Explaining the differences between two previous meat generic advertising studies

United States producer organizations spend millions of dollars on generic advertising of both beef and pork and other promotion programs designed to stimulate consumers' demand for meat. Producers need to know if the money allocated to generic advertising and these promotion programs is effective in increasing the demand for meat. Past research disagreed about the effectiveness of meat generic advertising. Models of Ward and Lambert and Brester and Schroeder are reestimated and tested for misspecification. The Ward and Lambert Model is shown to be fragile. The statistically significant effect of advertising disappears with minor changes in the data and with a change in the sample period. [Econ-Lit citations: Q110, M370, C530] © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.