A Study on Consumers' Perception and Willingness to Pay for Fruits and Vegetables Using Renewable Energy

This study investigated consumers' perceptions and willingness to pay (WTP) for fruit and vegetables grown using renewable energy such as solar power, geothermal, waste heat from incinerators, hot water from thermal power plants. To this end, this study conducted an online survey of 1,050 consumers in Seoul, Gyeonggi, and the six metropolitan cities, and the main findings are as follows. First, most of the consumers perceived climate change as a serious problem, and 82.8% recognized the government's declaration of carbon zero was appropriate, which means that the government's active response to climate change is important. Second, on the pros and cons of the use of renewable energy when cultivating fruits and vegetables, opinions in favor of solar power were the highest, followed by geothermal heat, waste heat from waste incineration plants, and thermal power generation hot drainage. Third, at least 28.0% to 41.7% of consumers were willing to purchase fruits and vegetables using renewable energy more expensive than fruits grown using fossil energy such as kerosene. This means that the fruit and vegetable market using renewable energy is valuable as a niche market.

신재생에너지 이용 과채류에 대한 소비자 인식 및 지불의사에 관한 연구