The Organic food price premium and its susceptibility to news media coverage: evidence from the US milk industry

This paper investigates the extent to which media coverage on organic dairy issues influences consumers' willingness to pay (WTP) for the organic attribute of milk. We find that news with contents most often viewed as negative towards organic dairy are more powerful in decreasing consumers' WTP for the organic attribute of milk compared to the positive WTP impact of news articles with contents most often viewed as positive towards organic dairy. Interestingly, consumers' increasing exposure to organic dairy news that even take a neutral stance on the organic attribute also increases their WTP for the organic attribute.