Forest@ (Apr 2017)
Forest certification in Calabria (Italy): attitudes, preferences and willingness to pay of manufactures and enterprises of forest-wood chain
Abstract
Forest certification was born in the early 90s of the twentieth century in order to protect tropical and sub-tropical forests against a progressive deforestation and degradation. Forest certification is a valuable instrument for environmental protection and a useful tool of green marketing for forest-wood chain enterprises. In the last decades, in developed countries there has been increased consumer awareness of environmental protection and environmentally friendly wood products. This consumers’ attitude is related to the consumers’ willingness to pay a premium price for environmentally friendly wood products. In the international literature, some studies have investigated the consumers’ willingness to pay (WTP) for several certified wood products with different prices, while few studies have analyzed the willingness to pay of manufactures and enterprises of forest-wood chain for certified wood products. In addition, in the international literature there is a knowledge gap concerning the manufactures or consumers’ willingness to pay for local wood products compared to equivalent products from other geographical areas. Starting from these considerations, the main aims of this study are: (1) to analyze the wood manufactures’ willingness to pay a premium price for certified wood products; (2) to investigate the wood manufactures’ attitudes and willingness to pay for regional/local wood products. The study was conducted as part of the “Ambi.Tec.Fil.Legno” project involving 127 manufactures and enterprises of forest-wood chain located in Calabria region. At the end of the questionnaire survey, the information provided by 40 manufactures and enterprises of forest-wood chain were processed and analyzed (response rate 31.5%). The results show that the main factors that influence the purchase decisions of enterprises are the trust in the seller and the durability of the product. Concerning the manufactures’ willingness to pay for certified wood products, 40% of sample of manufactures is willing to pay a premium price with a mean value of 1.55%. A similar percentage of wood manufactures and enterprises (40%) are willing to pay a premium price to purchase local wood material with a mean value equal to 3.25%. The results of this study can support the decision makers in the definition of new strategies to enhance the forest sector in Calabria highlighting the potential benefits of forest certification and use of local wood at regional level.
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