The role of agricultural marketing in economic development

This thesis will explore the role of agricultural marketing in economic development. Historically, it will be shown how agricultural marketing has played an important role in improving economic well-being. To demonstrate these phenomena, the part played by agricultural marketing during the primitive days, the influence it had on the economy of the Middle Ages, its contribution to economic development during the colonial period, and the main characteristics of this activity that led to the development of the United States will be brought to the reader\u27s attention. However, historically, with the depression of the 1930\u27s, it will be shown that events tended to obscure the influence of agricultural marketing on economic development. The obvious causes, as we shall see, were stagnation and focus on investment and recovery. At that period of time, the state of theory in marketing reflected a dissociation from development and was pointed more to problems of efficiency, allocation of resources, and distribution of income. The question that has now become significant is whether or not improvements in marketing are really strategic to economic development in the low-income areas of the United States and in the underdeveloped countries of the world. Thus we seek to find if various processes of agricultural marketing are proper and necessary to assist development. If we conclude that improvements in agricultural marketing are necessary, the issue then is, can the current theory used in marketing be considered adequate to the analysis of development problems in the marketing field

ABSTRACTS OF SELECTED PAPERS

Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession,

AGRICULTURE IN THE NATION'S POLITICS

Political Economy,

Measuring Consumer Preferences Using Conjoint Poker

We develop and test an incentive-compatible Conjoint Poker (CP) game. The preference data collected in the context of this game are comparable to incentive-compatible choice-based conjoint (CBC) analysis data. We develop a statistical efficiency measure and an algorithm to construct efficient CP designs. We compare incentive-compatible CP to incentive-compatible CBC in a series of three experiments (one online study and two eye-tracking studies). Our results suggest that CP induces respondents to consider more of the profile-related information presented to them compared with CBC

Consumer-Based Ranking for Strategic Selection of IoT Business Models

The digitization of business environments requires companies to be more consumer-centric than before. In the course of these adjustments, managers operate in the area of conflict between value creation for the firm, consumers’ limited willingness to pay for products and services, and the need to gain and maintain consumers’ trust. To support managers in the challenge to redefine their business models to fit the new digitized business environment, we suggest that managers should incorporate consumer\u27s attitudes towards Internet of Things (IoT) business models in their strategic business model choice. Based on a choice experiment with 301 individuals, we identified a set of business models ranked according to the probability that users are most likely to agree with, and thus accept. The results of the study provide direct indications about which IoT business models are from a consumer perspective desirable and which not so that managers can directly implement these insights in practice

From Government to Regulatory Governance: Privatization and the Residual Role of the State

This paper reviews the state of thinking on the governance role of public ownership and control. We argue that the transfer of operational control over productive assets to the private sector represents the most desirable governance, due to the inherent difficulty for citizens to constrain political abuse relative to the ability of governments to regulate private activity. However in weak institutional environments the process needs to be structured so as to avoid capture of the regulatory process. The speed of transfer should be timed on the progress in developing a strong regulatory governance system, to which certain residual rights of intervention must be vested. After all, what are “institutions” if not governance mechanisms with some degree of autonomy from both political and private interests? The gradual creation of institutions partially autonomous from political power must become central to the development of an optimal mode of regulatory governance. We advance some suggestions about creating accountability in regulatory governance, in particular creating an internal control system based on a rotating board representative of users, producers and civil society, to be elected by a process involving frequent reporting and disclosure.Regulatory Governance, Privatization

An empirical assessment of stimulus presentation mode bias in conjoint analysis

Conjoint analysis, which aims to uncover the optimal combination of attributes influencing customer choice, is widely used by marketers to predict the success of new product and service introductions. In recent years, researchers have incorporated considerable mathematical sophistication into conjoint models and extended its domain to diverse areas such as pricing, market share, profitability, product positioning, distribution channels, and advertising. Despite these advances, the predictive power of conjoint applications is often compromised by response biases and measurement errors. The purpose of this research is to isolate and investigate the impact of one such bias that arises from the manner in which stimuli are presented to respondents. Based upon an appraisal of over four decades of conjoint studies in the major marketing journals, the authors make a case for the possible existence of two types of biases, i.e.: (1) stimulus joint presentation bias, when concept cards are shown simultaneously (side by side) to respondents, and (2) stimulus separate presentation bias, where cards are presented separately (one at a time). Two conjoint experiments were designed to investigate the effects of these biases on respondent choices. Results indicate that bias manifests itself in conjoint designs when there is a mismatch between presentation mode and respondents’ cognitive (evaluable) burden. Left unaddressed, stimulus presentation mode bias may: (1) have a deleterious effect on respondents’ choice behavior; and (2) compromize the predictive accuracy of conjoint models. The authors discuss several approaches that can account for and mitigate the negative impact of presentation mode biases on conjoint outcomes

