Abstracts of Second- and Third-Place Undergraduate Papers

The purpose of this project was to determine the significant demographic characteristics affecting consumers' choice to buy fair trade coffee and to assess the existence of a premium for fair trade coffee. Abinary logit and contingent valuation model were used. Certain demographic and attitudinal characteristics, such as being an undergraduate student and frequently purchasing socially responsible goods, were significant in explaining consumers' choice of whether or not to purchase fair trade coffee. A price premium for the average person sampled was identified at $0.18 (CDN) above the average coffee price (assumed to be $1.50/cup (CDN)). This is the first study we found that ascertains an exact willingness to pay for a cup of fair trade coffee. Such information would be useful in marketing fair trade products although further studies with larger and more diverse samples would be useful in increasing the significance of the results.