Leveling up on labels? Consumer preferences for firm-level eco-labels as substitutes for or complements to product-level eco-labels

Eco-labels can inform consumers about the environmental impact of their purchase decisions, but preferences for different types and combinations of labels—especially the under-researched concept of firm-level eco-labels—are poorly understood. Furthermore, the effectiveness of displaying one versus more labels on products remains unclear, as does the impact of consumers' specific shopping goals and the availability of information about the labels' meaning. Relying on discrete choice experiments and with theory on consumers' attributions and goal pursuit as its starting point, this paper tackles the questions, “How do consumers respond to different types and combinations of eco-labels, and how does information about the labels' meaning and specific shopping goals impact revealed label preferences?”. The results establish firm-level eco-labels as important supplements to or replacements for (some) product-level eco-labels and have implications for firms' decisions on which labels to feature on products as well as legislators' efforts to stimulate responsible consumption.