Risk Perceptions, Consumer Response and the First U.S. Mad Cow Case

Abstract

The December 2003 discovery of a BSE infected cow in the USA revealed a vulnerability in the safety of the U.S. Food Supply. This study reports on a nationwide risk perception survey conducted in early January 2004. Survey results showed that U.S. consumers for the most part took the discovery in stride. The survey predicted that by the end of 2004 beef consumption would for the most part return to normal, which indeed it did, but uniquely this study applies multivariate regression to its analyses of the Kraus-Slovic axioms which are often applied to problems in the psychology of risk.

Keywords: Mad Cow, BSE, Risk Perceptions

JEL Classification: D12, Q10,Q18