Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gvvz8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-25T18:00:38.615Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Relative Importance of Search versus Credence Product Attributes: Organic and Locally Grown

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 September 2016

Ferdinand F. Wirth ,
John L. Stanton  and
James B. Wiley
Ferdinand F. Wirth
Affiliation:
Department of Food Marketing at Saint Joseph's University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
John L. Stanton
Affiliation:
Department of Food Marketing at Saint Joseph's University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
James B. Wiley
Affiliation:
Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Organic foods and local foods have come to the forefront of consumer issues, due to concerns about nutrition, health, sustainability, and food safety. A conjoint analysis experiment quantified the relative importance of, and trade-offs between, apple search and experience attributes (quality/blemishes, size, flavor), credence attributes (conventional vs. organic production method, local origin vs. product of USA vs. imported), and purchase price when buying apples. Quality is the most important apple attribute. Production method—organic versus conventional—had no significant impact on preferences.

Keywords

conjoint analysisorganiclocally growncredence attributes
Type
Contributed Papers
Information
Agricultural and Resource Economics Review , Volume 40 , Issue 1 , April 2011 , pp. 48 - 62
Copyright
Copyright © 2011 Northeastern Agricultural and Resource Economics Association 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Anderson, J.G., and Anderson, J.L. 1991. “Seafood Quality: Issues for Consumer Research.” Journal of Consumer Affairs 25(1): 144–163.Google Scholar
Bachmann, D., Elfrink, J., and Vazzana, G. 1996. “Tracking the Progress of Email vs. Snail-mail.” Marketing Research 8(2): 31–35.Google Scholar
Baker, G.A. 1999. “Consumer Preferences for Food Safety Attributes in Fresh Apples: Market Segments, Consumer Characteristics, and Marketing Opportunities.” Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics 24(10): 80–97.Google Scholar
Berrens, R.P., Bohara, A.K., Jenkins-Smith, H., Silva, C., and Weimer, D.L. 2003. “The Advent of Internet Surveys for Political Research: A Comparison of Telephone and Internet Samples.” Political Analysis 11(1): 1–22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Champ, P.A., Boyle, K.J., and Brown, T.C. (eds.). 2003. A Primer on Nonmarket Valuation. Dordrecht, the Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers.Google Scholar
Couper, M.P. 2000. “Web Surveys: A Review of Issues and Approaches.” Public Opinion Quarterly 64(4): 464–494.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Darby, K., Batte, M.T., Ernst, S., and Roe, B. 2008. “Decomposing Local: A Conjoint Analysis of Locally Produced Foods.” American Journal of Agricultural Economics 90(2): 476–486.Google Scholar
Darby, M.R., and Karni, E. 1973. “Free Competition and the Optimal Amount of Fraud.” Journal of Law and Economics 16(1): 67–88.Google Scholar
Dentoni, D., Tonsor, G.T., Calantone, R.J., and Peterson, H.C. 2009. “The Direct and Indirect Effects of ‘Locally Grown’ on Consumers’ Attitudes towards Agri-Food Products.” Agricultural and Resource Economics Review 38(3): 384–396.Google Scholar
Food Institute. 2009. “USDA Reports on the State of the Organics Industry.” The Food Institute Report 82(24) (June 15).Google Scholar
Ford, G.T., Smith, D.B., and Swasy, J.L. 1988. “An Empirical Test of the Search, Experience and Credence Attributes Framework.” Advances in Consumer Research 15: 239–244.Google Scholar
Froehlich, E.J., Carlberg, J.G., and Ward, C.E. 2009. “Willingness-to-Pay for Fresh Brand Name Beef.” Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics 57(1): 119–137.Google Scholar
Gao, Z., Schroeder, T.C., and Yu, X. 2010. “Consumer Willingness to Pay for Cue Attribute: The Value Beyond Its Own.” Journal of International Food & Agribusiness Marketing 22(1): 108–124.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Green, P.E. 1974. “On the Design of Choice Experiments Involving Multifactor Alternatives.” Journal of Consumer Research 1(2): 61–68.Google Scholar
Green, P.E., and Rao, V. 1971. “Conjoint Measures for Quantifying Judgmental Data.” Journal of Marketing Research 8(3): 355–363.Google Scholar
Green, P.E., and Srinivasan, V. 1978. “Conjoint Analysis in Consumer Research: Issues and Outlook.” Journal of Consumer Research 5(2): 103–123.Google Scholar
Green, P.E., and Wind, Y. 1975. “New Ways to Measure Consumers’ Judgments.” Harvard Business Review (July/August): 89–108.Google Scholar
