Impact of Changes in Dietary Preferences on U.S. Retail Demand for Beef: Health Concerns and the Role of Media

The objective of this study is twofold: first, to determine if, in the long run, healthconcerns affect the retail demand for beef in the United States via changes in consumerdietary preferences, and second, to establish if media coverage of populardiets (media frenzy) causes the change in retail demand for beef or if it simplyreports the facts about the changes in consumer dietary preferences. Data used inthe analysis are the quarterly retail demand index for beef and the number ofnewspaper articles and magazine features on low-fat/low-cholesterol and low-carbdiets published in the United States between 1990:I and 2004:IV. Johansen’s(1991, 1995) cointegration method and vector error correction (VEC) model-basedGranger causality test were used in the long-run and short-run analysis, respectively.The results indicate health concerns are an important demand shifter forbeef in the long run. In the short run, the media serve as a trigger that will influencepeople to become followers of a certain diet.