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Unstable Individual Preferences and Stable Aggregate Demand: French Consumers’ Willingness to Pay for Farmed and Wild Cod

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  • Alfnes, Frode
  • Rickertsen, Kyrre

Abstract

We use panel data from two experiments conducted five months a part to investigate the stability of individual preferences and aggregate demand for five types of fish. Even though the bids in the two experiments are positively correlated, they clearly suggest that the individual preferences are unstable. This may be explained by internal desire for variety or by external effects such as new relevant information, seasonality in preferences, changes in the quality of the fish, and changes in the market price of fish. However, the aggregate demand curves of the participants are stable when we control for changes in the perceived quality of the fish and price expectations of the participants. In other words, the stability is generated by aggregation rather than derived from stable individual preferences.

Suggested Citation

  • Alfnes, Frode & Rickertsen, Kyrre, 2009. "Unstable Individual Preferences and Stable Aggregate Demand: French Consumers’ Willingness to Pay for Farmed and Wild Cod," 2009 Conference, August 16-22, 2009, Beijing, China 49968, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:iaae09:49968
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    File URL: http://purl.umn.edu/49968
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Frode Alfnes, 2009. "Valuing product attributes in Vickrey auctions when market substitutes are available," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Foundation for the European Review of Agricultural Economics, vol. 36(2), pages 133-149, June.
    2. McAlister, Leigh & Pessemier, Edgar, 1982. " Variety Seeking Behavior: An Interdisciplinary Review," Journal of Consumer Research, Oxford University Press, vol. 9(3), pages 311-322, December.
    3. Mattei, Aurelio, 2000. "Full-scale real tests of consumer behavior using experimental data," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 43(4), pages 487-497, December.
    4. Hardle, Wolfgang & Kirman, Alan, 1995. "Nonclassical demand : A model-free examination of price-quantity relations in the Marseille fish market," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 67(1), pages 227-257, May.
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    Blog mentions

    As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
    1. The Perception of Economics
      by Per Bylund in Mises Economics Blog on 2014-03-23 18:50:09

    More about this item

    Keywords

    aggregation; consumer preferences; demand; experimental markets; food choices; Consumer/Household Economics; Demand and Price Analysis; C91; D12; Q13;

    JEL classification:

    • C91 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Laboratory, Individual Behavior
    • D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
    • Q13 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Agricultural Markets and Marketing; Cooperatives; Agribusiness

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