Titel: Konsumenters uppfattningar som påverkar köpbeslut av lokalproducerad mat Författare: Kim Andersson och Klara Dandic Handledare: Jasenko Flodin Arsenovic Syfte: Syftet med denna undersökning är att analysera de faktorer som styr konsumenternas beslut vid köp av lokalt producerade livsmedel genom att analysera förhållandet mellan konsumenternas uppfattningar om skepticism, kvalitet, välbefinnande i förhållande till betalningsvilja. Metod: Denna studie har en kvantitativ forskningsstrategi tillsammans med en deduktiv ansats. Data samlades in från svenska och kroatiska konsumenter från fyra undersökningar (n = 405 deltagare), där kroatiska och svenska konsumenter slumpmässigt gavs en scenariobaserad undersökning om lokalt eller icke-lokalt producerad mat. Slutsats: De erhållna forskningsresultaten visade att det inte fanns någon förstärkt effekt av demografiska faktorer på förhållandet mellan matens ursprung och betalningsvilja, med undantag för utbildningsnivån, som hade en signifikant men liten effekt. Forskningen visade också att konsumenterna uppfattar lokalt producerade livsmedel som mer högkvalitativa och att de upplever att de ökar det subjektiva välbefinnandet. Det påpekades att kvalitet förmedlar förhållandet mellan matens ursprung och välbefinnande. Skepticism visade sig vara en direkt faktor som påverkar konsumenternas betalningsvilja, och dessutom fastställdes att skepticism bland kroater och svenskar är diametralt olika, där kroater visade sig vara mycket skeptiska och svenskar mindre skeptiska, vilket gav rätt att betrakta skepticism som representativ för geografisk tillhörighet. Mindre skeptiska respondenter upplevde högre kvalitet och välbefinnande jämfört med mer skeptiska respondenter. Både kvalitet och välbefinnande förmedlade sambandet mellan skepticism och betalningsvilja, där mindre skeptiska respondenter var villiga att betala mer än mer skeptiska respondenter. Det är viktigt att påpeka att lokalproducerad mat inte har någon effekt på uppfattningen om skepticism, men att skepticism är en viktig förutsägelse när det gäller viljan att betala för lokalproducerad mat. Nyckelord: Lokalproducerad mat, Skepticism, Kvalitet, Välmående, Betalningsvilja / Title: Consumers' perceptions that influence purchase decisions of locally produced food Authors: Kim Andersson och Klara Dandic Supervisor: Jasenko Flodin Arsenovic Purpose: The aim of this study is to analyse the factors that control consumers' decisions when buying locally produced food by analysing the relationship between consumers' perceptions of scepticism, quality, well-being in relation to willingness to pay. Method: This study has a quantitative research strategy together with a deductive approach. Data were collected from Swedish and Croatian consumers from four surveys (n = 405 participants), where Croatian and Swedish consumers were randomly given a scenario-based survey about locally or non-locally produced food. Conclusion: The obtained research results showed that there was no enhanced effect of demographic factors on the relationship between food origin and willingness to pay, apart from the level of education, which had a significant but small effect. The research also showed that consumers perceive locally produced food as being of higher quality and that they perceive it as increasing subjective well-being. It was noted that quality mediates the relationship between food origin and well-being. Scepticism was found to be a direct factor influencing the consumer's willingness to pay, and furthermore, it was established that scepticism among Croatians and Swedes is diametrically different, with Croatians found to be highly sceptical and Swedes less sceptical, justifying considering scepticism as representative of geographical affiliation. Less sceptical respondents experienced higher quality and well-being compared to more sceptical respondents. Both quality and well-being mediated the relationship between scepticism and willingness to pay, with less sceptical respondents willing to pay more than more sceptical respondents. It is important to note that locally produced food has no effect on perceptions of scepticism, but that scepticism is an important predictor of willingness to pay for locally produced food. Keywords: Local food, Scepticism, Quality, Well-being, Willingness to pay

