Reducing single-use plastic consumption in the food and beverage industry has become increasingly important to policymakers as non-recycled plastic waste escapes into ecosystems. Plastic waste may pose direct and indirect threats to human, animal, and ecosystem health. In this paper we examine how warning labels on plastic packaging affects consumer valuation for packaged food products. Using a choice experiment with a difference-in-difference design, we investigate whether putting warning labels on plastic egg crates reduces consumers' willingness to pay (WTP) for plastic packaging. Our results reveal that warning labels are effective at reducing consumers' WTP for plastics. Compared with pulp-based packaging, we estimate that plastic warning labels reduce WTP for clear plastic packaging on average by $1.02, and decreased WTP for plastic-based foam by $0.51. However, the effectiveness of the warning label depends on the information content of the warning. While labels warning against the negative impacts of plastic on health, the environment, and safety all reduced WTP for plastic, respondents in the health label treatment reduced their WTP by the largest amount. Additionally, we find that consumers without pro-environment and pro-health attitudes also reduced their WTP for plastics after exposure to the plastic warning label.

随着不可回收的塑料垃圾进入生态系统，减少食品和饮料行业的一次性塑料消费对政策制定者来说变得越来越重要。塑料垃圾可能对人类、动物和生态系统的健康构成直接和间接的威胁。在本文中，我们研究了塑料包装上的警告标签如何影响消费者对包装食品的评价。通过使用差异设计的选择实验，我们调查了在塑料蛋箱上放置警告标签是否会降低消费者对塑料包装的支付意愿 (WTP)。我们的研究结果表明，警告标签可有效降低消费者对塑料的 WTP。与纸浆包装相比，我们估计塑料警告标签会使透明塑料包装的 WTP 平均降低 1.02 美元，塑料泡沫的 WTP 降低了 0.51 美元。但是，警告标签的有效性取决于警告的信息内容。虽然警告塑料对健康、环境和安全的负面影响的标签都降低了塑料的 WTP，但健康标签处理的受访者减少了最大的 WTP。此外，我们发现没有亲环境和亲健康态度的消费者在接触塑料警告标签后也降低了他们对塑料的 WTP。