Viewers and brand placement in movies: new insights about viewers contribute to better understand the effectiveness of the technique

Several studies have shown the potential of product placement use. Since traditional media have become saturated, this communication technique benefits from growing interest. Consequently, product and/or brand placements have mushroomed, especially in Hollywood movies, but not always with the same effectiveness. Rather than focusing on the placement itself, this research proposes to explore new insights concerning viewers' reaction during the second step exposure. A sample of 3,532 DVD French viewers has been used to link the way the movie has been viewed, chosen and appreciated (or not) with a spontaneous brand placement recall, the day after the film has been watched at home. Results contribute to strengthen the professionals' interest in the technique, and complete the academic knowledge on the topic. A profusion of brand placements does not mechanically increase the number of brands recalled, and a first viewing of the movie at the cinema, just as watching it at home on a large home cinema screen, improves the brand placement recall. Such an improvement also occurs when a DVD movie is chosen either because of the movie director or when the viewer likes the movie he watchedConsumer, product placement, brand placement, movie, branded-entertainment, spontaneous day after recall

Unstructured Direct Elicitation of Decision Rules

We investigate the feasibility of unstructured direct-elicitation (UDE) of decision rules consumers use to form consideration sets. With incentives to think hard and answer truthfully, tested formats ask respondents to state non-compensatory, compensatory, or mixed rules for agents who will select a product for the respondents. In a mobile-phone study two validation tasks (one delayed 3 weeks) ask respondents to indicate which of 32 mobile phones they would consider from a fractional 4[superscript 5]x2[superscript 2] design of features and levels. UDE predicts consideration sets better, across profiles and across respondents, than a structured direct-elicitation method (SDE). It predicts comparably to established incentive-aligned compensatory, non-compensatory, and mixed decompositional methods. In a more-complex (20x7x5[superscript 2]x4x3[superscript 4]x2[superscript 2]) automobile study, non-compensatory decomposition is not feasible and additive-utility decomposition is strained, but UDE scales well. Incentives are aligned for all methods using prize indemnity insurance to award a chance at $40,000 for an automobile plus cash. UDE predicts consideration sets better than either additive decomposition or an established SDE method (Casemap). We discuss the strengths and weaknesses of UDE relative to established methods.Research Grants Council (Hong Kong, China) (SAR (9041182, CityU 1454/06H))Pennsylvania State University (Smeal Small Research Grant

Assessment of farmer preferences for cattle traits in smallholder cattle production systems of Kenya and Ethiopia

The urgent need to improve livestock productivity in sub.Saharan Africa in order to keep pace with expected increases in demand for meat and milk is very topical. Breed improvement provides key entry points for increasing productivity in cattle populations. However, there are tendencies for genetic improvement programs to focus on single, market driven traits such as milk or meat production in isolation of environmental constraints and broader livestock system functions which cattle perform in developing countries. This potentially leads to genotypes that are not well adapted to the environment and not capable of performing the multiple roles that cattle assume in smallholder systems. In developing countries, many important functions of livestock are embedded in non-tradeable traits that are neither captured in economic analysis nor considered in livestock improvement programs. This study employs Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) ranking techniques and conjoint analysis to evaluate preferences of cattle keepers in pastoral and agro-pastoral systems of selected sites in Kenya and Ethiopia for various cattle traits. These systems are characterized by low input management and prevalence of various cattle diseases. Trypanosomosis is a serious disease constraint in Ghibe valley of Ethiopia and some of the pastoral areas in Kenya. The results indicate that farmer preferences for cattle traits are influenced by various factors including production system characteristics, infrastructural constraints and environmental conditions, especially in relation to disease prevalence and availability of cattle feeds. In the crop-livestock systems of Ghibe valley in Ethiopia, preferred cattle traits include trypanotolerance, reproductive potential and fitness to traction. Milk production is a less important trait. On the other hand, in the pastoral and agropastoral systems of Kenya, important traits include trypanotolerance, reproductive potential, coat colour and watering needs