Consumer vs. citizen willingness to pay for restaurant food safety

Individuals may display different preferences for food regulations when acting as a voting citizen than as a buying consumer. In this paper, we examine whether such a duality exists between citizens and consumers in the willingness to pay for food safety standards in restaurants. Using a split-sample willingness to pay survey, we find that individuals exhibit a higher willingness to pay for improved food safety standards in restaurants when acting as voting citizens than as buying consumers. Relying on consumer studies that focus on the buying context may therefore underestimate the support found among the public for new food regulations. This finding is important for policy makers using consumer studies in decision support and for researchers attempting to understand individual preferences.