European Union green deal in action: Harnessing consumer preferences to drive pesticide reduction in winegrowing

Abstract

This study determines consumers' willingness to pay (WTP) for wines with reduced pesticide use in the EU Mediterranean region in the context of the European Commission's Green Deal objective to halve pesticide use by 2030, a goal that has faced significant political and practical challenges. A dynamic reference-dependent discrete choice experiment (DCE) involving over 4000 wine consumers from France, Greece, Italy, Portugal, and Spain was conducted. This innovative pivot design incorporates consumer-specific reference points based on previous purchases into a two-stage choice framework, enabling a more realistic estimation of willingness to pay in a market characterized by diverse wine attributes and price ranges. The study tests eight hypotheses related to WTP for pesticide reduction, certification type, and personal factors influencing consumer decisions. The results show that conventional winegrowers who reduce pesticide use by up to 40 % could command price premiums of approximately 26 % in France, 29 % in Greece, 30 % in Italy and Portugal, and 28 % in Spain compared with standard conventional practices. Certification by EU-approved third-party entities consistently generated the highest consumer trust and WTP. Furthermore, sociodemographics, subjective knowledge, environmental attitudes, economic capacity, consumer involvement, and exploratory behavior significantly influence consumers' WTP. The findings reveal a market opportunity for pesticide-reduced conventional wines and demonstrate that consumer preferences could serve as a viable incentive for the voluntary adoption of sustainable practices in viticulture. While generalizability may be influenced by sampling, as well as cultural and institutional differences, the results provide practical insights into untapped market-based incentives that could be leveraged to drive pesticide reduction in the absence of binding EU regulations.