Source: MICHIGAN STATE UNIV submitted to
EVALUATING CONSUMER AND PRODUCER BEHAVIOR WITH REGARDS TO FOOD QUALITY AND PRODUCTION PRACTICES
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
TERMINATED
Funding Source
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
1002829
Grant No.
(N/A)
Project No.
MICL02318
Proposal No.
(N/A)
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Program Code
(N/A)
Project Start Date
Jun 1, 2014
Project End Date
May 31, 2019
Grant Year
(N/A)
Project Director
Ortega, DA.
Recipient Organization
MICHIGAN STATE UNIV
(N/A)
EAST LANSING,MI 48824
Performing Department
Agricultural, Food, & Resource Economics
Non Technical Summary
The goal of this project is to improve the quality of products supplied to U.S. markets from domestic and international sources through investigating credence attributes such as food quality. This information will help reduce food safety risks by bridging market asymmetries, suggest optimal food safety policy, and ultimately ensure a safe food supply for all consumers.The proposed study will be comprised of domestic and (select) foreign consumer and producer studies to evaluate preferences and behavior regarding food quality and production practices.
Animal Health Component
0%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
100%
Applied
(N/A)
Developmental
(N/A)
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
60362993010100%
Knowledge Area
603 - Market Economics;

Subject Of Investigation
6299 - Marketing, general/other;

Field Of Science
3010 - Economics;
Goals / Objectives
The proposed study will be comprised of domestic and (select) foreign consumer and producer studies to evaluate preferences and behavior regarding food quality and production practices. Specific supporting objectives of this study are to:1. Estimate U.S. consumers' willingness-to-pay (WTP) for important food quality informational attributes embedded in imported food products;2. Estimate foreign consumer WTP for food quality attributes;3. Estimate the market potential for Michigan products to enter overseas markets;4. Estimate foreign producer's willingness-to-adopt (WTA) certain production practices that are being demanded by consumers;5. Make contributions to the choice experiment methodology; especially regarding its application in international and developing country settings.
Project Methods
Data for this project will be collected through a series of consumer and producer surveys and interviews. For U.S. consumers, Decipher Inc., a reputable market research company will be used to gather a representative sample of American consumers. For work focused on foreign consumers and producers, collaborators abroad will facilitate the data collection. The surveys will be comprised of various sections including questions on socio-demographic characteristics and consumption/production habits behavior, as well as include relevant choice experiments.

Progress 06/01/14 to 05/31/19

Outputs
Target Audience:Academics, Researchers, Government Officials, Food Policy Makers, and Students Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? This project contributed greatly to the PI's professinal development by providing him opportunities to present research and interact with scholars in his area, both domestically and internationally. The PI and gradudate studenton the project gathered experience collecting primary data both with US and international consumers.As part of this project, the PI organised methodsworkshops in the US and in China. Additionally, the PI was able to succesfully pursue opportunties to work with with leading researchers in the US and internationally who are working on issues related to the economics of food quality. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Results form this project have been dissemianted via academic publications (see progress reports). Additionally, the PI and graduate student working on this project have presented findings at nationallyand internationally recognized conferences. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? The goal of this project is to improve the quality of products supplied to U.S. markets from domestic and international sources through investigating credence attributes such as food quality. This information is helpful toreduce food safety risks by bridging market asymmetries, suggest optimal food safety policy, and ultimately ensure a safe food supply for all consumers.The project wascomprised of domestic and (select) foreign consumer and producer studies to evaluate preferences and behavior regarding food quality and production practices. In particular, this project:estimated consumer willingness to pay for important food quality information attributes;assessed market potential for Michigan and US products in overseas markets; andmade contributions to thechoice experiment and experimental economics literature.

Publications


    Progress 10/01/17 to 09/30/18

    Outputs
    Target Audience: Nothing Reported Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Nothing Reported How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Academic publications, expert testimony to Congress What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Will focus on advancing the following research studies: Chinese consumer demand for Midwestern beef and preferences for enhacned digital traceability. Michigan consumer preferences for animal welfare and use of biotechnology in animal agriculture. Also preparing and submitting a project proposal entitled: "A New Paradigm for Developing Effective Management Strategies for Infectious Wildlife Diseases"

    Impacts
    What was accomplished under these goals? Developed and submitted a proposal entitled "Increasing Chinese Market Access for Small and Medium-Sized Holstein Beef Producers in the Great Lakes Region". Currenty designign a study focused on Chinese consumer demand for Midwestern beef and preferences for enhacned digital traceability. Obtained funding to develop a research study on Michigan consumer preferences for animal welfare and use of biotechnology in animal agriculture.

