Progress 04/01/07 to 03/31/12
Outputs
OUTPUTS: During the last thirty years, pistachio world trade patterns have experienced a dramatic change. The U.S. went from a pure importer to a major exporter that can compete with Iran, the world's leading pistachio producer and exporter. This study explored the underlying factors behind this dramatic change. The US pistachio industry started growing in 1976 and the U.S. became an exporter in 1982. Iran was the absolute dominant producer and exporter until 1997, when a food safety incident greatly changed trade flows. The EU countries switched their primary importing origin from Iran to the U.S., which led to significant market share gains for U.S. producers.The evolution of the U.S. pistachio industry is reviewed in contrast with Iran and other important producers, and the current export market situation is discussed, including illustrations of losses and gains of market share for Iran and the U.S. The data for this research are from 21 major markets for the years 1989 through 2009. The statistical framework used is a time-series, cross-sectional panel model translated into a comprehensive double log econometric model.This research was presented in June at the 2012 International Food and Agribusiness Management conference in Shanghai, China. This research was also published in the journal of International Food and Agribusniess Management Review in August 2012. PARTICIPANTS: Not relevant to this project. TARGET AUDIENCES: Not relevant to this project. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Not relevant to this project.
Impacts
Agribusiness recommendations for a successful marketing strategy include finding and implementing solutions that could improve current food safety issues (especially relating to aflatoxin), focusing on product diversification and compliance with marketing order regulations to provide quality assurance to consumers and pistachio importing countries. The statistical framework used is a time-series, cross-sectional panel model translated into a comprehensive double log econometric model. Estimation results are statistically significant, plausible, and consistent with theoretical expectations.Estimation results show that pistachio's own-price and the real exchange rate between foreign currencies and the U.S. dollar have a negative effect on the amount demanded by international markets; the elasticities are estimated at -1.79 and -1.59, respectively. Foreign GDP and Iran's price are affecting the quantity demanded positively; their elasticities are estimated at 1.11 and 1.35, respectively. These results answer the first objective. The variable identifying Iranian food safety scares is negative, indicating the spillover effect of the 1997 food safety incident from Iran to the U.S. The food safety shock coefficient for the U.S. is positive, meaning food safety concerns benefit U.S. exports. It seems that the first scare from Iran, the largest pistachio producer and exporter, was the only incident that negatively affected U.S. pistachio exports. After that, other countries (particularly Europe) established stricter aflatoxin standards and the market became more confident in U.S. suppliers. Pistachios are more expensive than most tree nuts and they seem to be a luxury food item. The fact that EU countries consume more pistachios is in part due to their higher income levels (Karim and Vardan, 2003), and as incomes grow throughout the world, there should be more pistachio consumption. This increased consumption of pistachios will likely drive growth in the U.S. industry, increasing labor demand and employment.
Publications
- Zheng, Z. S. Saghaian, and M. Reed. (2012). Factors Affecting the Export Demand for U.S. Pistachios. The International Food and Agribusiness Management Review. 15(3): 139-154.