Product labeling is increasingly used as a tool to differentiate products with public and private benefits that cannot be readily evaluated by a consumer at the time of purchase. Our research investigates how a labeling program may be applied in the sale of ornamental plants to address two key issues; plant disease and irrigation water use. A choice modeling survey was utilized to estimate consumers' willingness to pay a premium for six ornamental plants with disease-free and/or water conservation certification labels. The results of the mixed logit models show consumers are willing to pay a premium for plants certified as disease-free and/or produced with water conservation practices. The results strongly suggest producers can recoup some of the costs of implementing water conservation measures such as water recycling and disease control measures amid regulatory and drought concerns. Our research also investigated consumers' preferences for multiple third party certifying authorities and whether preferences for the labels varied among consumers. The results showed ornamental plant consumers did not reveal a preference for a particular certifying authority. The results are mixed as to whether willingness to pay for the labels varies among respondents. We show willingness to pay does vary among respondents for three of the plant models indicating preference heterogeneity. / Master of Science

This study is one of the first of its kind to examine actual consumer purchasing decisions for forest products certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). Consumer purchasing was examined based on the presence or absence of a promotional brochure and a price premium for red oak and yellow poplar surfaced-four-sides (S4S) boards. This research also compared typical demographic factors for purchasers and non-purchasers of FSC certified S4S boards. Finally, the study examined subscales from a previously designed ecoscale to determine whether two of the subscales were effective predictors of the sale of FSC certified boards. Due to significant interactions between the price premium and the promotional brochure, Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) statistics could not be interpreted. However, these strong interactions indicate that these two factors are interdependent. Examining respondents' understanding of the trade term, "certification," showed that most did not understand the term as it is used by the forest products industry. Respondents did not link certification directly with the environment, but rather stated that it was a measure of quality excellence. This illustrates that the forest products industry must use more specific descriptions that consumers will understand when referring to certification. Based on survey results from this study, a large proportion of respondents who paid more for FSC certified boards were unable to recall whether they had cost any more than the alternative product. Respondents of this study were not found to have a high level of confidence in the environmental claims of any group. These included forest products companies, industry associations, and independent organizations. The subscales of a previously designed ecoscale were not found to be strong indicators of a respondents' likelihood to purchase FSC certified S4S boards. This project should be seen as a starting point for additional researchers interested in studying actual purchase decisions of consumers of environmentally conscious products, such as certified hardwood boards. / Master of Science

<p> </p> <p>This dissertation consists of three essays that examine the response of small businesses to disruptions in their environment. The first two essays focused on small non-farm businesses in the United States and how they deal with natural disasters. The last essay examined smallholder farm households in Malawi, and how their household labor allocation decisions are affected by land allocation to estates in their communities. The individual essays are summarized as follows:</p> <p>Essay 1: <em>A Conditional Process Approach to Understanding the Role of Adjustment Strategies and Disaster Experience in Racial Disparities in Small Business Performance. </em>Considering that most minority owned businesses have limited access to formal systems, this essay explored how race could indirectly affect business performance (measured as percentage revenue growth) through the adoption of three informal strategies: customer base expansion, supplier base expansion and family adjustment strategies. It also explored whether these indirect effects are moderated by experience with natural disaster. The results showed that being a racial minority was positively associated with revenue growth such that on average, minority business owners experienced 29% higher revenue growth than white-owned businesses (p<0.05) on business performance. It also showed a modest indirect effect of race on revenue growth through each mediating strategy (p<0.5). However, the results did not support a moderating role for disaster experience. </p> <p>Essay 2: <em>Willingness to Pay for Comprehensive Cyclone Insurance Coverage by Small Business Owners: Evidence from the Coastal States of the United States</em>. Small businesses in the coastal United States are usually uninsured or underinsured for cyclone events. The underinsuring of these businesses could be a result of limited insurance coverage as well as individual characteristics of small business owners. Using a discrete choice experiment, this essay used a hypothetical comprehensive cyclone insurance to understand what insurance attributes are important to small business owners. It also examined the role of previous disaster experience, charity hazard as well as temporal orientation on the willingness to pay for the disaster insurance. This study used a discrete choice experiment to elicit insurance preferences from small coastal businesses which employed less than 100 employees. A mixed logit model was used to analyze the data. The results showed that business owners exhibited positive marginal utilities from policies that covered flood, windstorm, and business interruption regardless of the combination. Notably, the mixed logit model showed that on average, business owners were willing to pay up to 450%, 472%, and 482% more than their total monthly business insurance premium payment for insurance that covers flood and business interruption, windstorm and business interruption, and flood, windstorm and business interruption respectively. Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression showed that respondents who had previously experienced cyclones were more willing to pay for the presented insurance policies than those who have not. Future orientation was also found to be positively associated with the marginal willingness to pay for the insurance policies.</p> <p>Essay 3: <em>Estates and Small-Holder Agricultural Labor Dynamics in Sub-Saharan Africa:</em> <em>A Case Study of Malawi. </em>Estates are larger than the average farm holdings, which mostly grow one crop, require large capital investment, are centrally managed and rely a lot on hired labor. With such large investments in agricultural land, the labor decisions of smallholder households in Africa will likely be altered. This essay therefore examined the role of estate farms on smallholders’ allocation of labor between on-farm, and off-farm demand and supply of casual labor using the <em>ganyu</em> system of Malawi as a case-study. Using the Malawi Integrated Household Panel survey covering the years 2010, 2013, 2016, and 2019, we estimated the effect of estates on the participation of smallholders on these labor decisions as well as the number of days spent in each activity. We also investigated the effect of these estates on community agricultural labor (<em>ganyu) </em>wage rates and the share of income accruable to ganyu and crop production. Linear probability (LPM), as well as tobit-correlated random effects (CRE) regressions were used to test these effects. Both models showed that the share of estates had a negative correlation with <em>ganyu </em>demand. The Tobit CRE regression showed that on average a 1% increase in the percentage share of agricultural land occupied by estates was associated with a modest 0.04% (p<0.01) decrease in the number of days <em>ganyu </em>labor was demanded, and a 0.02% increase in the number of days household members spent on their own farms. Further results showed that households in communities with higher shares of estates participated in less non-crop farming activities especially wage employment. We also found that the negative relationship between estates and <em>ganyu </em>demand was accentuated among households with higher levels of assets, and farm income. Finally, we found a modest negative relationship between share of estates and community <em>ganyu </em>wage rates </p>

