. (Organic foods, for example, are credence goods.) Food is often an experience or credence good, meaning that consumers cannot … products are often experience goods (quality known after consumption) or credence goods (quality not identified even with … advertised) products. DAF/COMP(2005)44 19 2.6 Consumer heterogeneity Consumer preferences about food vary considerably from …

consumer protection law, but other government bodies � ministries of commerce or industry, sector regulators and in some … deflect competitive entry and clear consumer protection measures have not yet been put in place, this can result in a … terms that are not understandable or disproportionate. Competition policy and consumer policy reinforce one another. In …

competition. Safety overinvestment only emerges under competition in quantities and relatively low values of the cost. Under … about safety for consumers, the selected standard that corrects a safety underinvestment is always compatible with … imperfect information about safety for consumers, the standard leads to a monopoly situation. However, for relatively large …

it, and with a credence characteristic (Darby and Karni, 1973) a consumer never discovers the quality of the good (or … Consumer Reports (2006) or the free Safercar website (Safercar, 2006), safety awareness and risk perception are heterogeneous … credence characteristics. With an experience characteristic (Nelson, 1970), a consumer discovers quality only after consuming …

, colour, taste) and those with an extrinsic one (e.g. food safety). Since animal welfare is essentially a credence attribute …-friendly characteristics, or other credence attributes, without creating unrealistic expectations and with the maximum transparency. Most … Hubbard School of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development, Agriculture Building, University of Newcastle Newcastle upon …

, improved transportation, and consumer perceptions regarding quality and safety are changing global food consumption patterns … very different from the food our parents and grandparents consumed, diets of an average consumer in New York City or San … for these commodities originates (or is derived) from consumer’s demand for finished processed food and livestock prod …

the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the … paradoxically, despite depending on agriculture as their main source of livelihood, they also suffer the most from hunger and food … than one dollar a day Demand for Organic Products 8 Mounting concerns regarding food safety and increased …

-friendly products. Knowledge of consumer willingness to pay (WTP) in such a decision context is paramount to understanding the magnitude … dependent on consumer trust. Particularly, there is a need to understand to what extent consumers believe that stakeholders … robust measures of consumer trust for certified animal-friendly products. Significant differences across countries are …

, packaging, safety, and even process attributes such as socially or environmentally friendly methods. New distribution channels … or internal markets. The key for many is to understand and achieve new levels of standards. The question for many … countries—and not just developing countries—is what options are there for small farmers, which still comprise the great majority …

(e.g., live animals, carcasses, or cuts) they are buying, handling, and/or processing and selling to their downstream … customers. In many cases, the quality of the final product, destination, and/or appropriate handling or processing of the input … assess imperfectly prior to consumption (e.g., beef tenderness or breed). The success or failure of these ventures is often …