Risks and chances to market recreational and environmental goods and services — experience from 100 case studies

The main objective of the research project is to develop market solutions and strategies for various forest outputs, which are considered to be not, or hardly, marketable. The phenomenon of ‘public goods’ is considered under dynamic conditions, in which marketability is rather a matter of product and framework development than of objective circumstances. Solutions were found on the basis of 98 case studies, field developments in cooperation with forest landowners and on literature studies. The RES products are mainly offered at market-oriented prices. With the broad field of services the creative possibilities with regard to the height and the mode of price-incline are much larger in comparison to mass products. Market development depends on contracting ability and existing transaction organization. The relationship between the character of products and the chosen form of contracting and distribution is shown on the basis of transaction–cost theory. Household surveys show that the acceptability of pricing can be quite high, depending on the kind of offer. In this context, it is important to differentiate between public opinion and specific user-group opinions. Finally, some basic ideas are presented on how the marketability of hardly marketable or so-called public goods can be improved. In this context, the market aspect of non-material values, the conditions of market development, the complexity of products and the human factor in marketability are discussed.