Is organic labelling enough? Information disclosure as policy instrument to empower consumer choices
Document Type
Conference Paper
Abstract
Governments have been advocating for an open approach to encourage private sector disclosing relevant information in order to create more efficient market. However, it is not always clear what information are needed by consumers. Policy makers need to develop measures that help decide what information should be disclosed and whether a disclosure should be mandated. In this research, we focus on information disclosure in organic products, where consumers find the complex organic labeling hard to understand. Through two studies, we show that feed origin makes a significant difference in consumers' choice; and sellers with feed from non-USA countries would be motivated to disguise the information on feed origin. We propose a way to implement “smart” information disclosure that can effectively distinguish USA feed from feed with undisclosed origin, which enables the feed from USA to claim a higher price premium. Our findings have policy implications for organic product disclosure.
Publication Title
Proceedings of the Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences
Publication Date
2017
Volume
2017-January
First Page
2701
Last Page
2710
ISSN
15301605
ISBN
9780998133102
Keywords
consumer choice, information disclosure, organic products, policy implications, policy instruments, policy makers, price premiums, private sectors
Repository Citation
Zhang, Jing and Boldt, Lin, "Is organic labelling enough? Information disclosure as policy instrument to empower consumer choices" (2017). School of Management. 9.
https://commons.clarku.edu/faculty_school_of_management/9
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.