Bernard, John C.

December, 2013

By: Carroll, Kathryn A.; Bernard, John C.; Pesek, John D. Jr.
A choice experiment of consumers from five Mid-Atlantic states was conducted to compare marginal willingness to pay for fresh tomatoes with the attributes locally grown, state marketing program promoted, and organic from either a grocery store or farmers’ market. Data were analyzed using a mixed logit model. Results show that consumers in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Virginia prefer local tomatoes, while those in Delaware and New Jersey prefer state program versions. Unexpectedly, price premiums for organic over conventional tomatoes were only exhibited in Maryland, and Virginia was the only state with a significant premium for the farmers’ market venue.

December, 2010

By: Bernard, John C.; Bernard, Daria J.
Auction experiments were used to investigate demand relationships and willingness to pay (WTP) for four versions of potatoes and sweet corn—conventional, organic, and two parts of organic: no pesticides and non-genetically modified (non-GM). Elasticities showed strong and asymmetric substitute relationships between organic and its parts. Combined premiums of the parts were not significantly different than the whole organic premium, suggesting WTP for the attributes are not additive. A two-stage heteroskedastic tobit model found significant WTP for each part dependent on demographics and beliefs about conventional versions. Results suggest segments for parts of organic could be established alongside the whole.