Premium
Consumer Preferences for Fresh Food Items with Multiple Quality Attributes: Evidence from an Experimental Auction of Pork Chops
Author(s) -
Melton Bryan E.,
Huffman Wallace E.,
Shogren Jason F.,
Fox John A.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
american journal of agricultural economics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.949
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1467-8276
pISSN - 0002-9092
DOI - 10.2307/1243848
Subject(s) - wine tasting , willingness to pay , quality (philosophy) , product (mathematics) , taste , fresh food , experimental economics , business , consumer demand , economics , advertising , marketing , microeconomics , food science , mathematics , wine , chemistry , philosophy , geometry , epistemology , shelf life
This study illustrates an application of experimental auction methods, using both experimental economics and experimental design, to evaluate consumer perceptions and willingness to pay (WTP) for fresh pork chops. We test and reject hypotheses that ( a ) market prices and consumers' WTP are unaffected by the level of attributes embodied in the pork chops, ( b ) appearance (based on photographs or actual product) and actual taste are equally good sources of consumer information, and ( c ) consumers are consistent in their preferences for fresh pork attributes. A major conclusion is that predicting consumer demand for fresh pork (or any fresh food) based on appearance without tasting is unproductive.