Price premiums in the mist.

摘要

Consumer shopping at the Oregon State University (OSU) and Auburn University (AU) bookstores were offered a choice between ecolabeled and non-ecolabeled wood pencils. Aside from the presence or absence of an ecolabel, the pencils were identical in all other respects. Sales of each pencil type were tracked during a number of pricing conditions: prices equal for each pencil type, a 20 percent premium on ecolabeled pencils, and a 100 percent ecolabeled premium (at OSU only). Many forest certification proponents claim that ecolabels are associated with increased sales, price premiums, or both. To begin clearing the "mist" shrouding such claims, comparisons were made between the quantity sold of each pencil type under each pricing condition. Our results show that OSU and AU pencil consumers were largely indifferent to the presence of an ecolabel. However, as the price premium "gorilla" gets bigger, more and more consumers abandoned their indifference and purchased the cheaper non-ecolabeled pencils..