Urban consumers’ attitudes and willingness to pay for functional foods in Iran: A case of dietary sugar

Abstract

Growing concerns for the incidence of incurable diseases and high costs of health care have attracted consumers to functional foods in the world. These foods are characterized with health improvement, lower risk of disease incidence and less health hazards. The present work examined consumers' attitude and willingness to pay for dietary sugar in Rasht city, Iran. The studied sample included 125 citizens of Rasht in spring and summer of 2016 whose size was determined by Mitchell and Carson approach. Results of contingent valuation method on the basis of one-and-one-half-bound choice model revealed that the descriptive variable of bid had negative, statistically significant impact on the acceptance of bid by participants. In addition, the descriptive variables of respondent's age, educational level, family size, monthly income of the family, record of diabetes in family, healthy purchase attitude, and attitude towards the benefits of dietary sugar had positive, significant influence on bid acceptance. Participants expressed their willingness to pay 35.59% extra for dietary sugar as compared to conventional sugar.