Hair, J.F. Jr., Black, W.C., Babin, B.J., Anderson, R.E., and Tatham, R.L. 2006. Multivariate Data Analysis (6th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall. Google Scholar
Harrison, R.W., Ozayan, A., and Meyers, S.P. 1998. “A Conjoint Analysis of New Food Products Processed from Underutilized Small Crawfish.” Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics 30(2): 257–263.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hartman Group. 2008a. “Pulse Report: Consumer Understanding of Buying Local.” Hartman Group, Bellevue, WA.Google Scholar
Hartman Group. 2008b. “The Many Faces of Organic 2008.” Hartman Group, Bellevue, WA. Google Scholar
James, J.S., Rickard, B.J., and Rossman, W.J. 2009. “Product Differentiation and Market Segmentation in Applesauce: Using a Choice Experiment to Assess the Value of Organic, Local, and Nutrition Attributes.” Agricultural and Resource Economics Review 38(3): 357–370.Google Scholar
Knapton, K., and Myers, S. 2005. “Demographics and Online Survey Response Rates.” Quirk's Marketing Research Review. Available at http://www.quirks.com (accessed June 29, 2009).Google Scholar
Li, J., Zepeda, L., and Gould, B.W. 2007. “The Demand for Organic Food in the U.S.: An Empirical Assessment.” Journal of Food Distribution Research 38(3): 54–69.Google Scholar
Mabiso, A., Stems, J., House, L., and Wysocki, A. 2005. “Estimating Consumers’ Willingness-to-Pay for Country-of-Origin Labels in Fresh Apples and Tomatoes: A Double-Hurdle Probit Analysis of American Data Using Factor Scores.” Available at http://agecon.lib.umn.edu/cgi-bin/detailview.p1?paperid=16215 (accessed August 30, 2009).Google Scholar
Manalo, A.B. 1990. “Assessing the Importance of Apple Attributes: An Agricultural Application of Conjoint Analysis.” Northeastern Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics 19(2): 118–124.Google Scholar
Nelson, P. 1970. “Information and Consumer Behavior.” Journal of Political Economy 78(2): 311–329.Google Scholar
Nelson, P. 1974. “Advertising as Information.” Journal of Political Economy 82(4): 729–754.Google Scholar
Raab, C., and Grobe, D. 2005. “Consumer Knowledge and Perceptions about Organic Food.” Journal of Extension 43(4). Available at http://www.joe.org/joe/2005august/index.shtml (accessed July 7, 2009).Google Scholar
Rao, A.R., and Monroe, K.B. 1988. “The Moderating Effect of Prior Knowledge on Cue Utilization in Product Evaluations.” Journal of Consumer Research 15(2): 253–264.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schaffner, D.J., Schroder, W.R., and Earle, M.D. 2003. Food Marketing: An International Perspective (2nd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill Custom Publishing. Google Scholar
Schmitt, J. 2008. “‘Locally Grown’ Sounds Great, but What Does It Mean?” USA Today (October 28, p. 4B).Google Scholar
Stanton, J.L., and Lang, M.F. 2009. Precision Target Marketing. Atlantic City, NJ: Raphel Publishing.Google Scholar
Stems, J., and Ricks, D. 1999. “Focus Groups as a Useful Approach to Agribusiness Research.” Staff Paper No. 99–32, Department of Agricultural Economics, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI.Google Scholar
Stigler, G.J. 1961. “The Economics of Information.” Journal of Political Economy 69(3): 213–225.Google Scholar
U.S. Department of Agriculture. 2008. “Number of Farmers Markets Continues to Rise in U.S.” AMS Report No. 173–08, Agricultural Marketing Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C.Google Scholar
Wang, Q., and Sun, J. 2003. “Consumer Preference and Demand for Organic Food: Evidence from a Vermont Survey.” Paper presented at the American Agricultural Economics Association's annual meetings, Montreal (July 27–30).Google Scholar
Wirth, F.F., and Davis, K.J. 2003. “Seafood Dealers’ Shrimp Purchasing Behavior and Preferences.” Journal of Shellfish Research 22(2): 581–588.Google Scholar
Wirth, F.F., Love, L.A., and Palma, M.A. 2007. “Purchasing Shrimp for At-Home Consumption: The Relative Importance of Credence versus Physical Product Features.” Aquaculture Economics and Management 11(1): 17–37.Google Scholar
Yue, C., Jensen, H.H., Mueller, D.S., Nonnecke, G.R., and Gleason, M.L. 2005. “Assessing Consumers’ Valuation of Cosmetically Damaged Apples Using a Mixed Probit Model.” Working Paper No. 05-WP 419, Center for Agricultural and Rural Development, Iowa State University, Ames, IA.Google Scholar
Zepeda, L., and Leviten-Reid, C. 2004. “Consumers’ Views on Local Food.” Journal of Food Distribution Research 35(3): 1–6.Google Scholar
Zepeda, L., and Li, J. 2006. “Who Buys Local Food?” Journal of Food Distribution Research 37(3): 1–11.Google Scholar