Micala Penton

Date of Graduation

Fall 2013

Degree

Master of Natural and Applied Science in Agriculture

Department

College of Agriculture

Committee Chair

Arbindra Rimal

Abstract

There has been a growing trend in consumer demand for locally produced products aswell as natural, grass-fed beef. Consumers have health and safety concerns as well astaste and convenience preferences. To help figure out how much of a demand there is forlocally produced grass-fed beef, surveys for both beef consumers and producers weretaken online or in-store. Questions included topics such as frequency of meat purchases, importance of beef attributes, and preference of marketing ideas. The survey was taken online by 141 Missouri State University alumni, 203 local consumers in various locations and 25 small-scale beef producers. Results showed that consumers surveyed at a farmers market or specialty meat store are more likely to pay a premium for local, grass-fed beef and that income has little effect on willingness to pay a premium, but does have a positive correlation on how much of a premium the consumer is willing to pay. These results provide a better understanding of consumer decisions to buy locally produced grass-fed beef and can assist producers with marketing decisions

Keywords

grass-fed, beef, locally produced, consumer willingness-to-pay, local food systems

Subject Categories

Agriculture

Copyright

© Micala Penton

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