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<p>  </p> <p>Cattle derived food, like beef and dairy, have long been a staple of our human diets and continue to be prominent in our days. This prominence and their relevance naturally extend to our economies. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service (2022), cattle production is the most important agricultural industry in the US representing about 17% of the $391 billion total cash receipts for agricultural commodities in 2021.</p> <p><br></p> <p>Economists have looked into cattle derived products from a wide array of perspectives focusing on the product itself, for example beef, but also in the forces of supply and demand that at times are external to product attributes. The effect of supply and demand shocks on agricultural markets have been heavily considered in the literature (Thomsen and McKenzie, 2001; McKenzie and Thomsen, 2001; Lusk and Schroeder, 2002, Piggott and Marsh, 2004). Yet another important aspect of agricultural markets is price determination and the body of literature in this area is ample (Tomek & Robinson, 2003). Recent phenomena in the world, like the availability of information, good or bad, in the most current, voluminous and accessible way that we have ever seen, could be a new force in price determination of agricultural products. My research contributes to such strains of literature by investigating perceptions and willingness to pay for beef attributes, market shocks in beef markets, and the role of online media in dairy prices.</p> <p><br></p> <p>Beef attributes, and their relative valuation by consumers, have been studied to assist in understanding consumer demand for beef. Given the relevance of such attributes in consumer’s mind, researchers have sought to study how to profitably provide those beef attributes demanded by consumers. Addressing consumer demands for tenderness, an important attribute (Schroeder and Mark, 2000), aging beef has been proved to be a technology that improves flavor, tenderness and juiciness (Kim, Kemp & Samuelson, 2016). By using aging processes, the same cattle carcass can generate more highly valued beef products. I study the willingness to pay for aging and USDA grade in beef, to understand valuation of attributes by consumers with various demographics. </p> <p><br></p> <p>In beef markets, the heterogeneity of beef cuts in their usage, pricing and distribution channels is crucial. Supply and demand shocks can affect individual cuts in different ways (Ortez et al, 2022). With some beef cuts relying heavily on restaurant sales more than others, this offers a good opportunity to introduce a new concept in beef market analysis, namely the price relationship amongst beef cuts and its response to different market shocks. The traditional discussion around spreads in meat focus on differences in price at separate steps in the supply chain, namely farm, wholesale and retail. However, little attention has been given to the relative differences in prices of specific cuts of beef.</p> <p><br></p> <p>The potential influence of online media chatter in its sentiment and volume has largely been under appreciated in the Agricultural Economics literature. A predecessor in this area is Tonsor and Olynk (2011) who first established a connection between news activity and economic fundamentals in agriculture. The advent of the internet may have the ability to decrease information asymmetry and bridge the information gap between consumers, producers and market products. Online media listening allows for data collection efficiently and in real time (Widmar, 2019) and it may be a relevant aspect in the decision making of agricultural and food industries. Moved by this endeavor, I seek to understand if potential relationships between online media chatter sentiment and volume with futures prices in dairy products exist.</p> <p>  </p>

