AN EXPERIMENTAL-STUDY IN CONSUMERS WILLINGNESS-TO-PAY FOR AN IRRADIATED MEAT PRODUCT

In a nonhypothetical laboratory experiment, participants were willing to pay an average of $0.71 for the right to exchange a typical meat sa ndwich for a sandwich irradiated to eliminate the potential risk of fo odborne bacteria. Forty-one of sixty participants (68.3%) were willing to pay some positive amount. Tobit analysis was used in order to allo w for the fact that Willingness To Pay (WTP) was censored at zero. WTP was interpreted as the demand for irradiation to control foodborne di sease. A positive WTP was interpreted as acceptance of irradiation. Th e aggregated WTP greatly exceeds the estimated direct costs of foodbor ne disease, and the estimated costs of irradiation for many food produ cts. There was a positive relationship between WTP and the perceived r isk of foodborne disease, and a negative relationship between WTP and years of education.