Alina Sokolenko
The niche market for environmentally friendly products in the United States and the countries of the European Union in 2025-2026 is characterized by a complex pricing environment.Consumers' willingness to pay a premium for environmentally sustainable product attributes ranges from 9.7% to 26.6%, depending largely on macroeconomic conditions and regional consumer preferences.Currently, products positioned as environmentally friendly demonstrate an average price premium of approximately 26.6% compared with conventional alternatives.At the same time, this indicator has declined from 39% in 2018 to 28% in 2024, reflecting improved cost efficiency in production and the gradual institutionalization of the market.Premium positioning of eco-products remains economically justified, as consumers increasingly take environmental benefits into account when making purchasing decisions, although inflationary pressure may partially reduce their willingness to pay a higher price for such products [1].The narrowing of the price gap between environmentally friendly and conventional products reflects not only the stabilization of consumer demand but also a deeper transformation of business models within the environmentally oriented production sector.Recent studies identify key factors that shape consumer behavior toward environmentally friendly products in the digital retail environment.Thus, C. Yang and co-authors found that consumers' environmental awareness significantly increases their willingness to pay for environmentally friendly express packaging, whereas high price sensitivity remains a substantial constraining factor.At the same time, the option of eco-friendly packaging attracts greater visual attention from consumers compared with conventional packaging [2].O. Serhiienko highlights the role of marketplaces as an effective instrument for product promotion, particularly for agricultural enterprises, emphasizing their capacity to expand market reach and reduce advertising costs through direct interaction with end consumers [3].S. Kovalchuk and Ye.Zaburmekha, based on digital marketing research, developed a generalized profile of the organic product consumer and substantiated the relevance of using digital tools to analyze consumer behavior in niche environmental markets [4].Environmentally oriented pricing models have gradually evolved toward the internalization of environmental costs across the full product life cycle.This approach 1.