Hostname: page-component-77c89778f8-m8s7h Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-21T23:20:20.174Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Consumer Preferences for Amount and Type of Fat in Ground Beef

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 January 2015

Jayson L. Lusk  and
Natalie Parker
Jayson L. Lusk
Affiliation:
Department of Agricultural Economics, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK
Natalie Parker
Affiliation:
Department of Agricultural Economics, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Scientists and beef industry participants are investigating ways to improve the healthiness of beef. We report results of a nationwide mail survey developed to determine Consumers' preferences for fat content in ground beef and identify how consumers would most like to improve the healthiness of beef. The results from a choice-based conjoint experiment indicate that consumers place significant value on reducing saturated fat and the Omega 6:3 ratio in ground beef, but were relatively unconcerned about conjugated linoleic acid. The relatively new method of best-worst scaling was used to further identify which methods consumers most preferred producers use to improve fat content in beef. The results indicate consumers preferred feeding cattle a grass-fed diet as opposed to supplementing cattle feed with fish-meal or flaxseed to improve the fatty acid content in beef. Although consumers were receptive to the idea of using genetic testing to breed only those cattle with improved fatty acid content, using cloning to achieve this end, was viewed as very undesirable.

Keywords

beefbest-worst scalingcloningconjointfatmaximum-difference scalingomega 3 fatty acidM31Q13
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics , Volume 41 , Issue 1 , April 2009 , pp. 75 - 90
Copyright
Copyright © Southern Agricultural Economics Association 2009