- Zheng, Z., S. Saghaian, and M. Reed. (2012). Factors Affecting the Export Demand for U.S. Pistachios, in The Road to 2050: The China Factor. Proceedings of the International Food and Agribusiness Management Association (IFAMA) 22nd World Food and Agribusiness Congress, June 9-14, Shanghai, China. (Refereed conference proceedings) [Available on IFAMA website]
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Progress 01/01/11 to 12/31/11
Outputs
OUTPUTS: Food safety has received more and more attention by industries, consumers, and policy makers in recent years. The most far-reaching food safety concern for pistachio consumption originated from the 1997 Iran aflatoxin contamination. The food safety incident in Iran caused significant market share loss for Iran and gains for the U.S. The U.S. experienced a steady growth in production share from 11.0% in the 1980s to 23.5% after 2000; U.S. export share increased from 6.8% in the 1980s to 14.9% after 2000. Governments often attempt to aid food safety by mandating standards and inspection of food products to supplement the efforts by private firms and industries. In this research we investigated the factors, including aflatoxin safety concerns on U.S. pistachio exports. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the effective factors on pistachio exports and how food safety concerns affected export demand for pistachio nuts. Procedures: Since the topic of export demand function plays an important role in the field of international trade, several measures have emerged to quantify this concept. Some of these measures are export price (EP), competitor's export price (CEP), GDP, and exchange rate (ER). Besides, food safety shocks (FSS) can also threaten consumers' confidence especially in purchasing an infrequently consumed product; as a result, a dummy variable is created to investigate the effect of such concern. In the model, all the variables are formatted as real values: all variables are divided by their corresponding values in a base-year. Using the real form not only helps to make each time series equivalent in magnitude, but also helps to incorporate in a parsimonious way and thus helps to minimize specification errors. We use panel data to empirically analyze the stability of the export demand function of pistachios for the period 1997-2006, using the nonstationary panel time series analysis. We find that the use of panel data for export demand clearly supports a cointegrating relationship. The common difficulty in obtaining sufficient sample size pistachio importer countries is overcome by the use of cross-sectional and time series data panel analysis approach. This research was presented at the annual meetings of the Food Distribution Research Society (FDRS), and was later published in the March issue of 2010 Journal of Food Distribution Research. PARTICIPANTS: Not relevant to this project. TARGET AUDIENCES: Not relevant to this project. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Not relevant to this project.
Impacts
Food safety scares could affect the health of consumers. Governments regulate food production and marketing by imposing standards and inspection requirements. An aflatoxin-related food safety event could impose serious costs on the pistachio industry. Base on the initial results, exporting countries need to have a more certain and clearer planning in production, marketing, and more importantly observation of health principles in order to maintain export market shares in the world. Industries should undertake voluntary actions, which determine standards or similar measures for a product because the conditions and the market facts call for such a move. Estimation results show that pistachio's own-price and the real exchange rate between foreign currencies and the U.S. dollar have a negative effect on the amount demanded by international markets. Foreign GDP and Iran's price are affecting the quantity demanded positively. The variable identifying Iranian food safety scares is negative, indicating the spillover effect of the 1997 food safety incident from Iran to the U.S. The food safety shock coefficient for the U.S. is positive, meaning food safety concerns benefit U.S. exports. It seems that the first scare from Iran, the largest pistachio producer and exporter, was the only incident that negatively affected U.S. pistachio exports. Pistachios are more expensive than most tree nuts and they seem to be a luxury food item. The fact that EU countries consume more pistachios is in part due to their higher income levels, and as incomes grow throughout the world, there should be more pistachio consumption. This increased consumption of pistachios will likely drive growth in the U.S. industry, increasing labor demand and employment. Proper packaging is important to improve food safety. Improperly packaged pistachios can be contaminated during processing, transportation or storage. Finally, U.S. producers must continue to be vigilant about food safety. The traceability system "provides ex post information" that helps consumers and suppliers to specify allocation of liability and stimulates compliance with food safety regulations. Thus it is beneficial to consumers, marketers and farmers for policy makers to consider mandatory traceability. It is beneficial for firms and marketers because the system clarifies liability and stimulates firms to implement stricter food safety rules. It is beneficial for consumers because they can consume safer food and, in case of a food safety event, they will have much better chances of getting compensated, leading to improved consumer confidence.
Publications
- Zheng, Z. and S. Saghaian. (2011). Time Series Analysis of U.S. Pistachios Export Demand in North America. Journal of Food Distribution Research, 42 (1): 124-129.
- Shahnoushi, N., S. Saghaian, and N. Ashktorab.(2011). An Analysis of Aflatoxin Food Safety Concerns and other Factors Affecting Iran Pistachio Exports to European Union and Japan. International Food and Agribusiness Management Association (IAMA), June 20-23, Frankfurt, Germany.
- Li, Xiaoqian and S. Saghaian. (2011). US Seafood Exports and HACCP Regulatory System. Selected poster, AAEA and NAREA Joint Annual Meeting, July 24-26, Pittsburgh, PA.
