Consumer Preferences for Vegetables Grown with Pest Protection Systems and Plastic Use

Last registered on June 03, 2026

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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title

Consumer Preferences for Vegetables Grown with Pest Protection Systems and Plastic Use

RCT ID

AEARCTR-0018754

Initial registration date

May 25, 2026

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published

June 03, 2026, 8:31 AM EDT

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Locations

Country

United States of America

Region

Alabama, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi, Ohio, Tennessee, Wisconsin

Primary Investigator

Name

Jingyi Tong

Affiliation

Cornell University

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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name

Wendong Zhang

PI Affiliation

Cornell University

Contact Investigator

PI Name

Jasmin Wehner

PI Affiliation

Cornell University

Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status

Completed

Start date

2026-04-21

End date

2026-05-31

Keywords

Agriculture, Behavior, Environment & Energy

Additional Keywords

JEL code(s)

C83, D12, Q13, Q51, D83

Secondary IDs

Prior work

This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.

Abstract

Building on a field experiment that measures consumers’ willingness to pay (WTP) for cucumbers produced with and without protective netting by vegetable growers in Kentucky, Iowa, and New York, this study conducts a complementary online survey using a comparable stated valuation setting. Comparing results across the two settings allows us to assess upward hypothetical bias arising from non-binding purchase decisions. We quantify the magnitude of this bias by controlling consumers’ demographics and attitudes and examine the underlying mechanisms driving it. We aim to test if stated WTP is systematically higher due to hypothetical bias well-documented in the existing literature, and whether or not the estimated premiums for protective netting and the direction and significance of information treatments remain consistent across hypothetical and incentive-compatible settings.

The field experiment shows that consumers exhibit strong aversion to the additional plastic use associated with protective netting. This study further investigates the sources of this aversion using a complementary online survey. We examine the role negativity bias plays in the information provided to consumers by observing how it affects their willingness to pay (WTP). We assess whether contextual information about plastics already in use in agriculture, the durability and reusability of protective netting, and plastic residues compared with conventional production systems can mitigate plastic aversion. We also examine how consumers’ knowledge of protective netting, attitudinal variables, and demographic characteristics influence WTP.

External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation

Tong, Jingyi, Jasmin Wehner and Wendong Zhang. 2026. "Consumer Preferences for Vegetables Grown with Pest Protection Systems and Plastic Use." AEA RCT Registry. June 03. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.18754-1.0

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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)

The intervention consists of randomly assigned information shown to online survey respondents before they make hypothetical cucumber purchase decisions. The information varies what respondents learn about protective netting used in cucumber production, including potential implications for pesticide use and plastic use.

Intervention (Hidden)

Respondents are randomly assigned to one of eight information conditions: a control group receiving no additional information, or one of seven information treatments about protective netting in cucumber production. The treatments vary whether respondents receive information that protective netting may increase plastic use, reduce pesticide use, combine both messages, frame the plastic tradeoff from the no-netting perspective, or add contextual information about the magnitude of plastic use, durability/reuse of the netting, or plastic residue/packaging concerns. After receiving the assigned information, respondents make stated purchase decisions for cucumber products.

Intervention Start Date

2026-04-21

Intervention End Date

2026-05-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)

Willingness to pay for the cucumbers with or without the row cover technology

Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Willingness to accept will be estimated using a dichotomous-choice contingent valuation method. We will fit a logit model predicting willingness to purchase as a function of the randomized cucumber prices offered to the consumers and treatment indicators. The implied willingness to pay is the price that makes the predicted latent utility of adoption equal to zero.

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)

Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

The study is an online survey experiment with random assignment to information conditions. Respondents evaluate cucumber products in a stated purchase setting. The main outcomes are purchase decisions and willingness to pay for cucumbers produced with and without protective netting. The design allows us to estimate how information about production practices affects consumer preferences and tradeoffs between reduced pesticide use and increased plastic use.

Experimental Design Details

The experiment uses a between-subjects information design and a within-subjects product valuation design. Respondents are randomly assigned to one of eight information arms: control, negative plastic-use information, positive pesticide-reduction information, combined plastic and pesticide information, an alternative plastic framing comparing cucumbers without protective netting, and three additional plastic-context treatments. Each respondent then evaluates cucumber products in a posted-price stated-choice setting, including an unspecified cucumber option, a cucumber produced with protective netting, and a cucumber produced without protective netting. The unspecified option is presented first as a baseline, while the order of the with-netting and without-netting options is randomized. Posted prices are randomly drawn from a common distribution for all product types. The target sample is approximately 1,920–1,980 respondents, including at least 1,144 Kentucky respondents and additional respondents from selected East North Central and East South Central states.

Randomization Method

Randomization will be conducted by computer through the online survey platform Qualtrics. Respondents will be randomly assigned to information conditions with approximately equal probability. The order of the with-netting and without-netting cucumber options will also be randomized by the survey platform.

Randomization Unit

The unit of randomization is the individual survey respondent. Information treatments are assigned at the respondent level. Product-order randomization is also conducted at the individual respondent level within the survey.

Was the treatment clustered?

Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters

Not applicable. The treatment is not clustered; the unit of randomization is the individual survey respondent. The sample is stratified by geographic quota, with respondents recruited from Kentucky and from eight additional states.

Sample size: planned number of observations

1,920 individual consumer survey respondents. This includes 1,200 respondents from Kentucky and 720 respondents from Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee.

Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms

Respondents will be randomly assigned to eight information arms with geographic quotas within each arm. Each arm will include approximately 150 Kentucky respondents and 90 respondents from the remaining eight states, for a total of approximately 240 respondents per arm.

The eight arms are: control, negative plastic-use information, positive pesticide-reduction information, combined plastic-use and pesticide-reduction information, alternative plastic-use framing, negative plastic-use information plus agricultural-plastic context, negative plastic-use information plus durability/reuse context, and negative plastic-use information plus plastic residue/packaging context.

Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)

The ex ante power calculation assumes individual-level randomization across eight information arms, with no clustered treatment assignment. For the Kentucky target sample of 1,200 respondents, or 150 respondents per arm, the minimum detectable effect size of 143 for pairwise comparisons is approximately 0.33 standard deviations at alpha = 0.05 and power = 0.80. For the full planned sample of 1,920 respondents, or about 240 respondents per arm, the minimum detectable effect size is approximately 0.25-0.26 standard deviations.

Supporting Documents and Materials

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