Progress 02/01/11 to 01/31/14
Outputs
Target Audience:
Nothing Reported
Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Despite recent food price spikes, consumers appear averse to technolgoies responsible for increased crop and livestock yield growth. As a result, there is continued interest in understanding consumer aversion to scientific developments in food production. Consumers must routinely decide whether to pay more for a perceived higher quality good. This paper considers such a tradeoff in the context of food choice involving lower-priced options produced with controversial modern agricultural technologies. Data obtained from functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while consumers were making choices reveals both deliberative and affective processes involved when deciding whether to choose a higher-price, more "natural"food. Activations in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and insula predicted the choice of higher-priced but more "natural" foods produced without the use of controversial technology. fMRI activations observed in one type of choice task (price alone or technology alone) significantly predicted behavior in other choice tasks involving price-technologytradeoffs, revealing cross task predictive power. One of the key issues this paper addresses is which type of data best predicts choice between a higher priced option that avoids technologies and a lower price option that uses modern food technologies. Estimates indicate that the best fitting model is one that included all types of data considered: demographics, psychometric scales, product attributes, and neural activations observed vis fMRI. Overall, fMRI data adds significant predictive and explanatory power beyond the measures typically used in consumer research. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Through presentations and publications What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Data collection proceeded in two phases. The first phase of data collection (N=50) was completed in early 2012 and data analysis and result dissemination has proceeded on this portion. The second phase of data collection (N=50) has completed and the data is being compiled for analysis. Both phases of data collection entailed respondents making real, nonhypothetical food choices that involved money and use of controversial technologies while undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging. The first phase of the project involved analyzing brain patterns, choices, and willingness-to-pay in response to controversial food technologies (cloning and growth promotants) in milk and the second phase is looking at how information about technologies influences brain patterns, choices, and willingness-to-pay. Three papers have already been written and are currently in review at peer-reviewed journals and two more papers are in progress. The research team has given numerous talks at Universities, professional academic conferences, and agricultural industry meetings on the ongoing research. For example, talks and posters disseminating the research results have been presented at the Kansas State University, University of California, Davis, University of Guelph, Social and Affective Neuroscience Society conference, annual meeting of the Society for Neuroeconomics, and the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association annual conference.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Submitted
Year Published:
2013
Citation:
Crespi, J., J.L. Lusk, B.J. Cherry, L. Martin, B. McFadden, and A. Bruce. "Neural Activations Correlate with Food-Product Valuations Derived from an Economic Model of Decision Time." American Economic Journal: Applied Economics. In First Submission.
Bruce, A.J. L. Lusk, J. M. Crespi, J.C. Cherry, B.B. McFadden, C.R. Savage, J. M. Bruce, W. M. Brooks, L.E. Martin. "Consumer Brain Responses to Controversial Food Technologies and Price." Journal of Neuroscience, Psychology, and Economics. In Second Submission.
Lusk, J.L., J.M. Crespi, J.B.C. Cherry, B.R. McFadden, L.E. Martin, and A.S. Bruce "Predicting Consumer Choice in Food Price-Technology Tradeoffs using Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging." Journal of Marketing Research. In First Submission.
Presentations
McFadden, Brandon R.; Lusk, Jayson L.; Crespi, John M.; Cherry, Bradley C.; Martin, Laura E.; Amanda S. "Consumer Response to Egg Production Systems and the Effect of Proposition 2 Advertising: A Preliminary Neuroeconomic Analysis." Selected Paper presented at the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association annual conference. Washington, D.C. August, 2013.
Crespi, J., J.L. Lusk, B.J. Cherry, L. Martin, B. McFadden, and A. Bruce. "Neural Activations Correlate with Food-Product Valuations Derived from an Economic Model of Decision Time." Invited presentation in departmental research seminar. University of Minnesota, 2013.
Lusk, J.L. "A Neuroeconomic Analysis of Consumers Choice of Food Produced With Controversial Technologies." Invited paper presented at a departmental research seminar at Department of Food, Agricultural, and Resource Economics, University of Guelph, Canada, November, 2012.
McFadden, Brandon R.; Lusk, Jayson L.; Crespi, John M.; Cherry, J. Bradley C.; Martin, Laura E.; Bruce, Amanda S. "Consumer Response to Controversial Food Technologies and Price: A Neuroeconomic Analysis." Selected Paper presented at the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association annual conference. Seattle, WA
McFadden, Brandon R.; Lusk, Jayson L.; Crespi, John M. Cherry, J. Bradley C.; Martin, Laura E.; Bruce, Amanda S. "Effect of Advocacy Information on Consumer Preferences for Cage Free Eggs: A Neuroeconomic Analysis." Selected Paper present3ed at the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association annual conference. Seattle, WA. August, 2012
Crespi, J., J.L. Lusk, B.J. Cherry, L. Martin, B. McFadden, and A. Bruce. "Neural Activations Correlate with Food-Product Valuations Derived from an Economic Model of Decision Time." Invited presentation in departmental research seminar, University of California-Davis, 2012.
Bruce, A., J. Crespi, J.L. Lusk, B.J. Cherry, L. Martin, and B. McFadden. "The Neuroeconomics of Controversial Food Technologies." Invited presentation in departmental research seminar, Kansas State University, 2013.
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Progress 02/01/12 to 01/31/13
Outputs
OUTPUTS: Data collection on the project is approximately 75% complete. The first phase of the project involved analyzing brain patterns, choices, and willingness-to-pay in response to controversial food technologies (cloning and growth promotants) in milk and the second phase is looking at how information about technologies influences brain patterns, choices, and willingness-to-pay. The research team has given numerous talks at Universities, professional academic conferences, and agricultural industry meetings on the ongoing research. For example, talks and posters disseminating the research results have been presented at the Kansas State University, University of California, Davis, University of Guelph, Social and Affective Neuroscience Society conference, annual meeting of the Society for Neuroeconomics, and the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association annual conference. Products from the project include three journal articles currently in submission at peer-review journals, and several papers in preparation. PARTICIPANTS: No changes TARGET AUDIENCES: No Changes PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: No Changes
Impacts
Despite recent food price spikes, consumers appear averse to technologies responsible for increased crop and livestock yield growth. As a result, there is continued interest in understanding consumer aversion to scientific developments in food production. This study uses functional magnetic resonance imaging to examine neural responses when consumers make non-hypothetical choices between milk products differing in price, the use or non-use of cloning, and the use or non-use of growth hormones. Results show brain regions associated with emotional and reward processing are more activated in decisions regarding combined technology-price tradeoffs than when making choices that only differ in price. Aversion to price increases was likely related to issues associated with perceived unfairness and threat-detection as indicated by increased activation in the insula and amydgala. Consumers' choices imply substantial willingness-to-pay to avoid the food technologies, and heterogeneity in neural activations across participants explains much of the differences in willingness-to-pay across individuals. The new project is only two years underway and thus is too early to document changes in actions or behaviors.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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