- Li, Xiaoqian and S. Saghaian. (2011). Impact of HACCP on US Seafood Exports. Selected paper, the 21th Annual World Forum and Symposium, International Food and Agribusiness Management Association (IAMA), June 20-23, Frankfurt, Germany.
- Zheng, Z. and S. Saghaian. (2010). Analysis of the Factors That Affect the US Pistachios Export Demand in North America. Selected paper, the Annual Conference of the Food Distribution Research Society (FDRS), October 16-20, Sandestin, Florida.
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Progress 01/01/10 to 12/31/10
Outputs
OUTPUTS: Food safety scares affect consumption behavior, and increasingly food safety and animal life issues are impacting international agricultural trade. Foot-and-mouth (FMD) is one of the Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) measures that are applied to protect human or animal life or health from risks within the territories of the member countries. The increased concern for SPS Agreement is one of the recent significant structural changes in the international trade of livestock and their products. Overall, FMD has a negative impact on supply and demand within a country. An important research question is whether and how importing countries trade decisions are affected by FMD. Rushton (2009) mentioned that the incentives to achieve FMD-free status for countries with the potential to export meat are high. Is it true that when a country remains a disease-free nation/region, it leads to higher potential exports? Better understanding of importer countries' reactions to FMD helps the bilateral trade negotiation strategies that protect the loss from a FMD outbreaks. The U.S. has been a FMD-free nation since 1929. Yet from 1996 to 2005, many countries were affected by FMD, as recorded by the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE). This study proposed the gravity model of international trade with random-effects to analyze the effects of FMD in countries that import U.S. swine meat. Gravity models are widely used to examine bilateral trade flows. Formal theoretical foundations of the Gravity models were provided in Bergstrand (1989). Previous study by Wilson and Otsuki (2004) reveals how to solve the puzzles of regulations, policies, and standards. The FMD outbreak issues in importing countries are considered a food scare issue that results in a serious impact on trade flows. This study applied a gravity equation with panel data to find out whether other FMD-affected countries increased swine meat imports from the U.S. The panel was tested for fixed or random effects by using the Hausman specification test. Since some U.S. swine meat trade partners have had FMD discoveries, the main objective of this research was to investigate how the FMD discoveries impacted U.S. exports of swine meat to those countries. The main goal of this study was to test all FMD-affected countries that had an increase or decrease in exports of swine meat to the U.S. This study contributed to the knowledge about the impacts of foreign FMD by confirming Rushton (2009) point that FMD-free status leads to higher exports. This research was presented at the annual meetings of the Food Distribution Research Socity (FDRS), and was later published in the March issue of 2010 Journal of Food Distribution Research. PARTICIPANTS: Not relevant to this project. TARGET AUDIENCES: Not relevant to this project. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Not relevant to this project.
Impacts
Many researchers illustrate the impacts of FMD by analyzing beef cattle; however, this study focused on the U.S. "meat of swine," which identified by the code 0203 in the U.S. Trade Internet System. There are many varieties and different types of preparations of swine meat, like fresh, chill, or frozen. Furthermore, each country may have different demands for swine meat imports, so this study focused on the same product in each country. Annual data were collected from 1996 to 2005, and 16 countries were selected because these countries had occurrences of FMD during the data period. Results of our sample set indicated that the U.S. had a significant increase in swine meat exports as other countries were affected by FMD outbreaks. This concurs with Rushton (2009) point. The coefficients of FMD and lagFMD revealed a consistent positive sign. When importing countries were affected by FMD outbreaks, these 16 countries on average responded by importing more swine meat from the U.S. The coefficients for FMD and lagFMD in value of exported swine meat were 0.6067 and 0.7286, respectively; the dynamic FMD effect (FMD plus lagFMD) in exporting value was 1.3353 and 1.2271 in exporting volume. The percentage change of FMD in value of exported swine meat was 83%. When FMD outbreak occurred in a swine meat importing country of the U.S., and the value of U.S. swine meat exports increased by 83% and 75% in volume on average (all other variables being constant). An incidence of FMD outbreaks in an importing country dynamically increased the U.S. export value of swine meat by 280% and 241% in volume on average. When FMD outbreaks occurred in a swine meat importing country in time t-1 and t consecutively, the volume of U.S. swine meat exports decreased by 57% on average (all other variables being constant). The finding indicated that from 1996 to 2005, the U.S. export market gained a positive effect from FMD-affected importers. In general, FMD outbreak causes both supply and demand shocks. One of the key questions is which shock has a longer recovery period. Due to the destroyed policy, the domestic production in importers takes at least few years to return to the original providing volume. The main difference between supply and demand shocks is that a supply shock takes longer to recover. When consumers' concerns are reverted back to the original levels, the supply might have a shortage before fully recovering. That is why FMD-affected countries increased their U.S. swine meat imports. Based on our examination, the results provided an intuition of the bilateral trade, consistent with previous research.
