| Consumers
and Ethically Labeled Products
RELATED RESEARCH GROUP:
Harvard-MIT
Private Governance Research Group
RECENT PAPER:
Hiscox, Michael J. and Nicholas Smyth. Is
there Consumer Demand for Improved Labor Standards? Evidence from Field
Experiments in Social Product Labeling Version: 3/21/08. A majority
of surveyed consumers say they would be willing to pay extra for products
made under good working conditions rather than in sweatshops, but would
they really do so? We report results from experiments conducted in a major
retail store in New York City. Sales rose by 12-26% for items labeled as
being made under good labor standards. Moreover, demand for the labeled
products actually rose when prices were increased. Raising prices of labeled
goods by 10% actually increased their sales by an additional 21-31%.
COMING SOON:
Broukhim, Michael and Michael J. Hiscox, Consumer Support for Fair
Trade: Evidence from eBay Auctions of Fresh Roasted Coffee. Reports results
from experiments conducted on eBay using simultaneous auctions of Fair
Trade-labeled and unlabeled coffee.
Hiscox, Michael J. Hiscox, Claire Schwartz, and Andrea Woloski. Consumer
Support for Labor Standards: Evidence from eBay Auctions of Polo Shirts.
Reports results from experiments conducted on eBay using simultaneous auctions
of ethically labeled and unlabeled shirts.
SEVERAL NEW EXPERIMENTS CURRENTLY BEING IMPLEMENTED.
Please
check back soon as we may be posting new papers. |
