Is local and organic produce less satiating? Some evidence from a field experiment

Abstract

We investigate consumers’ preferences towards local and organic food via a framed field experiment involving revealed multiple discrete–continuous choices. Participants were endowed with a cash amount as a budget to purchase any desired quantity of different products. We modelled choices via the multiple discrete–continuous nested extreme value model. Central to our investigation is the test of the hypothesis of the constant effect of attitudes across consumption doses, which is normally an assumption invoked a priori and without testing in discrete choice analyses. Our results support the hypothesis and reveal a strong preference towards organic and local products, associated with both the highest baseline utility and the lowest satiation effect.