With shipping routes, fisheries, conservation areas, recreation, and other maritime industries competing for space off Virginia's coastline, integrated solutions for marine areas may offer a way to limit conflict and maximize productivity. Countries across the world are researching the different ways in which the space between turbines can be utilized to provide economic and environmental benefits. The act of coupling other maritime activities with offshore wind farms is often referred to as co-location. As Virginia constructs the first offshore wind farm in United States Federal waters, there are new opportunities for co-location that could benefit the Virginia economy. Using data from a choice experiment and random utility modeling, this research quantifies Virginia public preferences for various co-location options within the lease area of the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) farm. Our estimated WTP values show Virginia's public preference for the addition of co-location to the CVOW lease area to be upwards of $20 per 1,000 acres of activity. Our estimates can be compared to implementation and management costs of each activity to determine potential for incorporation of certain co-location techniques. The experimental design of this study can be applied to other offshore wind installments around the world. / Master of Science / With shipping routes, fisheries, conservation areas, recreation, and other maritime industries competing for space off Virginia's coastline, integrated solutions for marine areas may offer a way to limit conflict and maximize productivity. Countries across the world are researching the different ways in which the space between turbines can be utilized to provide economic and environmental benefits. The act of coupling other maritime activities with offshore wind farms is often referred to as co-location. As Virginia constructs the first offshore wind farm in United States federal waters, there are new opportunities for co-location that could benefit the Virginia economy. Using a Stated Preference Choice Experiment and economic valuation methods, this research quantifies Virginia's public preferences for various co-location options within the lease area of the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) farm, such as: a seaweed aquaculture farm, a seaweed forest, and a research area. Our estimated WTP values show Virginia's public preference for the addition of co-location to the CVOW lease area to be upwards of $20 per 1,000 acres of activity. Our estimates can be compared to implementation and management costs of each activity to determine potential for incorporation of certain co-location techniques. The experimental design of this study can be applied to other offshore wind installments around the world.

This study examines small and medium scale specialty crop growers’ preferences for marketing contract attributes and willingness to adopt blockchain-based smart contracts. The data used were collected using an online survey and discrete choice experiment. Findings indicate that farmers prefer higher average prices, cash, check or electronic bank payment over cryptocurrency, and immediate payment upon product delivery over delayed payment. When choosing a contract, farmers viewed traditional text-based contracts and digital platforms with automated smart contracts equivalently, on average. On average, farmers showed no preference for providing and not providing traceability lot codes to buyers, and between choosing a contract and marketing their products as usual. Although we find that some farmers prefer to provide traceability lot codes to buyers while others do not, and some farmers prefer having a contract option while others do not. These insights could be useful to buyers and specialty crop farmers seeking to contract.

The global decline of pollinators, insects and animals that assist in pollination and fertilizing plants, poses a great risk to global food supply. This study investigates if people have preferences for a program to abate decline in a region along the East Coast of the United States. A survey is used to investigate these preferences and connections to the region to understand if individual connections can explain preferences. The majority of people were found to not have preferences to help increase pollinator abundance. Additionally, measures of connection to the region were found to be insignificant in explain individual preferences. / Master of Science / The global decline of pollinators, insects and animals that assist in pollination and fertilizing plants, poses a great risk to global food supply. This study investigates if people have preferences for a program to abate decline in a region along the East Coast of the United States. A survey is used to investigate these preferences and connections to the region to understand if individual connections can explain preferences. The majority of people were found to not have preferences to help increase pollinator abundance. Additionally, measures of connection to the region were found to be insignificant in explain individual preferences.