Consumer Willingness-to-Pay for Flavor in Beef Steaks: An Experimental Economics Approach

This article summarizes the major findings of a just completed agricultural economics dissertation research project that analyzed consumers\u27 perceptions of beef flavor, and more importantly, their willingness-to-pay for various flavor preferences. The research was conducted jointly with the Animal Science Department at UNL. A novel experimental design was used to determine consumers willingness-to-pay for their flavor preferences. After tasting various steak samples, consumers were given the opportunity to bid on and purchase steaks from the same sample. The experimental auction was a sealed-bid, fourth-price auction (similar to a Vickrey auction) where the fourth highest bid determined the market price and the top three bidders all purchased steaks at the market price