Files
Abstract
The appearance of organic produce is often less than perfect because of limited methods of
avoiding plant diseases. We combine hypothetical and real auction mechanisms to investigate
how cosmetic damage affects consumers’ willingness to pay for apples. We find that 75% of
the participants are willing to pay more for organic than for conventional apples given
identical appearance. However, at the first sight of any imperfection in the appearance of the
organic apples, this segment is significantly reduced. Furthermore, the cosmetic damage has
a larger impact on the willingness to pay for organic apples than for conventional apples.