Extrinsic quality cues and specialty coffee choice under price premiums: Evidence from a coffee fair

Campos J.; Rituay P.; Mestanza M.; Carrasco A.; Yoplac D.; García L.; Aldea C. · Food and Humanity (2026) · DOI: 10.1016/j.foohum.2026.101248

Resumen

Specialty coffee markets rely on quality cues such as geographical indications, third-party certifications, and cup scores, yet evidence on how coffee-fair visitors value these signals and respond to explicit price premia is limited. We collected original survey and experimental data from adult visitors at FICAFÉ 2025 (Peru). Respondents completed (i) a forced-choice discrete choice experiment (three paired comparisons varying denomination of origin, certification, cup score, and price) and (ii) a contingent purchase task with a buy/no-buy outcome at explicit premium of 5%, 10%, 20%, and 30% over a reference price, with one focal attribute highlighted per scenario. DCE choices were analyzed using conditional logit models with respondent-clustered standard errors, while contingent purchase responses were modeled with logit specifications that included interactions among premia, highlighted attributes, and self-assessed knowledge of origin, certifications, and cup score. Results show that in the DCE, denomination of origin and certification labels increase choice probabilities relative to non-certified profiles, whereas price coefficients are not statistically distinguishable from zero across alternative specifications, limiting willingness-to-pay recovery. Cup score effects are smaller and less precise. In the contingent purchase task, stated purchase intent remains high even at higher premium, but knowledge systematically shifts the relative appeal of different signals. The findings underscore the central role of extrinsic cues in specialty coffee choice in high-salience settings and inform labeling and information strategies, while highlighting the importance of incentive-aligned designs to better identify price trade-offs.

Instituciones: Universidad Nacional Toribio Rodríguez de Mendoza de Amazonas