Publications
- Yang, Shang-Ho and S. Saghaian. (2010). The Examination of the Foreign FMD on the Export Market: The Case of U.S. Meat Exports. Journal of Food Distribution Research, 41 (1): 115-119.
- Yang, Shang-Ho1 and S. Saghaian. (2010). The Impact of Foot-Mouth Disease Vaccination Policy in Importing Countries on U.S. Meat Exports. The Southern Association of Agricultural Economics (SAEA) Annual Meetings, February 6-9, Orlando, Florida.
- Yang, Shang-Ho1 and S. Saghaian. (2009). The Examination of the Foreign FMD on the Export Market: The Case of U.S. Meat Exports. The Annual Conference of the Food Distribution Research Society (FDRS), October 30-November 4, Broomfield, Colorado
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Progress 01/01/09 to 12/31/09
Outputs
OUTPUTS: We examined the impacts of BSE discoveries in Canada, Japan, and the U.S. on retail meat markets. No food safety threat inspires more dread than variant Creutzfeldt - Jakob disease (vCJD), an irreversible brain wasting disease contracted from eating beef infected with Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE). Consumers often refer to vCJD and BSE interchangeably as "mad cow disease," which can induce fear through uncertain identification, long incubation periods, and devastating symptoms. Even though most countries have experienced very few BSE cases, such as Canada, Japan, and the United States, and the risk may be exceedingly low, previous studies found conflicting consumer responses to BSE in these low-incidence countries. This research helps reconcile disparities in previous findings by demonstrating the importance of context in determining consumer reactions to a BSE scare. The results help focus attention on strategic risk management options that agribusiness managers can use to guard against shocks to retail beef demand if and when future BSE events occur. This research consists of three parts that present two complementary statistical analyses. The first part highlights contextual differences in Canada. A double-hurdle model of Canadian fast food beef purchases showed no significant BSE impacts on the likelihood or quantity of fast food beef item purchases. When applied to Canadian supermarket beef purchases, however, a striking pattern emerged. After the initial BSE event in 2003, when media coverage focused mainly on the plight of ranchers, beef demand increased significantly. Moreover, demand increased the most in Alberta, the center of Canada's beef industry. Following two later BSE events, beef demand fell significantly. In the second part, we showed consumer reactions to BSE in Japan using Directed Acyclic Graphs and historical price and quantity decompositions. The Japanese beef markets faced two subsequent cases of BSE discoveries in 2001, eroding consumer confidence in beef supply channels with huge economic losses to the Japanese beef industry. In the third part we looked at BSE's impact along the U.S. supply chain using similar contemporary time-series methods. The U.S. beef industry faced BSE in 2003, which led to differential impacts on farm, wholesale, and retail markets. Relative to the U.S., Japanese consumers have a strong preference for domestically produced beef, encouraged by retail country-of-origin labeling and BSE media coverage critical of imported beef. Consistent with these differences in preferences, marketing, and information, we observe more negative and more nuanced reactions to BSE in Japan versus the U.S. The results illustrate the importance of context along at least five dimensions: the food purchase venue, the geographic proximity of consumers to BSE events, the ordering of BSE events, the role of supplier behavior, and the nature of media coverage. PARTICIPANTS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period. TARGET AUDIENCES: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
