Date of Award
8-2026
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Department
Agricultural and Applied Economics
Committee Chair/Advisor
Michael Vassalos
Committee Member
Yefan Nian
Committee Member
Dave Lamie
Committee Member
Felipe De Figueiredo Silva
Abstract
Heritage crops offer significant cultural, nutritional, and genetic diversity benefits, yet their lower yields and higher production costs relative to modern cultivars have weakened producer incentives to sustain their cultivation. Prior studies confirm that market-based strategies can increase consumer willingness to pay (WTP) for heritage foods, but largely overlook how point-of-sale presentation, whether a product is packaged or unpackaged, shapes the value consumers assign to it. This study addresses that gap by examining U.S. consumer WTP for heritage apples and tomatoes across packaged and unpackaged alternatives, identifying the factors that drive WTP for each, and assessing whether and how packaging shifts individual consumers' valuations. Using payment-card contingent valuation data from 761 U.S. consumers collected in March 2024, I estimated two-sided Tobit models of WTP levels and OLS models of within-respondent WTP differences (packaged minus unpackaged). Mean WTP was higher for packaged than unpackaged alternatives for both apples ($2.48/lb versus $2.02/lb) and tomatoes ($2.42/lb versus $2.18/lb). Knowledge of heritage crops was the factor most consistently associated with WTP across both crops and alternatives. The WTP difference between alternatives was positive on average ($0.46/lb for apples, $0.24/lb for tomatoes) and explained by shopping outlet and education for apples, and by age and gender for tomatoes. Both sets of findings were robust across other WTP measures and regression specifications. These results suggest two implications: organizations engaged in heritage crop conservation could prioritize campaigns that raise consumer knowledge levels as a reliable strategy, since it was consistently associated with higher WTP, while producers are likely to gain more returns from packaging than from selling unpackaged for both crops, though the consumer characteristics driving this premium differ by crop, suggesting marketing efforts may be more effective if targeted accordingly.
Recommended Citation
Peter, Sunday O., "U.S Consumer Preferences for Heritage Crops: Does Packaging Matter?" (2026). All Theses. 4827.
https://open.clemson.edu/all_theses/4827