Consumer Preferences for Food Irradiation: How Favorable and Unfavorable Descriptions Affect Preferences for Irradiated Pork in Experimental Auctions

John Fox, Dermot Hayes and Jason Shogren

Staff General Research Papers Archive from Iowa State University, Department of Economics

Abstract: Experimental auctions were used to examine the effects of alternative descriptions of food irradiation on willingness-to-pay for a pork sandwich irradiated to control Trichinella. As expected, a favorable description of irradiation increased willingness-to-pay, and an unfavorable description decreased willingness-to-pay. Notably, when subjects were given both the pro- and anti-irradiation descriptions, the negative description dominated and willingness-to-pay decreased. This was true even though the source of the negative information was identified as being a consumer advocacy group and the information itself was written in a manner that was non-scientific. If this is a widespread phenomenon, the process provides those who make inaccurate claims about new technologies a greater incentive than would otherwise be the case. Keywords: food safety, risk, auctions, irradiation, information, bidding

Date: 2002-01-01
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Published in Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, January 2002, vol. 24 no. 1, pp. 75-95

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:isu:genres:5207

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