A Cultural Hedonic Framework for Increasing the Consumption of Unfamiliar Foods: Soy Acceptance in Russia and Colombia

It is important to understand how a country's cultural influences may affect the introduction of a new or unfamiliar food. In this paper, we present a cultural hedonic framework that uses a culture's context (low versus high) and its view toward food consumption (hedonic versus utilitarian consumption) to assess the difficulty of introducing an unfamiliar food to this market. This framework is then applied to determine the most effective means to stimulate soy consumption in Russia and Colombia. General guidelines show how the cultural hedonic framework can be used to provide insights into distribution, message positioning, and marketing strategy for other foods and products in a variety of situations.     

Estimation and Application of a Production Function in Decision Rules for Swine Producers1

Production functions are estimated for swine based on experimental data designed for the purpose. The functions are estimated with gain as output and corn and protein supplement as inputs. The gain functions are first estimated for five trials with different starting weights. With use of dummy variables, the data are then pooled for estimation of a single overall production function. Among several algebraic forms used in estimation, a quadratic equation was selected for application. Derivation and estimation of gain isoquants are illustrated and comparison is suggested with a previous study where the isoquants are estimated directly by means of an instrumental variable approach to circumvent problems of autocorrelation. The data then are used in a production decision model which considers fluctuating prices.
Des fonctions de production porcine sont estimées à partir de données expéri-mentales developées à cette fin. La fonction de production est représentée par le gain de poids avec le maïs et les supplements de proteine jouant le rôle de variables. Les gains de poids sont dabord estimés sur cinq essais à partir de divers poids ini-tiaux. Les données sont ensuite combinées à l'aide de variables annexes afin destimer une fonction de production générale. Parmi les diverses formes algebriques employées lors de l'estimation une équation quadratique fût sélectionée comme application. L'estimation et l'obtention des isoquantes gain de poids sont présentés. Une comparaison est faite avec une étude antérieure où les isoquantes sont directement estimées à partir de variables instrumentales ce qui évite les problémes d'autocorre-lation. Les donnees servent ensuite dans un model de décision de production qui comprend des fluctuations de prix.     

Use of two-limit probit regression model : An analysis of lender response to loan requests

Research problems where the observed dependent variable is restricted to lie within an interval with massing of some of the observations at the limiting values of the interval are frequent in business research studies. This paper analyzes one such problem—that of lender response to a business loan application. The unique features of a regression model with a doubly limited dependent variable are explained and interpreted. Parameter estimation for such models is undertaken by maximum-likelihood techniques. In this paper maximum likelihood estimates are obtained for an empirical problem and compared with ordinary least-squares estimators. Results show substantial differences between least-squares and maximum-likelihood estimates, indicating a possibility for serious errors by using least-squares methods on models with a doubly limited dependent variable.     

Competitive blind spots in an institutional field

Unlike institutional or macro‐cultural explanations of competition, competition need not be viewed as a shared social reality. Instead, competition can be interpreted differently by multiple stakeholders of a value chain. However, due to managerial blind spots, such various interpretations of competition are less than apparent to management. Yet explanations of such blind spots are not well documented. Hence, to explain such blind spots, a conceptual model based on overconfidence biases is developed in which managers develop a ‘self‐centered’ view of competition that blinds them from the competitive beliefs of their value chain customers. Differences in competitive beliefs, thus, arise and are argued to contribute to such managerial blind spots. Furthermore, to empirically examine such managerial blind spots, the competitive perceptions held by various members of a swine genetics value chain were surveyed. Through cluster and MANOVA analyses, this study shows that, unlike institutional/macro‐cultural explanations of competition, these members do not share a common consensus of the key attributes and groupings of competition. The implications and contributions of this study are also discussed. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Front-label health claims: when less is more

Growing global attention has been directed toward labeling the ingredients, processing methods, and health claims of food. Accompanying this attention is an interest in how consumers process or understand the information on such labels. This article examines how the length of a front-label claim influences the nutritional beliefs and evaluation of a product when used in combination with complete back-label information. The results indicate that the presence of a shorter health claim on the front of the package (in combination with a more complete claim on the back) leads a person to generate more attribute-specific thoughts about the product and fewer general evaluative thoughts compared to longer health claims. These shorter health claims also led to more favorable beliefs about the product and to a more positive image of the product. This article concludes with a discussion of the implications of the findings for policy makers, consumers and researchers.     

Changes in human nutrition and US exports

Changes in US nutrition could increase the availability of grains for world food use. This study examines such changes by means of a programming model which allows an optimal inter-regional allocation of grains while simultaneous shifts are made in consumer diets. The three alternatives examined include use of added US production potential for wheat production and exports, a substitution of 25% soy protein for meat and reducing the animal protein intake by 25%. Sizable increases in food exports could be made under each of the three alternatives. Of course, institutional means would need to be created to facilitate these shifts.