Does Negative Information Always Hurt Meat Demand? An Examination of Avian Influenza Information Impacts on U.S.

Consumers’ consumption patterns could be affected by food safety information, however, it is more important to consider where the food safety issue occurs. If the food safety issue happens in other countries, in other words, it outbreaks out of the target market, negative information may be beneficial; in contrast, if the food safety issue occurs within the market, results may consistent with previous studies. Based on this assumption, this paper reinvestigates the impacts of AI media coverage and BSE cases on the demand of meat in U.S. market. Estimated results provide supports for our assumption, i.e., AI information has positive effect on poultry and turkey demands in short term, and BSE affect beef demand negatively.