Using Linked Household-Level Data Sets to Explain Consumer Response to Bovine Spongiform Encepalopathy (BSE) in Canada

Abstract

Household-level Canadian meat purchases from 2002 to 2008 and a Food Opinions Survey conducted in 2008 were used to explore consumer responses to bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) at the national level in Canada. Consumption in terms of the number of unit purchases was analyzed with a random-effects negative binomial model. In this study, household heterogeneity in meat purchases was partially explained using data from a self-reported food opinions survey. Of special interest was the hypothesis that consumers responded consistently to BSE in a one-time survey and in actual meat purchase behavior spanning years. Regional differences appeared, with consumers in eastern Canada reacting most negatively to BSE. Consumers responded more to the perception that food decision makers are honest about food safety than to the perception that they are knowledgeable, in maintaining beef purchases during BSE events.

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank the International Council for Canadian Studies, the Alberta Prion Research Institute, the Alberta Livestock Industry Development Fund, and the Consumer and Market Demand Agricultural Policy Research Network for providing funding and data used in this study. This is manuscript number 11-05-070 of the Kentucky Agricultural Experiment Station.