Factors Influencing Consumer Willingness to Pay for Low-Carbon Products: A Simulation Study in China

Consumer choice behavior is crucial to supporting cleaner production and plays an essential role in low-carbon development and environmental policy-making. Therefore, combining system dynamics with an agent-based model (SD-AB), the present study explores influencing factors on both providers' and consumers' sides. Using empirical data from selected firms and a questionnaire survey of residents in China, the simulation results revealed that consumers' low-carbon awareness and income have little effect on their willingness to pay for low-carbon products. In contrast, some factors have an obvious effect on consumers' willingness to pay for low-carbon products, including the delivery speed of low-carbon products, consumers' patience and degree of satisfaction. Thus, companies that provide low-carbon products should be more focused on customer expectations and should ensure timely and efficient delivery to consumers. Copyright (c) 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment