Consumer Willingness-to-Pay for Domestically Produced Wheat Products in South Korea

Abstract

This study analyzes whether or not income affects consumers’ willingness to pay (WTP) derived through the contingent valuation method (CVM) that was employed to derive South Korean consumers’ WTP for domestic wheat products. The hypothesis being tested here is that consumers may not seriously consider their income barrier when they are asked questions regarding WTP so that income will not be an important factor affecting the stated WTP. Approximately 400 consumers from the Seoul metropolitan area were surveyed, and their responses were analyzed using a two-limit truncated regression model. The empirical results show that WTP is affected by the consumers’ valuation of the wheat products they currently consume and the frequency of their exposures to information regarding the connection between a healthy diet and the consumption of domestic wheat, and that it is not affected by the income barrier. Income of the consumers was not significant for any of the wheat products studied. This may imply a limitation of the stated preference method to detect a consumer WTP that is close to the actual purchasing behavior.