Consumers' willingness to pay for safer, more environmentally friendly smoke flavored chicken breasts

Boneless, skinless chicken breasts comprise almost 30% of total poultry sales and poultry remains US consumers' protein of choice. This research sought to determine whether consumers of chicken would pay a premium for a smoked chicken breast that was healthier and produced with less of a negative impact on the environment. Two balanced consumer panel groups were presented with information on the two value prospects of smoked chicken prepared with liquid smoke. The order of presentation of the health claims and the environmentally friendly claims were reversed to measure the impact of the order of presentation on consumers' willingness to pay. An N-th type auction showed that health claims elicited a greater premium; the highest average premium was approximately $7 including the baseline price following the health claims for the liquid smoked chicken. The order of presentation of the information did not affect the results. Practical applicationsConsumers are willing to pay more for chicken that is deemed healthier and prepared with environmentally friendly ingredients.