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Promoting Fresh Produce: A Losing Battle?
Author(s) -
McLaughlin Edward W.,
Kaiser Harry M.,
Rickard Bradley J.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
agribusiness
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.57
H-Index - 43
eISSN - 1520-6297
pISSN - 0742-4477
DOI - 10.1002/agr.21378
Subject(s) - promotion (chess) , battle , profitability index , government (linguistics) , consumption (sociology) , stakeholder , public economics , matching (statistics) , marketing , public policy , business , economics , agriculture , public relations , political science , economic growth , finance , politics , ecology , social science , linguistics , philosophy , statistics , mathematics , archaeology , sociology , biology , law , history
Previous research indicates that returns to agricultural producers from generic promotion of their products are substantial. Yet, despite public policy interest in increasing consumption of fruits and vegetables, the United States produce industry has not embraced industry wide promotion. We conduct a survey to better understand stakeholder opinion of a proposed promotion program, and to examine how changes in program design might influence support. Econometric results indicate that support would increase if specific promotion examples were provided, if evidence of likely profitability was clear and if substantial government matching funds were available. Policy implications, including the importance of appropriate target audience and clear communication of program features, are suggested.