Mandatory Integrated Pest Management in the European Union: Experimental insights on consumers' reactions

An experiment with 189 French consumers was conducted to analyse consumers' reaction to the transition towards Integrated Pest Management (IPM) as the standard in European farming. Results indicate high substitutability between IPM and organic tomatoes. IPM sales will benefit from the withdrawal of conventional produces from the market only if there is a significant reduction in the price of IPM compared to organic and/or an important increase in the shelf space dedicated to IPM. While information on IPM guidelines increases IPM products purchases, providing extra information on residue levels in IPM tomatoes has no further impact on consumers' choices