In Canada if a household recorded at least one beef entre in its preceding report, it was over twice more likely, on average, to buy a beef entre than households who listed no beef entrees in the preceding report. Each additional beef entre recorded in the preceding report was associated with about a 10% higher average probability of a current beef entre purchase, and about 0.17 more beef entre purchases. Promotional deals almost doubled the odds of purchasing a beef entre, and increased the average monthly by 0.34 entres. Households containing married couples and children were more likely to buy beef entres, and more of them. Older consumers, and those for whom English was a second language, were significantly less likely to buy fast food beef entres. The finding that prices were not significant determinants of beef entre purchases is not entirely surprising when considering the context of fast food purchases. Awareness of typical fast food prices is likely to be high among most consumers, and few lower-cost, low-preparation alternatives are available. Convenience and product attribute preferences are likely to be among the most important demand determinants. Imported beef prices in Japan fell immediately in response to the BSE discovery, but domestic beef prices actually increased. However, ultimately all beef prices were adversely impacted by the BSE discovery. U.S. beef import prices fell the most dramatically immediately after the BSE discovery and saw the widest difference between the actual and forecast prices. U.S. beef prices rebounded after the first two months, but they took another quick dive after December, reaching their lowest point in May, approximately seven months after the outbreak. Prices of all beef products were lower twelve months after the BSE discovery, a clear indication that the news of the BSE discovery adversely affected consumers' perceptions of beef quality and lowered profit margins. Yet, the price decrease for the two imported beef types were more than the price decrease for the two domestically produced beef categories. This indicates that Japanese consumers have a more positive view of their own beef products and this keeps the price of their domestic beef products from falling as much as imported products. The results provide incentives for beef producers and retailers to proactively inform consumers about ongoing beef safety measures, and can potentially provide policy makers a basis for countermeasures and compensations. Beef safety crises have increased the need for robust information technologies in the food marketing system. The BSE situation has certainly created opportunities for producers that have traceable production systems and have quality assurance programs that involve branding and labeling. Proactive information provision in the food marketing systems reduces the impacts of the food scare. The U.S. government and the food industry must continue to invest heavily into procedures that will reduce food safety scares in these areas and into information systems that minimize the impacts of food safety shocks.
Publications
- Salim, J., S. Saghaian and M. Reed. (2009). Trade Effects of Phytosanitary Protocols: A U.S.-India Almond Trade. Journal of Food Distribution Research, 40 (1): 159-164.
- Saghaian, S. and J. Shepherd. (2009). Consumer Behavior, Trust of Information, and Risk Perception to Food Safety Events. In Consumer Behavior. Felix Saito, Ed. Nova Science Publishers, Inc., Hauppauge, NY, 63-85.
- Babool, A., M. Reed, S. Saghaian, and V. Subrmaniam. (2009). Food Safety Standards and Export Competitiveness in the Processed Food Industries of Asia-Pacific Countries. Journal of International Agricultural Trade and Development, 5(1): 1-10.
- Saghaian, S., G. Ozertan, and A. Spaulding. (2008). The Impacts of Atlantic Bonito Rush and the Avian Influenza on Meat Products in Turkey. Economics Bulletin, 17(16): 1-11.
- Akben, E., G. Ozertan, A. Spaulding, and S. Saghaian. (2008). Consumer Responses to the H5N1 Avian Influenza: The Case of Turkey. Economics Bulletin, 4(15): 1-9.
- Saghaian, S., G. Ozertan, and A. Spaulding. (2008). The Dynamics of Price Transmission in the Presence of a Major Food Safety Shock: The Impact of N5N1 Avian Influenza on the Turkish Poultry Sector. Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, 40(3):1015-1031.
- Saghaian, S. L. Maynard, and M. Reed. (2009). The Importance of Context in Determining Consumer Response to Food Safety Events: The Case of Mad Cow Disease Discovery in Canada, Japan, and the United States. In Outsourcing, Teamwork, and Business Management. Karl E. Carettas, Ed. Nova Science Publishers, Inc. Hauppauge, NY, 235-265.
