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Consumer preferences before and after a food safety scare: An experimental analysis of the 2010 egg recall

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  • Li, Tongzhe
  • Bernard, John C.
  • Johnston, Zachary A.
  • Messer, Kent D.
  • Kaiser, Harry M.

Abstract

In August 2010, more than half a billion eggs were recalled in the U.S. because of a Salmonella outbreak. This study examines the effect of the recall with a unique pair of auction experiments investigating willingness to pay (WTP) for conventional and organic eggs, one conducted shortly before and one right after the recall with the same participants. In addition to the before and after bids, participants bid again after a negative information or balanced information treatment about the event. Accompanying surveys showed consumers had a high level of awareness of the recall but less knowledge of specific details, and viewed information on egg farm conditions as very important in their WTP. While there were no significant before and after differences, WTP for organic eggs significantly increased in the negative information treatment, and balanced information had a positive effect on consumer WTP for conventional eggs.

Suggested Citation

  • Li, Tongzhe & Bernard, John C. & Johnston, Zachary A. & Messer, Kent D. & Kaiser, Harry M., 2017. "Consumer preferences before and after a food safety scare: An experimental analysis of the 2010 egg recall," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 25-34.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jfpoli:v:66:y:2017:i:c:p:25-34
    DOI: 10.1016/j.foodpol.2016.11.008
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    3. Mesbahuddin Chowdhury & Pavel Castka & Daniel Prajogo & Xiaoli Zhao & Lincoln C. Wood, 2021. "Is Organic Food Becoming Less Safe? A Longitudinal Analysis of Conventional and Organic Product Recalls," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(24), pages 1-15, December.
    4. Qianfeng Luo & Pengfei Liu & Zhi Li, 2023. "The influence of African swine fever information on consumers’ preference of pork attributes and pork purchase," Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics/Revue canadienne d'agroeconomie, Canadian Agricultural Economics Society/Societe canadienne d'agroeconomie, vol. 71(1), pages 49-68, March.
    5. Szilvia Molnár & László Szőllősi, 2020. "Sustainability and Quality Aspects of Different Table Egg Production Systems: A Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(19), pages 1-22, September.
    6. Jun Luo & Jiepeng Wang & Yongle Zhao & Tingqiang Chen, 2018. "Scare Behavior Diffusion Model of Health Food Safety Based on Complex Network," Complexity, Hindawi, vol. 2018, pages 1-14, November.
    7. Yu, Zhijian & Jin, Zhibin & Bai, Hefei & Yu, Xiaohua & Zheng, Shi, 2021. "Scares, Risks, and Recovery: Consumers’ Response to the Incident of Salmon Contamination of COVID-19 in China," 2021 Conference, August 17-31, 2021, Virtual 315353, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    8. Hoffmann, Vivian & Moser, Christine & Saak, Alexander, 2019. "Food safety in low and middle-income countries: The evidence through an economic lens," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 1-1.
    9. Li, Huashan & Bapuji, Hari & Talluri, Srinivas & Singh, Prakash J., 2022. "A Cross-disciplinary review of product recall research: A stakeholder-stage framework," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 163(C).
    10. Zhou, Pei & Liu, Yizao, 2023. "Recall information heterogeneity and perceived health risk: The impact of food recall on fresh meat market in the U.S," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 114(C).
    11. Chuanhui Liao & Yu Luo & Weiwei Zhu, 2020. "Food Safety Trust, Risk Perception, and Consumers’ Response to Company Trust Repair Actions in Food Recall Crises," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(4), pages 1-16, February.
    12. Ki-Hueng Kim & Kwan-Ryul Lee, 2019. "What Are South Korean Consumers’ Concerns When Buying Eco-Friendly Agricultural Products?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(17), pages 1-13, August.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Consumer preferences; Laboratory experiments; Revealed preference; Food recall; Eggs;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
    • M31 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Marketing and Advertising - - - Marketing
    • Q13 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Agricultural Markets and Marketing; Cooperatives; Agribusiness

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