Agricultural and Resource Economics Commons^™

An Examination Of Consumer Willingness To Pay For Local Products, Aaron Adalja, James Hanson, Charles Towe, Elina Tselepidakis

Aaron Adalja

We use data from hypothetical and nonhypothetical choice-based conjoint analysis to estimate willingness to pay for local food products. The survey was administered to three groups: consumers from a buying club with experience with local and grass-fed production markets, a random sample of Maryland residents, and shoppers at a nonspecialty Maryland supermarket. We find that random-sample and supermarket shoppers are willing to pay a premium for local products but view local and grass-fed production as substitutes. Conversely, buying-club members are less willing to pay for local production than the other groups but do not confllate local and grass-fed production.

Assessing Consumer Preferences For Seafood Labels, William C. Brayden Iii

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Coastal communities are host to a suite of economic, cultural, and natural resources, and are often focused around a core such as tourism, beaches, fisheries, or processing. In nearly all cases, coastal communities survive based upon the resources in the surrounding coastal areas and water. As wild fisheries begin to stagnate, many traditional fishing communities are forced to look elsewhere for economic sustenance. While tourism or real estate may provide relief, residents often require a more stable, year-round income. Some coastal communities have begun to transition away from wild fisheries and towards marine aquaculture, or, the cultivation of marine animals …

Consumer Perceptions Of Food Safety And Preferences For Food Safety Interventions, Kofi Britwum

Department of Agricultural Economics: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This dissertation consists of three essays that investigate consumers’ response to technologies that mitigate food safety risks: cattle vaccines against E. coli and direct-fed microbials.

The first essay examines the influence of information framing and issue involvement on perceptions of the two food safety technologies. This essay also examines the role of issue involvement on food safety perceptions. A hypothetical survey which includes six information treatments was developed, and targeted a representative, random sample of U.S consumers. Participants were exposed to general information about E. coli and the two food safety technologies, a gain-framed message, a loss-framed message, a media …

Consumer Preferences And Willingness To Pay For Natural Beef: A Discrete Choice Experiment Approach, Konstantinos Syrengelas

Masters Theses

“Natural” is one of the most common words appearing on new food products. Despite the wide use of the term, the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) has not provided a formal definition of natural. The absence of a clear definition has led to various citizen petitions, either to define the term or even to prohibit its use. The main argument for prohibiting natural labeling is that the term is potentially misleading. Furthermore, findings in the existing literature indicate that some consumers tend to confuse natural and organic labels. A misleading label could lead to distortion of the consumer’s budget allocation. …