CONSUMER RESPONSE TO GMO FOODS: BRANDING VERSUS GOVERNMENT CERTIFICATION

The debate over the safety of genetically modified organisms (GMO's) has varied greatly in intensity. In Europe, the debate has been vigorous and European consumers have, in general, been extremely skeptical of the technology and unwilling to assume the risks associated with GMOs. Many retailers in Europe have promised that they will not sell food products that contain GMOs. In the U.S., consumer reaction to GMOs has been more muted. While some surveys have shown that a majority of Americans support the use of biotechnology, others have found that many Americans have reservations about the technology. Most of the research published to date has focused on consumer opinions regarding GMOs. Relatively little research has focused on understanding the basis of consumer opinion or developing or evaluating strategies targeted at gaining consumer acceptance of GMO products. The purpose of this research is to evaluate the effect of two potential strategies to gain consumer acceptance of GMO foods. Specifically, we examine the effectiveness of using a familiar brand or federal government certification on consumer acceptance of GMOs. This research is timely because the rapid pace of GMO development and adoption will soon make it difficult, if not impossible, to maintain separate products based on the presence or absence of GMO content. The conceptual basis for the model used in this paper is Lancaster's theory of consumer demand. The paper discusses the results of the analysis that was undertaken.Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

Who Should Certify the Safety of Genetically Modified Foods?

Two methods of addressing consumer concerns regarding the use of genetically modified foods are evaluated using conjoint analysis – the use of a familiar brand and government certification. In one survey, consumers were asked to rate hypothetical products based on brand, price, and production technology attributes. In a second survey, consumers rated hypothetical products that included government certification, price, and production technology attributes. Both the individual and aggregate results indicate that government certification would be more effective at assuaging consumers concerns than would the use of a familiar brand, although a familiar brand was sufficient to address consumer concerns for a significant number of respondents. The analysis also indicated that different factors are associated with strong consumer preferences for a familiar brand and government certification.Branding, Certification, Consumer demand, Genetically modified food, GMO, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

How Will New Farmers Control Farmland

The U.S. will soon see many farmers retire and younger farmers taking their place. These younger farmers would prefer to purchase the land rather than rent because of the advantages associated with ownership. However, these farmers need to determine how many acres they need to rent in order to support their purchased land and still provide funds for family living. The model developed here is applied to a typical farm in the Midwest. The results indicate that cash rent is a key element of the model.Farm Management,

How Will New Farmers Control Farmland

The U.S. will soon see many farmers retire and younger farmers taking their place. These younger farmers would prefer to purchase the land rather than rent because of the advantages associated with ownership. However, these farmers need to determine how many acres they need to rent in order to support their purchased land and still provide funds for family living. The model developed here is applied to a typical farm in the Midwest. The results indicate that cash rent is a key element of the model.Farm Management, Land Economics/Use,

North American Bison Cooperative and North Dakota Natural Beef LLC: Governance of a Contractual Alliance

In 2005, North American Bison Cooperative formed a contractual alliance with North Dakota Natural Beef, LLC. The alliance was formed in order to enable the cooperative to enhance returns from its physical and managerial assets by entering the natural beef market. This case describes the resources shared by the cooperative and LLC, how the alliance was governed, the risk of opportunism by the CEO and associated trust building and control mechanisms, and the benefits cooperative members received. Although the two companies operate under different business principles, cooperative members exercise indirect control over the resources they contribute to the venture.Agribusiness, Livestock Production/Industries,

Multi-rate demodulator architecture

A unique digital multi-rate demodulator (MRD) architecture is presented for onboard satellite communications processing. The multi-rate feature enables the same demodulator hardware to process either one wideband channel (WBC), or process up to thirty-two independent narrowband channels (NBC) that are time division multiplexed (TDM). The MRD can process many quadrature modulation format such as offset quadrature phase shift keying (OQPSK). Possible applications include voice and data transmission for commercial or military users

Cass-Clay Creamery: A New Direction for an Old Brand

Consolidation and industrialization are increasingly important factors affecting the level of membership in cooperative businesses. This article presents information about the development of the dairy industry in North Dakota and its effect on Cass- Clay Creamery, a farmer-owned dairy cooperative. Students are asked to analyze decisions about branding and being acquired by another larger cooperative.Dairy, cooperative, acquisition, North Dakota, Cass-Clay, AMPI, Agribusiness,

A Distributed Economics-based Infrastructure for Utility Computing

Existing attempts at utility computing revolve around two approaches. The first consists of proprietary solutions involving renting time on dedicated utility computing machines. The second requires the use of heavy, monolithic applications that are difficult to deploy, maintain, and use. We propose a distributed, community-oriented approach to utility computing. Our approach provides an infrastructure built on Web Services in which modular components are combined to create a seemingly simple, yet powerful system. The community-oriented nature generates an economic environment which results in fair transactions between consumers and providers of computing cycles while simultaneously encouraging improvements in the infrastructure of the computational grid itself.Comment: 8 pages, 1 figur

Explaining Political Violence Against Civilians in Northern Ireland: A Contention-Oriented Approach

In contrast to prevalent theories of terrorism, this study develops a contention-oriented approach where levels and forms of political violence against civilians depend upon: (1) the strategies of combatants; (2) the means of contention; (3) the locations of allies and opponents; (4) the collective identities of combatants; and (5) the dynamics of contention, including whether or not representatives of paramilitary organizations are included in formal peace processes. Quantitative analyses of a multi-source database of civilian deaths taking place in Northern Ireland between 1966 and 2006 offer preliminary support for this approach. The study underscores the insights provided by theories and methods used in the fields of social movements research and peace and conflict studies