Price premiums for the MSC-ecolabel in the U.S.: A hedonic analysis haddock in U.S. market

Abstract

Ecolabels signaling a sustainable or responsible production process have become an important product attribute for many food products, including seafood. If an ecolabel is to incentivize improved production practices, there must be a price premium associated with the label. Although price premiums for ecolabels in seafood markets have been studied in several European markets, evidence from the U.S. market is scarce, despite the importance of the U.S. in the global seafood market. In this study, we estimated the price premium for haddock labeled with the ecolabel of the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) in the U.S. We used the NielsenIQ Consumer Panel data from 2013-2020, together with UPC-codes obtained from the MSC on which products carried the ecolabel. Our results indicate that U.S. households, on average, pay a 17.23% premium for MSC-labeled haddock. This premium suggests that U.S. consumers place meaningful value on sustainability information and that market-based tools such as ecolabels may offer an effective mechanism to incentivize improvements in fisheries management and production practices.