Role of credence and health information in determining US consumers' willingness-to-pay for grass-finished beef

Consumer demand for forage- or grass-finished beef is rapidly emerging in the US. This research uses data elicited from consumer surveys and experimental auctions to provide insight on product attributes (taste/flavour, credence and nutritional characteristics) and socio-demographic factors that are most important in determining US consumers' preferences and willingness to pay premiums for grass-finished versus grain-finished beef. Information related to beef production processes increased the probability consumers would be willing to pay a premium for grass-fed beef. However, it appears that health-related messages are more important drivers of willingness-to-pay, on average, than the absence of antibiotics and supplemental hormones and traceability. Labelling information regarding grass-fed beef's nutritional content and related production processes is vital for maintaining and growing premium niche markets for grass-fed beef in the US. The relative size of the willingness to pay estimates compared to previous cost estimates suggest that the Australian beef industry may have a comparative advantage for finishing beef on forage and marketing premium grass-fed differentiated beef products in the US market.     

Factors Influencing Consumers' Decision to Purchase Beef

Abstract

The South Korean beef import market was deregulated in 2000. As the beef import quotas were lifted in January 2001, increased market opportunities became available for exporters. Beef exporters are allowed to have direct communication with beef merchandisers in South Korea, which enable them to respond to Korean consumer demand more effectively. Korean consumers apparently have a negative perception on the quality of imported beef. However, little information is available to guide international beef exporters in the design of an export market development program. This study used a consumer mail survey in order to examine the Korean consumer beef market. While this study is exploratory by nature, it goes beyond traditional demand analysis, and it aims to provide comprehensive information on the important factors affecting Korean consumers' beef purchasing behavior. Marketing implications for beef exporters are drawn.     

TESTING THE COMPETITIVENESS OF FOOD PRICE SPREADS

This paper develops and illustrates a test of the competitiveness of food price spreads. The test does not require information on the structure of the food industry or estimation of conjectural variations, but rather the prices of the intermediate inputs used to produce the raw farm product and the prices of the intermediate inputs that are combined with the raw farm product to produce the final consumer good. The test is applied to the US farm/wholesale beef market.     

Examining long-run relationships between Australian beef prices

Cointegration and impulse response analyses are used to investigate the short-run and long-run dynamics of the Australian beef market. The aim of this study is to determine whether long-run relationships existed between Australian beef prices at the farm, wholesale and retail levels. Based on monthly data from 1971 to 1994, the results show that all three prices considered are cointegrated. Furthermore, the wholesale price is found to be weakly exogenous. The latter result might be an indication of market inefficiency due in part to price levelling often practised in the beef marketing system.     

A Case Study in the Marketing of "Wolf-Friendly" Beef

This study examines an effort in New Mexico to establish a niche within the domestic beef market. The beef was marketed under environmental attributes with the slogan "Wolf-Friendly." Two environmental groups, Defenders of Wildlife and Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics, endorsed the management practices of the ranch producing the beef. A kick-off event for the "Wolf-Friendly" Beef was held at the Albuquerque Zoo at the onset of the market test. Two retail grocery stores and the zoo participated in a month-long market test. A survey was conducted at the zoo kick-off to determine participants' views on public land use, riparian protection, and predator preservation issues, and consumer willingness to pay for beef products that foster these environmental attributes. Sales and survey data from the market test were analyzed.     

Agricultural Trade among NAFTA Countries: A Case Study of U.S. Meat Exports

The U.S. NAFTA partners are important markets for U.S. meat exports. A source-differentiated almost ideal demand system is used in this study to estimate meat demand in Canada and Mexico. Empirical results suggest that while a U.S. price increase in the Canadian market is expected to increase U.S. sales revenues; it would decrease sales revenues in the Mexican market. Furthermore, an increase in meat expenditures in Canada and Mexico is expected to increase the demand for U.S. meats, while the bovine spongiform encephalopathy outbreaks have had a negative effect on U.S. and Canadian beef market shares. Finally, a decomposition of the causes of changes in demand for U.S. meats over time is performed.     

Willingness to Pay for Quality Labeled Meat in a Rural Area

The aim of this study is to identify consumer perceptions and attitudes toward quality labeled pork and beef using cross-sectional consumer data. Given the dramatic changes over the last years in the meat sector as a result of the recent food scares, the study can facilitate better communicating with consumers and gaining insight into their perceptions and behavior toward meat products. A consumer survey was conducted in the rural region of Thessaly in Greece in order to investigate (a) food quality perceptions, (b) attitudes toward pork and beef quality labels, and (c) intentions to purchase higher priced certified pork and beef. The findings suggest that sociodemographic and personal characteristics have an impact on consumer willingness to pay for such products and different market segments can be targeted by marketers and food policymakers.     

