Is the Natural Label Misleading? Examining Consumer Preferences for Natural Beef

Konstantinos G. Syrengelas; Karen Lewis DeLong; Carola Grebitus; Rodolfo M. Nayga

doi:10.1093/aepp/ppx042

Is the Natural Label Misleading? Examining Consumer Preferences for Natural Beef

Konstantinos G. Syrengelas, Karen Lewis DeLong, Carola Grebitus, Rodolfo M. Nayga

Agribusiness, Morrison School of

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

41 Scopus citations

Abstract

A petition to the USDA claims that natural labeling misleads consumers. We investigate this claim using an online choice experiment to determine consumer willingness to pay for steak labeled as natural. Half of the sample was provided with the definition of natural, while half was not. The absence of the definition resulted in consumers placing a premium on “natural” steak, while those provided with the definition were not willing to pay a premium. Similarly, participants who consider themselves familiar with the natural definition did not place a premium on “natural” steak. Results indicate that consumers may misinterpret the natural label.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	445-460
Number of pages	16
Journal	Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy
Volume	40
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1093/aepp/ppx042
State	Published - Sep 1 2018

Keywords

Beef
interaction design
natural labeling
random parameters logit

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Development
Economics and Econometrics

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10.1093/aepp/ppx042

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Is the Natural Label Misleading? Examining Consumer Preferences for Natural Beef

Abstract

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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