ARE ASSESSMENTS FOR GENERIC ADVERTISING OPTIMAL IF PRODUCTS ARE DIFFERENTIATED?

An analytical framework where consumers display preferences for various qualities of an agricultural commodity is used to investigate the producer welfare effects of generic advertising assessments. Depending upon the degree of product differentiation present in the final goods, some producers are shown to benefit more than others from the use of an equivalent assessment on all producers. This paper delineates those cases where producer assessments should be equal and where assessments should be different to insure an equitable benefit.