SUPPLY RESPONSE WITH STOCHASTIC TECHNOLOGY AND PRICES IN AUSTRALIA'S RURAL EXPORT INDUSTRIES

Risky output prices and production characterise Australian agriculture. Exports are vitally important, sometimes relying heavily on a particular market. In this study a model is developed to include explicitly both output price and technological risks as well as multiple output relationships. It is used to show that changes in US beef import policy generating a 10 per cent beef price fall could reduce Australian beef supply by 3.5 per cent and grazing industry net revenue by 8.4 per cent, despite some switching from beef production to other enterprises.     

COVID-19 and the Canadian cattle/beef sector: Some preliminary analysis

Canada's cattle/beef sector has already weathered a shock after a 2003 case of BSE resulted in closed borders and industry restructuring. Now, the sector has to adjust to similar shocks due to COVID-19. This paper examines the supply chain from the consumer up to the cow–calf producer by considering consumer reactions, labor market constraints, and supply response. A quarterly market model of North American cattle and beef markets is used to examine price and revenue impacts associated with the market disruptions. Depending on the scenario, there is considerable price and revenue suppression at all levels of the market.     

An Incentive Compatible Conjoint Ranking Mechanism

A simple method for making ranking-based conjoint analysis incentive compatible is proposed. The incentive compatible mechanism involves people purchasing a product profile with a probability proportional to its assigned rank. In an empirical application related to consumer preferences for beef attributes, we find that the forecasted market share for a new pasture-raised steak obtained using incentive-compatible rankings was significantly greater than that implied from traditional hypothetical conjoint rankings. People's rankings of ground beef products were not affected by the mechanism or by information about pasture-raised beef.     

How integrated are world beef markets? The case of Australian and U.S. beef markets

The objective of the paper is to examine market integration between Australian and U.S. beef prices at the farmgate level. If these two prices are found to be integrated then it can be alleged that Australian beef prices can be used as a world price in empirical analyses and/or as a ‘reference price’ to measure the level of support accorded the U.S. beef sector. Co-integration analysis and a time-varying parameter estimation procedure based on the Kalman filter model are applied. The paper distinguishes between steer and cow beef segments and it uses monthly data over the 1972:1 to 1993:2 period. The results indicate that Australian and U.S. beef prices are co-integrated, albeit not fully and that the degree of convergence between the various price pairs has not substantially increased over time. The results also suggest that Australian prices can not unequivocally be adopted as a world price in empirical analyses.     

A Price Analysis of U.S. Agricultural Exports in East Asian Markets

This paper examines the price competition between U.S. agricultural exports and that of its competitors in East Asia. The results show weak price competition in Japan's corn and soybean markets, and no price competition in the wheat market. U.S. cotton exports to Japan face strong price competition. In Hong Kong, U.S. market shares are low, while the demand for its rice, corn, soybeans and cotton is elastic. For South Korea and Taiwan, improved political relationships between China, South Korea, and Taiwan have caused the U.S. to lose market shares to China.     

Brand-Supermarket Demand for Breakfast Cereals and Retail Competition

The Berry, Levinsohn, and Pakes (1995) market equilibrium model is extended to the supermarket chain level to examine consumer choices and retail competition for thirty-seven brands of breakfast cereals in Boston. Estimated taste parameters for product characteristics vary significantly across consumers. Although consumers are price-sensitive with respect to their chosen cereals, they exhibit strong brand and supermarket loyalty. Retail markups increase and marginal costs decrease with grocery market shares, attesting to oligopoly power with efficiencies. Markups decrease with the own-price elasticity of demand, with Corn Flakes having the highest markups. A detailed picture of consumer response and supermarket competition is provided.     

Asymmetry in beef,lamb and pork farm-retail price transmission in Australia

The hypothesis of asymmetry in price transmission within the Australian meat market is tested using monthly data for beef, lamb and pork prices at different market levels over the period 1971–1988. The results indicate that asymmetrical price response is a strategy used by beef and lamb retailers and wholesalers to adjust to changing input prices, but not by pork retailers and wholesalers. This difference is perhaps unexpected given the similarity in behaviours relating to price levelling in this market, the high cross-price elasticities of demand between these meats, and the relatively greater degree of concentration in the pork market.     