    Publications

    • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Ortega, D.L. (2018). Testimony before the U.S. China Economic Security Review Commission: Hearing on Chinas Agricultural Policies: Trade, Investment, Safety, and Innovation. April 26, 2018. Available at: https://www.uscc.gov/sites/default/files/Ortega%20Testimony%204-13-18.pdf.
    • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Ortega, D. L., Shupp, R. S., Nayga Jr, R. M., & Lusk, J. L. (2018). Mitigating overbidding behavior in agribusiness and food marketing research: Results from induced value hybrid auction experiments. Agribusiness.
    • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Lai, J., Wang, H. H., Ortega, D. L., & Widmar, N. J. O. (2018). Factoring Chinese consumers risk perceptions into their willingness to pay for pork safety, environmental stewardship, and animal welfare. Food Control, 85, 423-431.
    • Type: Journal Articles Status: Accepted Year Published: 2018 Citation: Caputo, V., Scarpa, R., Nayga, R. M., & Ortega, D. L. (2018). Are preferences for food quality attributes really normally distributed? An analysis using flexible mixing distributions. Journal of Choice Modelling, 28, 10-27.


    Progress 10/01/16 to 09/30/17

    Outputs
    Target Audience:Academics, Industry representatives and their supporting organizations Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Two graduate students have been trained in quantitative marketing and consumer preference elicitation methods. They have also gained experience presenting their results to academic and non-academic audiences. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Results have been presented at academic conferences and also at meetings with industry representatives. Findings have also been disseminated through published journal articles. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?I will continueworking on the above-mentioned research projects and on disseminating research findings.

    Impacts
    What was accomplished under these goals? Several studies have been conducted to assess emerging market opportunities for US (and other foreign)products in China. Additionally, a domestic study is currenlty on-going to assess consumer WTP for farm animal welfare practices in Michigan.

    Publications

    • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Colella, F., & Ortega, D. L. (2017). Where's the beef? Retail channel choice and beef preferences in Argentina. Meat Science, 133, 86-94.


    Progress 10/01/15 to 09/30/16

    Outputs
    Target Audience: Nothing Reported Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Nothing Reported How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Academic publications What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Will continue working on the above-mentioned research projects and on disseminating research findings

    Impacts
    What was accomplished under these goals? Collected data froma field experiment to assessconsumer WTP for animal welfare information in Michigan; analysis is on-going. Currently working on a project that estimates internetdemand for US pork in China.

    Publications

    • Type: Journal Articles Status: Accepted Year Published: 2016 Citation: Ortega, D. L., Hong, S. J., Wang, H. H., & Wu, L. (2016). Emerging markets for imported beef in China: Results from a consumer choice experiment in Beijing. Meat Science, 121, 317-323.
    • Type: Journal Articles Status: Accepted Year Published: 2015 Citation: Ortega, D. L., Wang, H. H., Wu, L., & Hong, S. J. (2015). Retail channel and consumer demand for food quality in China. China Economic Review, 36, 359-366.


    Progress 10/01/14 to 09/30/15

    Outputs
    Target Audience:Academic researchers Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Attendedan experimental auctions workshop trainning in July 2015. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Academic journal publications What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Will continue working on the above-mentioned research projects and on disseminating research findings.

    Impacts
    What was accomplished under these goals? Completed write up of a study to estimate U.S. consumers' willingness-to-pay (WTP) for select food quality attributes embedded in imported aquaculture products (supporting objective 1). Implemented a study to assess foreign consumers' demand for food quality and retail channel preference (supporting objetibve 2 and 5). Implemented a study to assess the market potential for US pork products in China (supporting objective 3 and 5). Completed write up of astudy that assessedforeign producers' willingness-to-adopt (WTA) good agricultural practices (supporting objective 4).

    Publications

    • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Ortega, D.L., H. Holly Wang, Wu Laping and Nicole J. Olynk Widmar, 2014. Chinese Producer Behavior: Aquaculture Farmers in Southern China. China Economic Review, 28: 17-24.
    • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Ortega, D.L., H. Holly Wang, and Nicole J. Olynk Widmar, 2014. Aquaculture Imports from Asia: An Analysis of U.S. Consumer Demand for Select Food Quality Attributes. Agricultural Economics, 45(5): 625-634.
    • Type: Journal Articles Status: Accepted Year Published: 2014 Citation: Olynk Widmar, N., D.L. Ortega, 2014. Comparing Consumer Preferences for Livestock Production Process Attributes Across Products, Species, and Modeling Methods. Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, 46(3): 375-391.


    Progress 06/01/14 to 09/30/14

    Outputs
    Target Audience: Nothing Reported Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Nothing Reported How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Nothing Reported What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Will continue working on the above-mentioned research projects and on disseminating research findings

    Impacts
    What was accomplished under these goals? Currently working on a research study estimating US consumer demand for important food quality informaiton attributes embedded in imported food products Currently working on a research study assesing Chinese consumer willingness to pay for food quality attributes Currently working on a research study assesing emerging demand for Midwestern pork in China

    Publications