IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ags/jlofdr/145331.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Understanding Markets for Grass-Fed Beef: Taste, Price, and Purchase Preferences

Author

Listed:
  • Gwin, Lauren
  • Durham, Catherine A.
  • Miller, Jason D.
  • Colonna, Ann

Abstract

We use results of a consumer taste test conducted in Portland, Oregon, and choice-based conjoint analysis to examine consumer attitudes about grass-fed beef compared to conventional grain-fed: taste preferences, willingness to pay, and willingness to buy frozen meat in bulk. We consider the effect of demographic, attitudinal, and shopping location characteristics of consumers. A baseline, uninformed consumer will pay $0.90-$0.94/pound more for grass-fed ground beef; knowledge about production and nutritional factors increases the premium. A majority of participants would buy in bulk if they knew a producer or a friend referred them; 72% will buy frozen beef.

Suggested Citation

  • Gwin, Lauren & Durham, Catherine A. & Miller, Jason D. & Colonna, Ann, 2012. "Understanding Markets for Grass-Fed Beef: Taste, Price, and Purchase Preferences," Journal of Food Distribution Research, Food Distribution Research Society, vol. 43(2), pages 1-21.
  • Handle: RePEc:ags:jlofdr:145331
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.145331
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/145331/files/JFDR%2043_2_%206%20Gwin.pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.22004/ag.econ.145331?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. King, Robert P. & Hand, Michael S. & DiGiacomo, Gigi & Clancy, Kate & Gomez, Miguel I. & Hardesty, Shermain D. & Lev, Larry & McLaughlin, Edward W., 2010. "Comparing the Structure, Size, and Performance of Local and Mainstream Food Supply Chains," Economic Research Report 246989, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    2. Feuz, Dillon M. & Umberger, Wendy J. & Calkins, Chris R. & Sitz, Bethany M., 2004. "U.S. Consumers' Willingness to Pay for Flavor and Tenderness in Steaks as Determined with an Experimental Auction," Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 29(3), pages 1-16, December.
    3. McCluskey, Jill J. & Wahl, Thomas I. & Li, Quan & Wandschneider, Philip R., 2005. "U.S. Grass-Fed Beef: Marketing Health Benefits," Journal of Food Distribution Research, Food Distribution Research Society, vol. 36(3), pages 1-8, November.
    4. Conner, David S. & Oppenheim, Diana, 2008. "Demand for Pasture-Raised Livestock Products: Results from Michigan Retail Surveys," Journal of Agribusiness, Agricultural Economics Association of Georgia, vol. 26(1), pages 1-20.
    5. McCluskey, Jill J. & Durham, Catherine A. & Horn, Brady P., 2009. "Consumer Preferences for Socially Responsible Production Attributes Across Food Products," Agricultural and Resource Economics Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 38(3), pages 345-356, December.
    6. Lusk, Jayson L. & Parker, Natalie, 2009. "Consumer Preferences for Amount and Type of Fat in Ground Beef," Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Southern Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 41(1), pages 1-16, April.
    7. Kelvin J. Lancaster, 1966. "A New Approach to Consumer Theory," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 74(2), pages 132-132.
    8. Jayson L. Lusk & Ted C. Schroeder, 2004. "Are Choice Experiments Incentive Compatible? A Test with Quality Differentiated Beef Steaks," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 86(2), pages 467-482.
    9. Conner, David S. & Oppenheim, Diana, 2008. "Demand for Pasture-Raised Livestock Products in Michigan: Results of Consumer Surveys and Experimental Auctions," Journal of Food Distribution Research, Food Distribution Research Society, vol. 39(1), March.
    10. Feuz, Dillon M. & Umberger, Wendy J., 2001. "Consumer Willingness-to-Pay for Flavor in Beef Steaks: An Experimental Economics Approach," Cornhusker Economics 306200, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Department of Agricultural Economics.
    11. Umberger, Wendy J. & Boxall, Peter C. & Lacy, R. Curt, 2009. "Role of credence and health information in determining US consumers’ willingness-to-pay for grass-finished beef," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 53(4), pages 1-21.
    12. Wendy J. Umberger & Dawn D. Thilmany McFadden & Amanda R. Smith, 2009. "Does altruism play a role in determining U.S. consumer preferences and willingness to pay for natural and regionally produced beef?," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 25(2), pages 268-285.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Biancamaria Torquati & Tiziano Tempesta & Daniel Vecchiato & Sonia Venanzi, 2018. "Tasty or Sustainable? The Effect of Product Sensory Experience on a Sustainable New Food Product: An Application of Discrete Choice Experiments on Chianina Tinned Beef," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(8), pages 1-24, August.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Britwum, Kofi & Yiannaka, Amalia, 2019. "Consumer willingness to pay for food safety interventions: The role of message framing and issue involvement," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 1-1.
