Consumer willingness to pay and farmers’ adoption intentions for pesticide-reducing technologies in European orchards

Reducing synthetic pesticide use remains an EU sustainability objective, yet uptake of pesticide-reducing technologies remains limited in high-input orchard systems. This study examines whether information on consumer willingness to pay (WTP) for products with reduced pesticides is associated with farmers' adoption intentions. We focus on four pesticide-reducing innovations: smart mapping variable rate (VRA) application systems, robotic weeders, bio-based solutions with low sulphur and copper formulations, and cover crops. Evidence is drawn from a structured survey experiment involving 354 olive and vine growers across five European Union countries. Using a within-subject design with randomised presentation order and a Cheap Talk script to mitigate hypothetical bias, we compare farmers' adoption intentions before and after exposure to estimated consumer WTP premiums for wine and olive oil produced with reduced pesticide use. Non-parametric tests and multinomial logit models indicate that consumer WTP information is positively associated with both partial and full adoption intentions across all four technologies, with stronger associations for smart mapping VRA and robotic weeders than for bio-solutions and cover crops. Farm structure and behavioural factors, including perceived costs, subjective norms, and perceived effectiveness of existing pest management practices, exhibited technology-specific associations with adoption intentions. Although the study design does not permit causal inference, the findings suggest that consumer-driven market signals could complement existing policy approaches to support the transition towards more sustainable agricultural production.