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Willingness to pay (WTP) for pork with different traceability information was investigated in 143 consumers in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, China, using experimental auctions combined with real choice experiments based on incentive compatibility and external validity of non-hypothetical elicitation. The results indicated that participants had the highest WTP for government certification information, attached the greatest importance to farming information and comprehensive traceability information on the whole. Therefore, emphasis of Chinese government should be placed on prevention and regulation of potential safety risks in pig farming. Also, effective transfer of traceability information should be guaranteed through government certification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, consumers' willingness to pay for farming, slaughter and processing, distribution and marketing, and government certification information was investigated in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, China using an experimental auction and real choice experiment based on incentive compatibility of the nonhypothetical elicitation method. No significant differences in consumers' willingness to pay were revealed by the experimental auction and real choice experiment on the whole, and results from both nonhypothetical experimental methods demonstrated that consumers were willing to pay certain premiums for all four types of traceability information and had the highest willingness to pay for government certification information. These results indicate that consumers trust in pork safety protection under governmental supervision. Moreover, it was found that government certification information played a significant role in improving consumer utility, demonstrating that consumers paid close attention to safety risks in farming. Therefore, this study predicts that the introduction of governmental supervision into the pork traceability system and establishment of a system for collecting traceability information starting from the stage of pig farming will play important roles in meeting consumer demands for pork quality and safety, as well as promoting the development of traceable food policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]