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Abstract A petition to the USDA claims that natural labeling misleads consumers. We investigate this claim using an online choice experiment to determine consumer willingness to pay for steak labeled as natural. Half of the sample was provided with the definition of natural, while half was not. The absence of the definition resulted in consumers placing a premium on “natural” steak, while those provided with the definition were not willing to pay a premium. Similarly, participants who consider themselves familiar with the natural definition did not place a premium on “natural” steak. Results indicate that consumers may misinterpret the natural label.
Syrengelas et al. (Tue,) studied this question.