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

Boetel, B., and Liu, D.J. “Evaluating the Effect of Generic Advertising and Food Health Information within a Meat Demand System.” Agribusiness 19(2003):345–54.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brester, G.W., Lhermite, P., Goodwin, B.K., and Hunt, M.C. “Quantifying the Effects of New Product Development: The Case of Low-Fat Ground Beef.” Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics 18(1993):239–50.Google Scholar
Dillman, D.A. Mail and Internet Surveys: The Tailored Design Method. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons, 2000.Google Scholar
Finn, A., and Louviere, J.J. “Determining the Appropriate Response to Evidence of Public Concern: The Case of Food Safety.” Journal of Public Policy & Marketing 11(1992):12–25.Google Scholar
Flynn, T.N., Louviere, J.J., Peters, T.J., and Coast, J. “Best-Worst Scaling: What It Can Do for Health Care Research and How to Do It.” Journal of Health Economics 26(2007):171–89.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
French, P., Stanton, C., Lawless, F., O'Riordan, E.G., Monahan, F.J., Caffrey, P.J., and Moloney, A.P. “Fatty Acid Composition, Including Conjugated Linoleic Acid, of Intramuscular Fat from Steers Offered Grazed Grass, Grass Silage, or Concentrate-Based Diets.” Journal of Animal Science 78(2000):2849–55.Google Scholar
Gillis, M.H., Duckett, S.K., and Sackman, J.R. “Effects of Supplemental Rumen-Protected Conjugated Linoleic Acid or Corn Oil on Fatty Acid Composition in Beef Cattle.” Journal of Animal Science 82(2004):1419–27.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kinnucan, H.W., Xiao, H., Hsia, C.J., and Jackson, J.D. “Effects of Health Information and Generic Advertising on U.S. Meat Demand.” American Journal of Agricultural Economics 79(1997):13–23.Google Scholar
Knight, Minick, T.J., Tait, R., Trenkle, A., Wilson, D., Rouse, G., Strohbehn, D., Reecy, J., and Beitz, D. “Redesigning Beef Cattle to Have a More Healthful Fatty Acid Composition.” Iowa State University Animal Industry Report, 2004. A.S. Leaflet R1882. Internet site: http://www.iowa beefcenter.org/pdfs/BRR/R1882.pdf (Accessed October, 2007).Google Scholar
LMIC. Livestock Marketing Information Center, Lakewood, Colorado. Internet site: htrp://lmicl.co.nrcs.usda.gov.Google Scholar
Louviere, J.J., Hensher, D.A., and Swait, J.D.. Stated Choice Methods: Analysis and Application. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000.Google Scholar
Lusk, J.L., Fields, D., and Prevatt, J. “An Incentive Compatible Conjoint Ranking Mechanism.” American Journal of Agricultural Economics 90(2008):487–98.Google Scholar
Lusk, J.L., and Norwood, B. “Effect of Experimental Design on Choice-Based Conjoint Valuation Estimates.” American Journal of Agricultural Economics 87(2005):771–85.Google Scholar
Maddock, T.D., Bauer, M.L., Koch, K.B., Anderson, V.L., Maddock, R.J., Barceló-Coblijn, G., Murphy, E.J., and Lardy, G.P. “Effect of Processing Flax in Beef Feedlot Diets on Performance, Carcass Characteristics, and Trained Sensory Panel Ratings.” Journal of Animal Science 84(2006):1544–51.Google Scholar
Mandeli, LB., Buchanan-Smith, J.G., Holub, B.J., and CP. Campbell. “Effects of Fish Meal in Beef Cattle Diets on Growth Performance, Carcass Characteristics, and Fatty Acid Composition of Longissimus Muscle.” Journal of Animal Science 75(1997):910–19.Google Scholar
Marley, A.A.J.and Louviere, J.J. “Some Probabilistic Models of Best, Worst, and Best-Worst Choices.” Journal of Mathematical Psychology 49(2005):464–80.Google Scholar
McCluskey, J.J., Wahl, T.L., Li, Q., and Wandschneider, P.R. “U.S. Grass Fed Beef: Marketing Health Benefits.” Journal of Food Distribution Research 36(2005):1–8.Google Scholar
McFadden, D. “Conditional Logit Analysis of Qualitative Choice Behavior.” Frontiers in Econometrics. Zarembka, P., ed. New York: Academic Press, 1973.Google Scholar
Mintert, J. “Annual Beef Demand Index.” Department of Agricultural Economics, Kansas State University. Internet site: http://www. agmanager.info/livestock/marketing/database/cattle/mtdemand.xls (Accessed October 1, 2007).Google Scholar
Parceli, J.L., and Schroeder, T.C. “Hedonic Retail Beef and Pork Prices.” Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics 39(2007):29–46.Google Scholar
Sawtooth Software. “The MaxDiff/Web System Technical Paper.” November, 2005 Internet site: http://www.sawtoothsoftware.com/download/techpap/maxdifftech.pdf (Accessed July 27, 2007).Google Scholar
Scollan, N.I. Richardson, I., Moloney, A., Dannenberger, D., Hocquette, J.F. “I.Innovations in Beef Production Systems that Enhance the Nutritional and Health Value of Beef Lipids and their Relationship with Meat Quality.” Meat Science 74(2006):17–33.Google Scholar
Umberger, W.J., Feuz, D.M., Calkins, CR., and Killinger-Mann, K. “U.S. Consumer Preference and Willingness-to-Pay for Domestic Corn-Fed Beef versus International Grass-Fed Beef Measured through an Experimental Auction.” Agribusiness 18(2002):491–504.Google Scholar
Unnevehr, L.J., and Bard, S. “Beef Quality: Will Consumers Pay For Less Fat?” Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics 18(1993):288–95.Google Scholar
Verbeke, W., and Ward, R.W. “A Fresh Meat Almost Ideal Demand System Incorporating Negative TV Press and Advertising Impact.” Agricultural Economics 25(2001):359–74.Google Scholar
Ward, CE., Lusk, J.L., and Dutton, J.M. “Implicit Value of Retail Beef Product Attributes.” Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics 33(2008):364–81.Google Scholar
Ward, R.W. “Beef Demand and the Rate-of-Return to the U.S. Beef Checkoff: Two Independent Evaluation Approaches.” Report to the Cattlemen's Beef Promotion and Research Board. Centennial, CO, September 2004. Internet site: http://www.beefboard.org/uDocs/ronwardstudy-9-2004.pdf (Accessed September 2008).Google Scholar