Preferences of Chinese consumers for the attributes of fresh produce portfolios in an e-commerce environment
Abstract
Purpose
In recent years, fresh produce (fresh vegetables and fruit) has been circulated widely via e-commerce in Chinese large cities in the form of fresh produce portfolios (FPPs). The purpose of this paper is to analyze the preferences of Chinese consumers for specific FPP attributes.
Design/methodology/approach
A choice experiment approach was used to explore consumer preferences. The authors conducted a means-end-chains evaluation to select the attributes for the choice experiment. The authors used a fractional factorial design and finally obtained 18 choice scenarios. The authors collected 166 effective consumer questionnaires in Beijing.
Findings
The authors found that among the four attributes considered, certification and the diversity of the FPP had significant effects on the willingness to pay (WTP) among consumers. Residents had heterogeneous preferences for FPP diversity and certification, but certification was the major concern when considering fresh produce in the FPP. With regard to the WTP for attributes in the portfolio, the WTP values for “green” and “organic” attributes were high, but the WTP for the diversity of FPPs was low.
Originality/value
This study is the first attempt to explore the preferences of Chinese consumers regarding the attributes of FPP in an e-commerce environment.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank Professor Richard Baines (The Royal Agricultural University, UK), Professor Maurizio Canavari (University of Bologna, Italy), Professor Chen Ji (Zhejiang University, China), and two anonymous reviewers for helpful comments and suggestions. The authors give their special thanks to Research Assistants Jianjun Zhang, Yining Xu, Qiyan Zeng, and Yiyun Zhang for their great support. The authors also gratefully acknowledge the funding support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NNSFC-71273233, 71333011) and the Major Program of the Key Research Institute of Chinese Ministry of Education (No. 15JJD790032). The authors have declared that no conflict of interest exists.
Citation
Jin, S., Li, H. and Li, Y. (2017), "Preferences of Chinese consumers for the attributes of fresh produce portfolios in an e-commerce environment", British Food Journal, Vol. 119 No. 4, pp. 817-829. https://doi.org/10.1108/BFJ-09-2016-0424
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2017, Emerald Publishing Limited