We examine the potential demand for a local food speciality product, saffron, with alternative labels, using a choice experiment. The paper contributes to the literature on credence attributes, by examining Willingness to Pay (WTP) for the local, organic and PDO (Protected Designation of Origin), their differences across experimental conditions (hypothetical and non‐hypothetical), and by identifying the effects of personal characteristics, in terms of socio‐demographics and level of product involvement on the differences in WTP. We find that the local saffron speciality has an important appeal that could be better reinforced with the PDO rather than the organic labelling, and that consumers show a consistent pattern of preferences across experimental environments. WTP tends to be higher in the hypothetical setting and, in particular, consumers with relatively more knowledge and deeper roots in the territory tend to exhibit a larger WTP premium for local origin and its certification. These results may help producers improve their marketing of agri‐food products with a high gastronomic value and differentiation potential, while they warn about an overstatement of WTP for socially desirable characteristics, such as organic labelling, which is also relevant for policymakers.

中文翻译：

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当地特色食品的标签：藏红花案

我们使用选择实验检查了带有替代标签的当地食品特色产品藏红花的潜在需求。本文通过研究本地，有机和PDO（受保护的原产地名称）的支付意愿（WTP），它们在实验条件下（假设的和非假设的）的差异以及确定影响的方式，为有关信誉属性的文献做出了贡献在社会人口统计和产品参与水平方面对WTP差异的个人特征的了解。我们发现，本地藏红花特色菜具有重要的吸引力，可以通过PDO而不是有机标签更好地加以加强，并且消费者在整个实验环境中表现出一致的偏好模式。在假设的情况下，WTP倾向于更高，尤其是 拥有相对较多知识并在该地区扎根较深的消费者倾向于针对本地来源及其认证显示更高的WTP溢价。这些结果可能会帮助生产者改善具有高美食价值和差异化潜力的农产品销售，同时警告生产商为了社会期望的特征（例如有机标签）高估了WTP，这也与政策制定者相关。