No abstract

In this paper, we assess consumer willingness to pay for a mandatory country-of-origin labeling (COOL) program applied to beef ribeye steaks, chicken breasts, and pork chops, all labeled as “Certified U.S.” products. A consumer survey was mailed in spring and early summer 2003 to households in the continental United States. Results indicate that consumers are in general very concerned about food safety issues, viewing U.S. meat as the safest among the selection of countries considered. Nevertheless, consumer willingness to pay for Certified U.S. products is relatively small, although above the expected implementation costs associated with a mandatory labeling program. This finding coincides with the fact that only 36% of the sample favored consumers paying directly for the costs related to a mandatory COOL program.

To determine US consumer acceptance and value of beef from various countries, 24 taste panels of consumers (n = 273 consumers) were conducted in Denver and Chicago. Two pairs of strip steaks were evaluated for flavor, juiciness, tenderness, and overall acceptability on eight-point hedonic scales. One pair consisted of an Australian grass-fed strip steak and a domestic strip steak, whereas the other pair included Canadian and domestic strip steaks. The pairs were matched to similar Warner-Bratzler shear values and marbling scores to decrease variation associated with tenderness and juiciness. A variation of the Vickery auction was used to obtain silent, sealed bids on steaks (0.45 kg) from the same strip loins sampled in the taste panel. Consumers gave higher (P < 0.001) scores for flavor, juiciness, tenderness, and overall acceptability for domestic steaks compared with Australian grass-fed steaks. Domestic steaks averaged 3.68/0.45 dollars kg, whereas consumers placed an average value of 2.48/0.45 dollars kg on Australian grass-fed steaks (P < 0.001). Consumers rated Canadian steaks numerically lower for juiciness (P = 0.09) and lower (P < 0.005) for flavor, tenderness, and overall acceptability than domestic samples. Consumers placed an average value of 3.95/0.45 dollars kg for domestic steaks and 3.57/0.45 dollars kg for Canadian steaks (P < 0.01). Consumers (19.0%) who preferred Australian grass-fed steaks over domestic steaks paid 1.38/0.45 dollars kg more (P < 0.001), whereas consumers (29.3%) who favored the Canadian steaks over the domestic steaks paid 1.37/0.45 dollars kg more (P < 0.001) for the Canadian steaks. A majority of US consumers seem to be accustomed to the taste of domestic beef and prefer domestic steaks to beef from Australia grass-fed and Canadian beef.

An area of increasing differentiation among meat products relates to the source-of-origin and types of production methods used to raise the animals. Consumer data collected from a U.S. national online survey was used to estimate the factors helping explain consumers' willingness to purchase and pay a higher premium for two natural and regionally produced beef products: ground beef and USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) Choice rib eye steaks. Consumer preferences for natural and regionally produced beef are shown to be motivated by a combination of perceptions of personal benefits and altruistic factors. Additionally, the results of probit models indicate that the probability a consumer will pay more or less of a premium depends on purchase behavior and shopping location, stated importance of production attributes, awareness and interest in private and civic agricultural issues, in addition to some typical demographic variables such as income. [EconLit Citations: Q130, M130, Q180]. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Experimental auction procedures were used to measure Chicago and San Francisco consumers' willingness-to-pay for beef flavor from domestic, corn-fed beef versus Argentine, grass-fed beef. Based on taste panel rankings and bid differentials between paired steak samples, consumers were grouped into one of three beef-preference categories: corn-fed beef preferring, grass-fed beef preferring, and indifferent. A multinomial logit model and regression analysis were used to identify consumers who prefer a particular flavor of beef. On average, consumers were willing to pay a 30.6% premium for corn-fed beef. Sixty-two percent of the participants were willing to pay an average premium of $1.61 more per pound for the corn-fed beef, 23% of the consumers were willing to pay a premium of $1.36 more per pound for the grass-fed beef, only 15% of the consumers were indifferent. The results have important implications for country-of-origin labeling of beef products, as well as niche marketing of corn-fed and grass-fed beef. [EconLit citations: L110, L660, Q130]. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

ABSTRACT:To determine sensory preference and value of fresh beef steak differing in aging technique, strip steaks were evaluated by consumers in Denver (n = 132 consumers) and Chicago (n = 141 consumers). Wet-aged Choice strip loins were matched with dryaged Choice strip loins, whereas wet-aged Prime strip loins were matched with dry-aged Prime strip loins. Dry-aged strip loins were commercially aged in air in a controlled environment for 30 d and vacuum-aged for 7 d during shipping and storage. Wet-aged strip loins were vacuum-packaged and aged for 37 d in a 1°C cooler. Pairs of strip loins were matched to similar Warner-Bratzler shear force values and marbling scores. Twelve sensory evaluation panels (of 12 scheduled panelists each) were conducted over a 3-d period in each city. Individual samples from a pair of steaks were evaluated by the panelists for sensory traits. Bids were placed on the samples after sensory traits were obtained utilizing a variation of the Vickery auction with silent, sealed bids. No significant differences for sensory traits of flavor, juiciness, tenderness, or overall acceptability were detected between wet-aged Choice samples and dry-aged Choice samples. Although wet-aged

ABSTRACT:To determine consumer sensory acceptance and value of beef steaks differing in marbling level (high = upper ²⁄₃ USDA Choice and low = USDA Select), but similar in Warner-Bratzler shear value, consumers in Chicago and San Francisco (n = 124 per city) evaluated two matched pairs of high-and lowmarbled strip steaks, and had the opportunity to participate in a silent, sealed-bid auction to purchase steaks from the same strip loins as the samples. Consumers who purchased steaks also evaluated the steaks when prepared in their homes. Based on overall acceptability ratings, consumers were categorized into three groups: 1) those who consistently found high marbling more acceptable, 2) those who consistently found low marbling more acceptable, and 3) those who were indifferent. Consumers who evaluated at least one high-marbled and one low-marbled sample in their home were included in an evaluation environment analysis (n = 50). High-marbled steaks were rated higher (P < 0.01) in juiciness, flavor, and overall acceptability than low-

Objectives: To determine the effect of guided imagery (GI) on functional outcomes of total knee replacement (TKR), explore psychological and neuroimmune mediators, and assess feasibility of study implementation. Design: Investigator-blinded, randomized, placebo-controlled pilot study. Settings: Hospital, surgeon's office, participant's home. Participants: 82 persons undergoing TKR. Interventions: Audiorecordings of TKR-specific GI scripts or placebo-control audiorecordings of audiobook segments. Outcome measures: Gait velocity and Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Arthritis Index (WOMAC) Function scale.Results: Outcomes for 58 participants (29 receiving GI and 29 controls) were analyzed at 6 months after surgery. The most frequent reason for noncompletion was protocol-driven exclusion at 6 months for having the contralateral knee replaced before the study endpoint (n = 15). With imaging ability as a moderator, gait velocity, but not WOMAC Function score, was significantly improved at 6 months in the GI group. Participants in the GI group, but not the control group, had lower WOMAC Pain scores at 3 weeks after surgery than at baseline. Hair cortisol concentration was significantly lower at 6 months after surgery than at baseline in the GI group but not the control group. GI group participants had lower treatment adherence but greater treatment credibility than the control group. Conclusion: Randomized controlled trials of GI in the TKR population are feasible, but inclusion/exclusion criteria influence attrition. Further studies are needed to elaborate this study's findings, which suggest that guided imagery improves objective, but not patient-reported, outcomes of TKR. Hair cortisol concentration results suggest that engagement in a time-limited guided imagery intervention may contribute to stress reduction even after the intervention is terminated. Further investigation into optimal content and dosing of GI is needed.