Chilean Consumer Behavior Towards Products From B Corporations: Analysis of Price Perception and Purchase Intention

Abstract

In this paper it was examined the influence of B Corporations under the label “Certified B Corporation” and infor- mation about their characteristics in consumers’ purchasing decisions. Specifically, we investigated whether the attri- bute “B Corporation and/or their characteristics” could positively influence profit and consumers’ perceived value towards the offering of the company, justice perceived in the price differential charged by this, and in purchase inten- tion, in a context where B Corporation uses a higher price than the competition. This reasoning led to some concep- tual proposals, developing a number of hypotheses, which were tested through an experimental methodology, using four scenarios of investigation. The results showed that most surveyed consumers were not aware of the concept of B Corporation nor its label “Certified B Corporation” and are therefore did not perceive greater value in its bid. Nonetheless, in the scenario in which information on the characteristics of B Corporations were exposed, without mentioning that the company was B, they perceived a benefit and a higher value in their offer, and showed willing- ness to pay 10% more for their product, judging this pricing differential as fair, in a context where there were other options of similar products.