DEVELOPING DATA-DRIVEN MARKETING INCENTIVES FOR SUSTAINABLE COTTON PRODUCTION THROUGHOUT THE SUPPLY CHAIN

• Sponsoring Institution: National Institute of Food and Agriculture
• Project Status: ACTIVE
• Funding Source: AFRI COMPETITIVE GRANT
• Reporting Frequency: Annual
• Accession No.: 1030707
• Grant No.: 2023-67023-40061
• Cumulative Award Amt.: $649,999.00
• Proposal No.: 2022-10670
• Project Start Date: Aug 1, 2023
• Project End Date: Jul 31, 2027
• Grant Year: 2023
• Program Code: [A1641]- Agriculture Economics and Rural Communities: Markets and Trade

Recipient Organization
TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY
(N/A)
LUBBOCK,TX 79409

Performing Department
(N/A)

Non Technical Summary
Consumers are becoming more environmentally conscious and within the last three to five years,brands and retailers have begun aggressive marketing campaigns for sustainable products.Sustainability programs such as the U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol is available to producers to increaseconsumer awareness of the sustainable farming practices used in U.S. cotton production. Thegrower participation rate into these programs is low due to time, data privacy, lack of generalinterest, and fear of the information being used against them.This project has three objectives: 1) identify key demographic factors that play a role in producerparticipation of sustainability programs using dial-testing technology, 2) evaluate consumerpreferences and willingness to pay (WTP) for sustainably produced cotton products and segmentconsumers by product type using machine learning methods, and 3) evaluate brand and retailerperceptions in the supply chain to determine WTP and optimal contract design using a Bayesianframework to analyze survey responses.Participation in sustainability programs will have a significant impact on grower competitiveness inthe global supply chain and the results of this study will improve the adoption rate of growers intothe U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol. Producer involvement may also increase the consumption of cottonby consumers in the market if cotton products are perceived as more sustainable than man-madefabrics like polyester.

Animal Health Component

(N/A)

Research Effort Categories

Basic

100%

Applied

(N/A)

Developmental

(N/A)

Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)	Subject of Investigation (SOI)	Field of Science (FOS)	Percent
603	1710	3010	75%
903	1710	3030	25%

Knowledge Area
603 - Market Economics; 903 - Communication, Education, and Information Delivery;

Subject Of Investigation
1710 - Upland cotton;

Field Of Science
3010 - Economics; 3030 - Information and communication;

Keywords

cotton

incentives

machine learning

sustainability

Goals / Objectives
Goal #1: Identify agricultural producer barriers to adoption of sustainability programs and how their personas impact their perceptions of sustainability program recruitment campaignsThe objectives are to 1) conduct producer audience segmentation using Q-sort methodology and principal component analysis using focus groups where growers will bepresented with qualitative and quantitative approaches to rank statements related to benefits, beliefs, and willingness to engage in sustainability programs and 2) use continuous response measurement dial testing technology to rate growers'level of agreement withcurrent sustainability campaigns to understand producer feelings and perceptions.Goal #2: Evaluate the importance of sustainable agricultural products as it relates to consumer purchasing behaviorThe objectives are to 1) administer a survey to ellicit consumer preferences and willing to pay for attributes of sustainably produced cotton products using a choice-based conjoint model, and 2) use the machine learning method of collaborative filtering on survey results to categorize consumers and calculate probabilities of purchasing different productsGoal #3: Evaluate the importance of field-level sustainability to brands and retailers by integrating results from producer willingess to accept and consumer willingness to pay for sustainable products.The objectives are to 1) administer a survey to ellicit brand and retailer willingness to pay and optimal contract design with agricultural producers using a bayesian discrete choice framework

Project Methods
Objective 1 will utilize producer focus groups to reach approximately 100 producers. Producer audience segementation using Q-Sort methodology will be used in which participants rank and sort through statements related to the benefits, barriers, and willingness to engage in sustainability programs. A principal component analysis will be used to group these producers based on similar characteristics. Next, producers will use continuous response dial testing technology to rate their level of agreement with sustainability campaigns.Objective 2 will utilize a choice-based conjoint survey to collect consumer perceptions and willingness to pay for sustainability attributes across categories of cotton products. A machine learning technique called collaborative filtering will be used to estimate how likely the consumer will buy sustainable cotton products considering the set of other sustainable products purchased or liked.Objective 3 will utilize another choice-based conjoint survey for brands and retailers to determine optimal contract design with producers and to determine willingness to pay producers for sustainable farming practices.

Progress 08/01/23 to 07/31/24

Outputs
Target Audience:Kitten, K.*, Fischer, L. M., & McAllister, D. (2024). "I don't even know what sustainability is": Describing West Texas cotton farmer communication preferences for learning about voluntary sustainability programs. Proceedings of the 2023 National Agricultural Communications Symposium: Atlanta, Georgia. [Runner-Up Outstanding Research Poster] Target Audience, February 2023 - 100 people 2. Kitten, K.*, Fischer, L. M., McCallister, D., Kang, Q., & Long, G. Exploring consumers' intent to purchase sustainable cotton products using the theory of planned behavior. Proceedings of the 2024 National AAAE Conference: Manhattan, KS, May 20-23 2024. Target Audience- 150 3. Kitten, K.*, McAllister, D., Fischer, L. M., (2024). Describing cotton farmer perceptions of voluntary sustainability programs in West Texas. Beltwide Cotton Conference: Cotton Economics and Marketing. Fort Worth, Texas January 3-5 2024 - Target Audience - 50 people 4. Initial results from a survey on consumer preferences for cotton-based products to the Texas Agricultural Cooperative Council (TACC) annual meeting July 9th to 100 people. The TACC meeting on July 11 was also held in Santa Fe reached 250 people. 5. Kang, Q. D McCallister, L. Fisher, S. Badruddoza, L. Gao. "Sustainable Cotton Choices: Consumer Preferences and Willingess to Pay." Poster Presentation at the annual meeting of the American Agricultural Economics Association, New Orleans, LA July 27-30 2024 Target Audience - 150 people Changes/Problems:A Ph.D. student in the department of Agricultural and Applied Economics was expected to be hired to begin work in Fall 2024, but declined thee assistantship to pursue other educational goals, so we have been delayed in bringing on a student. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?A M.S. student who has worked on conducting focus groups for this project in Agricultural Education and Communications under the direction of Laura Fischer will be graduating in December 2024. A PhD student has been hired in Fall 2024in Agricultural Education and Communications under the direction of Laura Fischer and will perform continued research on Goal #1. Two post docs in Agricultural and Applied Economics under the direction of Donna McCallister have worked on the consumer survey development. They have move on to faculty positions at West Texas A&M Univerisity and Texas A&M University - Kingsville. A current M.S. student in AAEC at Texas Tech has been identified to begin her PhD in Fall of 2024 and will complete the deliverables for Goals 2 and 3. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The results of this project has been disseminated through 5 presentations withacademia and industry. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Two manuscripts are currently being prepared and a PhD student in AEC is working to develop her dissertation objectives.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Goal 1 - We conduced a focus group with growers in summer of 2023. Focus groups were transcribed and analyzed using a qualitative software. Results were presented at the 2024 Beltwide Cotton Conference in January and at the Texas Agricultural Cooperative Council meetings in July 2024. A manuscript is currently being written and expected to be submitted for publication in December of 2024. Goal 2- A survey has been administered using Qualtrics in late Fall of 2023. Results have been analzyed and presented at the 2024 AAEA Annual Meeting in New Orleans. A manuscript is currently being written and expected to be submitted for publication in December of 2024.

Publications