Information Pricing and the role of Self-Commitment Devices in Consumer food Purchasing Decisions
Abstract
In this dissertation, I investigate the value of information to consumers, the pricing of chicken, and the value of shopping lists to consumers. My first essay finds that across 14 different product categories and seven types of information, information about price and origin are the most important and information about social and environmental impacts are the least important. Our estimates also suggest consumers are willing to wait a large amount of time to obtain the most vs. least desirable types of information prior to making a nonhypothetical product choice. My second essay relates to price indices used to value chicken in the United States. There were two main price indices commonly used by the industry in recent history: the USDA 12-City Price Index and the Georgia Dock Price. We find that there was a long standing equilibrium relationship between these two price indices that shifted across time. Additionally, our analysis shows that there was a structural break between these two price indices around 2000. After this structural break, the analysis suggests Georgia Dock prices were about $0.047/lb higher than they would have been without the break. Last, my third essay aims to determine the impact of shopping lists on consumer spending and healthy shopping behaviors. We find that after controlling for conscientiousness, consumers willingness-to-accept to give up their shopping list is $5.05, while the equivalent gain to write a shopping list is $3.87. We did not find a significant difference in the healthiness of the purchases made by consumers using a shopping list versus those who shopped without a list.
Degree
Ph.D.
Advisors
Lusk, Purdue University.
Subject Area
Nutrition|Agronomy|Behavioral psychology|Economics|Management|Psychology|Statistics
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