There is an increasing interest in healthy and sustainable product characteristics. Consumers determine their dietary intake and frame production systems with their choices. However, little is known about the relationships between health and environmental information in influencing these choices, especially when considering functional foods. This study assessed the influence of health-related and environmental-friendliness-related product information on the willingness to pay (WTP) for functional foods. To this end, a WTP elicitation experiment was set up using a jam-like fruit compote enriched with Aloe vera gel. Participants were provided with different messages related to the health and environmental benefits of Aloe vera products, and were also asked to taste the product. Results indicated that providing new information significantly increased the WTP for the enriched compote. This increase was significant for both health and environmentally based benefits, with the health message leading to a higher WTP. Combining health and environmental messages produced an additive effect on WTP which was independent of the sequential order in which the two messages were given. Results contrasted the view that health messages are the main drivers of WTP, and open a broader range of communication in terms of marketing strategies and sustainable policy objectives.
Keywords: choice experiment; environmental information; food choices; functional food; health information; sustainability.