Economics Commons^™

The Spillover Effect Of Marketing Discolored Beef On Consumer Preferences For Nondiscolored Beef, Ryan Feuz, F. Bailey Norwood, Ranjith Ramanathan

Applied Economics Faculty Publications

Consumers prefer bright, cherry-red retail beef. Retailers often mark down the price of discolored beef for quick sale. However, following this practice could result in a net loss of revenue if consumer willingness to pay (WTP) for nondiscolored beef is negatively affected by the presence of discolored beef in the consumer choice set. Through a hypothetical online survey and a controlled in-person experiment, we determine that marketing discolored beef together with nondiscolored beef increases most consumers’ evaluation of, but not their WTP for, nondiscolored beef.