- Subrmaniam V., S. Saghaian, L. Maynard, and M. Reed. (2009). Sectoral Growth Interdependencies and the Role of Agriculture in Poland and Romania. Journal of Food Distribution Research, 40 (1): 165-173.
- Bayar, E., S. Saghaian, W.Hu, and A. Katchova. (2009). Importance of Nutritional Labels in the Food Industry for Ameliorating the Obesity Epidemic. Journal of Food Distribution Research, 40 (1): 15-21.
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Progress 01/01/08 to 12/31/08
Outputs
OUTPUTS: We designed and conducted two surveys of consumers in Kentucky to gage their responses to hypothetical food safety incidents in fresh produce and meat markets. These results suggest that different communication strategies are needed for different regions. When prompted with the statement: "chicken and/or beef is a safe food," almost 52% of respondents chose a level 7 (complete agreement) or a level 6. 40.6% reported that it would be extremely unlikely that they would purchase chicken and/or beef next week, if they had read an article in the newspaper that high rates of E. coli/salmonella in chicken and/or beef had been found in their area, resulting in several people being hospitalized. 50.5% of respondents stated their actions, would reduce food risk by a large extent and all values above 4 (neither) account for 93.8% of respondents. The majority of respondents chose standard forms of information; television, newspaper, and internet, accounting for 64.3%, 67.8%, and 74.1% respectively. Interestingly, there were a relatively small number of respondents that chose radio as a source for further information. Respondents were asked to report their level of trust with regards to 20 entities that had hypothetically provided information about potential risks associated with E. coli/salmonella in food. Political groups had the highest percentage of completely distrust at 17.4% of respondents. The next highest percentage of completely distrust was animal welfare organizations, 13.8%. Under the highest value, 7, corresponding to completely trust, doctors and health authority received the highest percentage at 47.8%. University scientists and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) also received a relatively high percentage in the same category with 33.0% and 35.7% respectively. There were striking similarities in simple averages of the above categories between this study and the EU study. There were only 4 of the 20 categories (supermarkets, processors, doctors, and magazines) where Kentucky respondents indicated more trust than participants in the EU study (Lobb, Mazzocchi, and Traill 2006a). 75.9% reported they trusted university scientists over media and 74.1% reported they trusted university scientists over producers. 70.5% reported trusting public authorities more than producers. Survey respondents were also given the prompt "Chicken and/or beef that is safe is:" and were asked to give their level of agreement to statements that finished that sentence. Under "Produced in the United States" the majority of the selections were "completely agree." Under "produced in Mexico and Canada," the majority of respondents choose neither. Only 14% of respondents indicated they had actively searched for food safety information in the past 2 weeks. These results have been presented in several conferences, published in scientific journals and shared with students in classroom settings. PARTICIPANTS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period. TARGET AUDIENCES: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
Economic losses associated with such events are not limited to the immediate time period following an occurrence. Effective strategic responses by agribusiness firms facing a food safety event can be difficult because it is not clear whom consumers trust with information or if consumer response is the same across products and geographical regions. Sociological researchers argue that, generally, a food safety event receives prominent media coverage with consumers initially over-reacting by avoiding the identified food item. Media coverage of food safety events can also be confusing to consumers as more and more of the information is revealed to the public because of time lapses in coverage or conflicting information within or between different media sources. Food safety risks differ from other risk for many reasons. First, absolute reduction in risk is not possible because food is essential for life (Frewer et al, 1998). Second, food choice is a personal decision that is often solidified by a person's past. Third, food safety aspects of agricultural products are credence goods. Credence goods result in consumers relying on aspects such as brands, labels and perceptions. Fourth, food risk outbreaks are not foreseen and often unclear. Lastly, consumers expect food safety. Further, research indicates that consumers consider all food safety concerns (i.e. genetic modification, pesticide residue, pathogens, etc.) in their purchasing decisions, highlighting the importance for agribusiness firms to understand how society perceives food safety risks. Agribusiness firms should have a strategic response plan that can be enacted quickly to handle a food safety event to minimize economic losses. In general, no conclusive arguments can be made about generalizations across products. Agribusiness firms can incorporate these results into their strategic food safety response plans. These results suggest that agribusiness firms that include measures that relay the risk perception of a food safety event are likely to minimize the economic losses associated with such events. The descriptive statistics obtained from these surveys offer interesting insights into the behavior of consumers with regards to hypothetical food safety events occurring in these markets. These results suggest that different communication strategies are needed for different regions. There is also evidence that illustrates who consumers trust with information concerning food safety events. Further, these results uphold extensive literature concerning short run effects of food safety events while shedding light on long-run effects. Even though similarities and contradictions can be seen between the Kentucky and the EU study, confident statements can only be made after more research is put into this area and a model is used to determine if consumers across regions and countries perceive food safety risk in the same manner.
