Health Media Coverage and Consumer Choice: A Panel Data Econometric Analysis of the Domestic Cracker Market

Americans are becoming more health conscious and more obese. The food industry attempts to capitalize on both of these current trends. In advance of government mandate, the dominant leader in the cracker industry introduced a trans fatty acid label to its products. The impact on demand of the voluntary introduction of this label varies across metropolitan area and depends on health-related media coverage, both local and national, and health attitudes of these metropolitan areas.