Abstract

Several studies have reported that taste is one of the most important factors for choosing gluten-free (GF) products and that generally a GF label could increase consumer confidence. Since empirical evidence has shown that non-celiac people also eat GF products, the aim of our study is to assess the impact of taste and GF labeling on one’s willingness to pay (WTP) for GF cocoa wafers, as assessed by non-celiac consumers. A total of 222 non-celiac consumers participated in a hypothetical experiment. The results indicated that non-celiac consumers showed no statistically significant differences in WTP values when they taste gluten and GF products and evaluate GF label use.

Keywords: Gluten-free, wafers, willingness to pay, non-celiac, tasting, labeling.