Strengthening U.S. Beef Export Markets: Analysis of Consumer Willingness to Pay and Import Demand

Investigators:
Carola Grebitus (Arizona State University, PI)
Karen Lewis Delong (University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture)
Andrew Muhammad (University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture)
Shijun Gao (University of Arkansas)

Contact Information:
carola.grebitus@asu.edu

Funding Information:
U.S. Department of Agriculture; Agriculture and Food Research Initiative; Proposal Number: 2019-05774

Overview:
There is extensive evidence that country of origin is an important product attribute where many consumers prefer labels specifying product origin. In the context of U.S. beef trade, few studies have focused on how European, Asian, and Latin American consumers perceive meat imports from the U.S., whether meat preferences are actually influenced by country of origin, and whether consumers are willing to pay a premium for meat products from specific countries. Understanding European, Asian, and Latin American consumers’ willingness to pay (WTP) for U.S. beef, the impact of different product labels on consumer choices, and the underlying consumer characteristics driving WTP are critical to providing recommendations to U.S. producers desiring to expand their exports and increase their share of foreign beef markets.

For this project, we are evaluating consumer demand for U.S. beef in markets important to U.S. exports and/or overall global beef trade. We are evaluating two of the largest markets for U.S. beef and three potential/emerging markets for U.S. beef. The goals of this project are to identify beef product attributes that are especially valued by consumers in the identified markets, and to identify differences between consumers across the selected countries to support strategies for global marketing activities. We also estimate import demand for beef products differentiated by country of origin in the selected importing countries.

Select output

Peer Reviewed Publications:

Slater, CG, A Muhammad, KL DeLong. 2025. “Does Quality Matter? Examining the Influence of Product Quality and Source on Japanese Beef Imports” Journal of Agriculture and Food Research. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jafr.2025.101857
Hossen, MD, & A Muhammad. 2025. “Assessing the Impacts of Maritime Freight Rates on Global Beef Trade” Agribusiness: An International Journal. https://doi.org/10.1002/agr.22030
Dahal, B.R., K.L. DeLong, S. Gao, C. Grebitus, and A. Muhammad. 2024. “Factors Affecting Chinese Consumers’ Beef Purchase Frequency.” Agribusiness: an International Journal. https://doi.org/10.1002/agr.21906
Dahal, B.R., K.L. DeLong, S. Gao, and C. Grebitus. 2024. “Consumers’ Beef Purchasing Behavior Across Countries.” Meat Science, 217: 109611. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.meatsci.2024.109611
Gao, S., C. Grebitus, and K.L. DeLong. 2024. “Explaining Consumers’ Willingness to Pay for Country-of-Origin Labeling for Beef with Ethnocentrism. Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics, 72(2): 149-166. https://doi.org/10.1111/cjag.12359
Gao, S., C. Grebitus, and K.L. DeLong. 2023. “Chinese Consumers’ Preferences for Beef Quality Labeling.” European Review of Agricultural Economics, 50(3):1,064-1,102. https://doi.org/10.1093/erae/jbad009

Industry Reports:

Muhammad, A. 2024. “China lifts ban on Australian beef: Is there cause for concern in the U.S.?” Southern Ag Today, Thursday, June 13, 2024.
Muhammad, A. 2023. “U.S. Beef Exports Down in 2023 (so far) – U.S. Beef is Losing Ground in China” Southern Ag Today, Thursday, May 18, 2023.
Muhammad, A. 2023. “China’s imports of U.S. Beef continue to increase. But how does the U.S. compare to other competing countries?” Southern Ag Today, Thursday, January 12, 2023.
Muhammad, A. 2022. “China Emerges as a Leading Destination for U.S. Beef Exports” Southern Ag Today, Thursday, December 1, 2022.
Gao, S., K.L. DeLong, C. Grebitus, and A. Muhammad. 2022. “How Will the New Mexican Beef Grading System affect U.S. Beef Exports to Mexico?” Arizona Food Industry Journal, September 2022, p. 14, https://afmaaz.org/magazine/
Gao, S. 2021. “Opportunities for U.S. beef exports to China under a new Chinese beef grading system.” Arizona Food Industry Journal, September 2021 Issue

Dissertation:

Shijun Gao, Fall 2017-Fall 2022, Ph.D. dissertation title: “Decision-Making in the Livestock Supply Chain.” https://www.proquest.com/openview/9086b0e5879922e50484d3e3a8d4b321/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750&diss=y

Master Theses:

Bhishma Dahal, Fall 2021-Spring 2023, M.S. thesis title: “Two Essays on International Beef and Poultry Consumer Demand” https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_gradthes/9238/
Christina Greer, Spring 2021-Spring 2022, M.S. thesis title: “A Disaggregated Analysis of Beef Import Demand in Japan” https://trace.tennessee.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=7865&context=utk_gradthes

Awards:

2024 Best Paper Award for the journal article “Chinese Consumers’ Preferences for Beef Quality Labeling” (Gao, S., C. Grebitus, and K.L. DeLong, European Review of Agricultural Economics, 50(3):1,064-1,102. https://doi.org/10.1093/erae/jbad009) Awarded by the China Section of the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association at the 2024 Agricultural and Applied Economics Association Annual Meeting. New Orleans, LA, July 28-30, 2024.
2022 Third Place in the Ph.D. Job Market Paper Competition for Shijun Gao’s paper “Chinese Consumer Preferences for Beef Quality Grades on Imported and Domestic Beef”. Awarded by the Southern Agricultural Economics Association at the Southern Agricultural Economics Association Annual Meeting New Orleans, LA, February 12–15, 2022.