Health Is Wealth: Study on Consumer Preferences and the Willingness to Pay for Ecological Agricultural Product Traceability Technology: Evidence from Jiangxi Province China

The application of traceability technology is an important way to solve food safety problems. Different traceability technologies bring different effects to consumers. Existing studies have not explored consumers’ preferences in regards to product traceability technology applications, and they have not analyzed their willingness to pay. Therefore, this study focused on organic rice, an ecological agricultural product. The study was based on a survey from Jiangxi Province, China. It used a selective experiment method in order to analyze consumer preferences and the willingness to pay for ecological agricultural product traceability technology. The results show that consumer preferences are as follows: blockchain technology application attributes, traditional traceability-technology-application attributes, high credit-supervision attributes, and international-certification attributes. In terms of willingness to pay, consumers have the highest willingness to pay for the application of blockchain technology, which they are willing to pay CNY 21.902 more per kg for this attribute. At the same time, consumers are also willing to make additional payments for traditional traceability-technology-application attributes, high credit-supervision attributes, and international-certification attributes. Their willingness to pay is CNY 20.426, CNY 17.115 yuan, and CNY 11.049, respectively.