Publications
- Maynard,S. Saghaian, and Nickoloff. (2008). Buyer and Seller Responses to an Adverse Food Safety Event. International Food and Agribusiness Management Review. 11(1): 77-96.
- Nickoloff, M., L. Maynard, S. Saghaian, and M. Reed. (2008). The Effect of Conflicting Health Information on Frozen Salmon Consumption in Alberta, Canada. Journal of Food Distribution Research, 39 (1): 97-102.
- Gupta, K., and S. Saghaian. (2008). Institutional Framework for Meeting International Food Safety Market Standards for Agricultural Products from a Developing Country Perspective. Journal of Food Distribution Research, 39 (1): 78-83.
- Shepherd, J. and S. Saghaian. (2008). Consumer Response and Trust of Information to Food Safety Events in the Chicken and Beef Markets in Kentucky. Journal of Food Distribution Research, 39 (1): 123-129.
- Maynard, L, S. Saghaian, and M. Nickoloff. (2007). Consumer Reaction to Health Messages about Fish Consumption. Consumer and Market Demand Agricultural Research Policy Network working paper CMD 07-05, Edmonton, Alberta, November.
- Saghaian, S. (2007). Beef Safety Shocks and Dynamics of Vertical Price Adjustment: The Case of BSE Discovery in the U.S. Beef Sector. Agribusiness: An International Journal, 23(3): 333-348.
- Saghaian, S. and M. Reed. (2007). Consumer Reaction to Beef Safety Scares. International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, 10(1): 18-35.
- Saghaian, S., L. Maynard, and M. Reed. (2007). The Effect of E. Coli 0157:H7, FMD and BSE on Japanese Retail Beef Prices: A Historical Decomposition. Agribusiness: An International Journal, 23(1): 131-147.
- Saghaian, S. (2007). Consumer Reaction to Food Safety Concerns: The Role of Supplier Behavior. Journal of Food Distribution Research, 38(1): 128-133.
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Progress 01/01/07 to 12/31/07
Outputs
Food safety events are the most challenging issues facing marketing channels of agricultural products today. Food safety is also identified as one of the specific priorities of the targets of opportunity of the College of Agriculture. A key question regarding consumer and producer behavior is how they react when faced with unexpected food safety shocks. Firm-level strategic decision making regarding product differentiation, health and wellness functions of food, and consumer responsiveness, in an environment of highly integrated monopolistically competitive agriculture and food industries is at the heart of this research proposal. Better understanding of consumer reactions to food safety scares helps the food industries construct strategies that can restore consumer confidence after safety crises.  
Impacts
Results are expected to help exporters and producer create credible quality assurance programs through more effective, transparent communication with consumers. Heightened visibility has created opportunities for branding, labeling, and product differentiation based on traceability and quality. Credence attribute labeling reduces information costs to consumers and results in increased demand for quality-assured products. Producers and retailers can use these results to further differentiate their products and perhaps earn higher premiums, as a strategic response to consumers' risk perceptions. Findings will also reinforce the need for food industry representatives to provide accurate information when a safety crisis arises. Results will show retailers another way to raise consumer confidence in the nation's supply chain by reducing erosion of demand and market share when safety crises do occur.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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