Consumers' heterogeneous preferences for corporate social responsibility in the food industry

In recent decades, consumer trust in the food sector has declined because of several scandals that have affected the agro-food industry. To recover their business reputation and trust, agro-food companies are increasingly implementing corporate social responsibility (CSR) in their production processes. CSR involves the whole supply chain, and several studies on CSR in the agro-food industry have investigated consumer preferences regarding social responsibility either as a whole or in a small number of dimensions. This study, which is based on a sample of 204 Italian university students, measures consumer preferences and the willingness to pay (WTP) for eight dimensions of CSR. The respondents' WTP was evaluated in a nonhypothetical setting by using the incentive-compatible Becker–DeGroot–Marschak method. Individual human values were also detected to investigate the determinants influencing the participants' WTP. The results revealed a positive effect of social responsibility on the participants' WTP, with personal values playing a central role.