THE EROSION OF AGRICULTURAL EXPORTS IN AN OIL ECONOMY: THE CASE OF NIGERIA

After several years of oil production and exports with attendant revenue influx, the sector is yet to make a significant impact in Nigeria's economic growth. Contrary to the hopes and expectations that greeted the oil discovery, the non-oil export sector of the economy, more specifically the agricultural sector, has been declining consistently with further increases in oil exports. This paper is intended to provide an empirical analysis of an aspect of structural change that has taken place in the Nigerian economy. The hypothesis investigated is that an increase in oil exports results in higher relative prices on non-tradeable to tradeable goods and an appreciation of the domestic currency, hence a loss of the competitiveness of the agricultural export sector in the international market. This phenomenon, popularly known as the ‘Dutch disease’, has been vigorously discussed in the United Kingdom, Norway and the Netherlands, has also received much attention from Australian economists in relation to minerals.     

Evolving Marketing Channels for Beef and Lamb in the United Kingdom-

This paper investigates the effects of: (1) recent changes to food safety legislation; (2) increasing consumer concerns over animal welfare; and (3) further market integration in the European Union on British agribusiness firms involved in marketing beef and lamb. It is hypothesized that these changes will alter the transaction costs associated with marketing these products. As a result, there is likely to be a reduction in the number of animals sold for slaughter through traditional auction markets and an increase in direct contracting or strategic alliances between supermarkets and farmers' marketing cooperatives.     

加强两岸农业合作提升中国茶叶国际竞争力

采用国际市场占有率、贸易竞争指数、国际市场价格、显示比较优势指数等指标定量分析中国茶叶国际竞争力。结果显示,中国茶叶国际竞争力近年呈下降趋势,其主要原因是受到生产要素、国内外需求条件、合作伙伴等因素的制约。在此基础上分析海峡两岸茶叶现状提出通过合作来提升中国茶叶国际竞争力。     

Effects of Product Origin and Selected Demographics on Consumer Choice of Red Meats

A multinomial nonlinear nested logit model is used to test data from a stated preference questionnaire to examine the potential effect of identified product and consumer characteristics on the probability of afresh meat product being purchased. The target market of the study is western Canada, and the questionnaire is directed to randomly selected households in major cities in this region. Fresh beef products from Alberta are generally preferred by these consumers over fresh beef products from other parts of Canada. For pork, consumers are indifferent between products of Alberta and those of other Canadian origin. However, fresh beef and pork products from Canada are preferred to products from the United States. The results support origin branding of Alberta beef, but not Alberta pork. Consumer age, household income and family size all have an effect on meat choices.     

The International Competitiveness of the Palestinian Agriculture

The purpose of this study is to identify and measure the impacts of factors which are expected to influence the competitiveness of the Palestinian agriculture by using the market share approach with an econometric model. Over the past three decades, Palestinian agriculture has been subjected to increased international and regional competition. The impact of this competition is in part evidenced by trend decline in the West Bank and Gaza Strip agricultural exports in one hand, and the increases in agricultural imports on the other. The empirical results indicate that the performances of domestic and import market shares could be increased through improving the productivities of the major production factors such as land, labor and capital. Applying this policy would enhance the competitiveness of Palestinian agriculture by increasing local production to replace farm imports from Israel. On the other land, future farm export competitiveness will be closely linked to improvements in production, marketing efficiency and removing non-tarrif trade barriers (NTBs) imposed by Jordan and Israel.     

Willingness to pay for brands: a cross‐region,cross‐category analysis

Using survey data collected in multiple locations (California and Texas in the United States and Revohot in Israel), we quantify category‐ and location‐specific variations of consumers’ willingness to pay (WTP) for brand products after controlling for consumer characteristics. We find that consumers have a similar qualitative assessment of brand value in different product categories across different locations. That is, consumers have a stronger preference and higher WTP for brands in consumer electronics, followed by clothing and then processed food, and the lowest in fresh produce. Furthermore, we simulate price premiums and market shares of brands relative to generic products in different categories. Simulation results suggest that brands in fresh produce have the highest price premium but lowest market share. Despite the similarities, the magnitude of WTP for brands as well as the simulated price premium and the corresponding market share in the same product category are location variant. The similarities and dissimilarities suggest validity of having global brand strategies adapted to local conditions, that is, the so‐called “thinking globally and acting locally” strategy.