Although scientific literature is still uncertain towards the real causes that can link headache episodes with moderate wine consumption, a growing proportion of consumers seems to address sulphites as possible culprits. Hence, the objective of this study is to assess consumers` willingness to pay for wine bearing a sulphites-free label in two traditional wine producing countries, Italy and Spain. The methodological framework is based on the specification of the Becker-DeGroot-Marschak (BDM) type of auction applied to consumers purchasing wine in the supermarket stores of both countries. A left censored Tobit model is used to analyse the bidding behaviour for conventional and 'Non-Added Sulphite' (NAS) wine. Results in both countries show that consumers who link the headaches with the consumption of sulphite are willing to exchange the habitually consumed bottle of wine with a NAS wine and pay extra premium prices. Keywords: Experimental auctions, Non-added sulphite wines, Consumer behavio

The aim of this study is to assess the influence of body image on consumers’ willingness to pay (WTP) for potato chips carrying nutritional claims among obese and non-obese people. About 309 non-clinical individuals participated in a Real Choice Experiment. They were recruited by a company and grouped in: (i) non-obese with good body image; (ii) non-obese with body image dissatisfaction; (iii) obese with good body image; (iv) obese with body image dissatisfaction. Results indicate differences in consumers’ willingness to pay among consumer groups. Body image dissatisfaction of normal people did not influence the WTP for healthier chips. Obese people with body image dissatisfaction were willing to pay more for healthier chips (i.e., low-salt content potato chips) than normal ones with body image dissatisfaction. Examining the role of knowledge in the light of how this could impact on body image is relevant to improve the health status of individuals and their diet. Knowledge about nutrition could improve the body image of obese people.

This paper analyses consumer preferences for different eggs attributes to assess the importance placed by consumers on the origin and method of production when shopping. The data comes from an experiment conducted in Spain during 2009. An Error Component Random Parameter Logit model is used to estimate the effect of different eggs characteristics on consumers’ utility and derive their willingness to pay. Results suggest that consumers positively value the free-range and organic method of production and the local and regional origin and that they are willing to pay an additional € 0.85 for each package of six free-range or organic eggs, € 0.77 for locally produced and € 0.27 for regional produced eggs. Hence, the least valued eggs for consumers are those produced in cages and outside the region. Relative to this product, the highest willingness to pay corresponds to free-range or organic eggs followed by locally produced eggs and finally, by the regional eggs. Thus, we can conclude that Spanish consumers give more importance when shopping for eggs to the method of production than to the origin of production.

In face of the high prevalence of non-communicable diseases, nutritional claims represent a useful tool to help people to make healthier food choices. However, recent research notes that when some people experience an intense emotional state, they increase their food consumption, particularly of energy-dense and sweet foods. In consequence, this study aims to assess whether emotional eating (EE) style influences the purchase of food products carrying these claims. To this end, a real choice experiment (RCE) was conducted with 306 participants who were asked to evaluate different types of toast. An error component random parameter logit (ECRPL) was used to analyze their preferences for reduced-fat and low-salt claims toast and the effects of the variation of the EE score on individual preferences. Findings of this study suggest that emotional eating negatively impacts purchasing behavior related to nutritional claims. In particular, a decrease of the willingness to pay between 9% and 16% for every unit of toast with nutritional claims was noted when an increase of EE individual score was registered. In this regard, to increase the effectiveness of the nutritional claims, policymakers and private sectors should consider the management of individuals’ emotional states in designing public health policies and marketing strategies, respectively.