Consumer Willingness to Pay Price Premiums for Certified Wood Products in South Korea

This study was conducted to examine consumers' awareness and perceptions on forest certification and their willingness to buy and pay price premium for certified wood products especially for selected four wood products. A total of 136 residents in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province were interviewed in the autumn of 2008. Although only 24.3 percent of the consumers are aware of forest certification, 82.4 percent of the respondents recognized the need and significance of forest certification. In general, 77.2 percent of the respondents were willing to but certified wood products. Majority of the respondents, 84 our of 136 respondents (61.8%) expressed their willingness to pay (WTP) from more than 0 percent to less than 10 percent. Consumers' average WTP for certified wood products was estimated to be 5.6 percent. from the results of the study, lower priced wood products, such as copier paper (WTP=9.8%) and wood frame (WTT=11.6%), have higher price premiums than high priced products, such as wood table (WTP=6.8%) and wood flooring (WTP=7.65). In conclusion, there could be feasible markets for certified wood products in South Korea as four out of five consumer are willing to pay more for such products. For the forest certification system to be adopted and widely accepted, the perceptions of forest stakeholders including consumers should be further increased.