    2. Adalja, Aaron & Hanson, James & Towe, Charles & Tselepidakis, Elina, 2015. "An Examination of Consumer Willingness to Pay for Local Products," Agricultural and Resource Economics Review, Northeastern Agricultural and Resource Economics Association, vol. 44(3), pages 1-22, December.
    3. Wendy J. Umberger & Peter C. Boxall & R. Curt Lacy, 2009. "Role of credence and health information in determining US consumers' willingness-to-pay for grass-finished beef," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 53(4), pages 603-623, October.
    4. Eve J. Froehlich & Jared G. Carlberg & Clement E. Ward, 2009. "Willingness‐to‐Pay for Fresh Brand Name Beef," Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics/Revue canadienne d'agroeconomie, Canadian Agricultural Economics Society/Societe canadienne d'agroeconomie, vol. 57(1), pages 119-137, March.
    5. Ryan Feuz & F. Bailey Norwood & Ranjith Ramanathan, 2020. "Do consumers have an appetite for discolored beef?," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 36(4), pages 631-652, October.
    6. Gillespie, Jeffrey & Sitienei, Isaac & Bhandari, Basu & Scaglia, Guillermo, 2016. "Grass-Fed Beef: How is it Marketed by US Producers?," International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, International Food and Agribusiness Management Association, vol. 19(2), pages 1-18, May.
    7. Kar H. Lim & Wuyang Hu, 2016. "How Local Is Local? A Reflection on Canadian Local Food Labeling Policy from Consumer Preference," Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics/Revue canadienne d'agroeconomie, Canadian Agricultural Economics Society/Societe canadienne d'agroeconomie, vol. 64(1), pages 71-88, March.
    8. Evans, Jason R. & D'Souza, Gerard E. & Collins, Alan R. & Brown, Cheryl & Sperow, Mark, 2011. "Determining Consumer Perceptions of and Willingness to Pay for Appalachian Grass-Fed Beef: An Experimental Economics Approach," Agricultural and Resource Economics Review, Northeastern Agricultural and Resource Economics Association, vol. 40(2), pages 1-18, August.
    9. Ward, Clement E. & Lusk, Jayson L. & Dutton, Jennifer M., 2008. "Implicit Value of Retail Beef Product Attributes," Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 33(3), pages 1-18.
    10. Khan, Md. Tajuddin & Kishore, Avinash & Joshi, Pramod Kumar, 2016. "Gender dimensions on farmers’ preferences for direct-seeded rice with drum seeder in India:," IFPRI discussion papers 1550, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    11. Jianhua Wang & Jiaye Ge & Yuting Ma, 2018. "Urban Chinese Consumers’ Willingness to Pay for Pork with Certified Labels: A Discrete Choice Experiment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-14, February.
    12. Illichmann, R. & Abdulai, A., 2014. "Analysis of Consumer Preferences and Wilingness-To-Pay for Organic Food Products in Germany," Proceedings “Schriften der Gesellschaft für Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaften des Landbaues e.V.”, German Association of Agricultural Economists (GEWISOLA), vol. 49, March.
    13. Ping Qin & Fredrik Carlsson & Jintao Xu, 2011. "Forest Tenure Reform in China: A Choice Experiment on Farmers’ Property Rights Preferences," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 87(3), pages 473-487.
    14. Mohammed H. Alemu & Søren Bøye Olsen & Suzanne E. Vedel & John Kinyuru & Kennedy O. Pambo, 2016. "Integrating sensory evaluations in incentivized discrete choice experiments to assess consumer demand for cricket flour buns in Kenya," IFRO Working Paper 2016/02, University of Copenhagen, Department of Food and Resource Economics.
    15. Ortega, David L. & Wang, H. Holly & Wu, Laping & Olynk, Nicole J., 2011. "Modeling heterogeneity in consumer preferences for select food safety attributes in China," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 318-324, April.
    16. Xue, Hong & Mainville, Denise Y. & You, Wen & Nayga, Rodolfo M., Jr., 2009. "Nutrition Knowledge, Sensory Characteristics and Consumers’ Willingness to Pay for Pasture-Fed Beef," 2009 Annual Meeting, July 26-28, 2009, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 49277, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    17. Ballco, Petjon & Gracia, Azucena, 2020. "Do market prices correspond with consumer demands? Combining market valuation and consumer utility for extra virgin olive oil quality attributes in a traditional producing country," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 53(C).
    18. Loureiro, Maria L. & Umberger, Wendy J., 2007. "A choice experiment model for beef: What US consumer responses tell us about relative preferences for food safety, country-of-origin labeling and traceability," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(4), pages 496-514, August.
    19. Darren Hudson & Karina Gallardo & Terry Hanson, 2005. "Hypothetical (Non)Bias In Choice Experiments: Evidence From Freshwater Prawns," Experimental 0503003, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    20. Carnegie, Rachel & Wang, Holly & Widmar, Nicole & Ortega, David, 2014. "Consumer Preferences for Quality and Safety Attributes of Duck in Restaurant Entrees: Is China A Viable Market for The U.S. Duck Industry?," 2014 Annual Meeting, July 27-29, 2014, Minneapolis, Minnesota 170717, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ags:jlofdr:145331. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: AgEcon Search (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/fdrssea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.