palm-oil-free products—are still largely unexplored. Focusing on this research gap, a discrete choice experiment involving chocolate cookies was implemented as part of a web survey among consumers in Germany. Results indicate that consumers on average prefer palm-oil-free cookies, although a latent class analysis identifies several consumer segments that differ in terms of preferences, attitudes, and characteristics. Many respondents are highly price-sensitive. After the provision of additional information, stated preferences for certified palm oil increase, but four out of five consumer segments still prefer palm-oil-free products. Prevailing health concerns and a potential lack of trust in certification might explain this choice behavior. As alternatives to palm oil are not necessarily more sustainable, initiatives supporting the uptake of certified sustainable palm oil should be further strengthened. Targeted information campaigns might be a suitable instrument to raise awareness and increase knowledge about palm oil.

Consumer Preference for Certified Sustainable Palm Oil with Environmental Sustainability Attributes: A Choice Experiment Approach

“…Economic choice theory suggests that consumer preferences, that are based on their behavioural intention, can be influenced by perception and attitude toward products. The rational consumer sets out to maximize utility, given his/her budget, and other potential constraints (Hinkes & Christoph-Schulz, 2020). Based on this framework, consumer knowledge of the CSPO is examined.…”

“…Roundtable for sustainable palm oil (RSPO) is a global voluntary sustainability palm oil standard agency, established in 2004 by stakeholders in palm oil industry, with a remit to define sustainability standards, and establish both certification and eco-labelling within the palm oil supply chain (Disdier et al, 2013). Consumers can identify RSPO supply chain certification, as product labels or claims, which indicate either that the product contains 100% RSPO certified, or mixed RSPO 1-99% certified product (Hinkes & Christoph-Schulz, 2020). Use of this service provides consumers with additional options in trade off decisions of sustainability against price (De Jonge et al, 2015, (Qureshi et al, 2020).…”

Perceived Consequences: General or Specific? The Case of Palm Oil-Free Products

“…The question arises if palm oil is an ingredient with many beneficial features from several aspects, what is it that still encourages consumers to purchase palm oil-free products, and whether the business practice to communicate palm oil-freeness can be justified. To date, there are several so far unresearched questions related to consumer familiarity with and attitudes to palm oil [10], but it is obvious that consumers possess little knowledge about palm oil-related issues [11][12][13][14].…”

Impact of Malaysian palm oil on sustainable development goals: co-benefits and trade-offs across mitigation strategies

“…This was seen in the cultivation of other major crops, such as the rampant deforestation for cattle soy-feed in the Amazon between 1996-2005 or the toxic algae bloom of Lake Erie in 2014 culminating from decades of pesticide and fertilizer runoff from corn crops (Macedo et al 2012;Nepstad et al 2014). However, blanket measures to address negative impacts of PO production may undermine the complexity of issues surrounding OP cultivation and the PO industry, and hamper concerted international efforts towards achieving various Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (Hinkes and Christoph-Schulz 2020).…”