Value of labeling credence attributes—common structures and individual preferences.

This article analyzes the common preference structure underlying purchase intentions for food products labeled with credence attributes. In three consecutive, hypothetical discrete choice experiments, consumers selected pork, eggs, and pasta containing egg based on the attributes organic, local, animal welfare, certified "free of antibiotics," and price. The data were analyzed using structural choice modeling, a factor‐analytic approach modeling latent sources of preference heterogeneity. The results of this analysis show that preference heterogeneity is stable across products and can be explained best by common characteristics in credence attributes. The article gives guidance as to how to use factors in the analysis of multiple discrete choice experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]