The Impact of Hormone Use Perception on Consumer Meat Preference

Consumers see retail beef products labeled as produced with no added hormones (NAH), but also see similar labels on pork and chicken products on market shelves despite the fact that added hormones are not used in production. This may mislead consumers to think hormones are used in meat production as a whole. This research examines the impact of hormone use perception on consumer preference for meat products. Specifically, we assess consumer perception of hormone use in different livestock species as compared to actual use in production. We then assess whether hormone use perception affects consumer choice for unlabeled meat products. Finally, we identify whether consumer perception of hormone use affects willingness to pay (WTP) premiums for meat products labeled as produced with NAH. Choice experiment data was collected using Oklahoma State University monthly Food Demand Survey. Results indicate that consumers underestimate the rate of hormone use in cattle production, but overestimate the rate of hormone use in pork and chicken production. Results from a conditional logit model suggest that consumer perception of hormone use can affect food preferences for unlabeled meat products. Using a Tobit model, we also found WTP premiums for the NAH label are affected by consumer perception of hormone use and by demographic characteristics.