Insights from consumer research that you can take home to the farm!
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Cross-Industry Insights
What consumer-derived lessons can we draw from non-traditional places to garner understanding and insights for those in agricultural business? I’m Dr. Nicole Widmar, and I have an affinity for taking lessons from other industries and applying them in agriculture. Come along with us here in Consumer Corner to think differently about how consumer research can help inform your decision making.
September 19, 2023
Letter
No Offense, but Words Do Matter!
As an economist, I’ve come to loathe common phrases used in discussions regarding costs and benefits of production agriculture and food systems. The first of which is, “No offense, but…,” and... Read More »
September 12, 2023
Letter
But Does It Matter?
We seldom stop to consider explicitly how much attention deserves to be paid to various uncertainties, unknowns, or sources of risk. I mean, does it really matter? In our context, “it” is... Read More »
September 5, 2023
Letter
Things Aren’t Always as We Remember
Be careful with eyewitness testimonies. They’re notoriously unreliable. Equally important is the vigilance you must exercise in scrutinizing your own eyewitness testimonies, aka memories. They’re... Read More »
May 1, 2023
Letter
How Much is that Otter in the River?
A lot discussion surrounds Indiana’s large white-tailed deer population. Thus, it is interesting (and possibly peculiar?) that people might hold greater value for seeing red foxes, river otters,... Read More »
April 24, 2023
Letter
Exploring Preferences for Outdoor Recreation and Wildlife Sightings
Spring has sprung and many people are itching to get outdoors after being cooped up all winter long. Communing with nature is, well, natural! And, when in nature, one expects (maybe even desires?)... Read More »
April 10, 2023
Letter
Change is Not Always Bad
As the wise Sheldon Cooper once said (in Season 2, Episode 19), “Change is never fine. They say it is, but it’s not.” He goes on to share a variety of thoughts about change over the years,... Read More »
April 3, 2023
Letter
Grappling with Evolving Consumer Demands for Environmental Attributes
The emergence of social media has created an environment of flash publicity. Products and companies can become glorified or vilified faster than we can remember to check our email. Producers, even... Read More »
March 27, 2023
Letter
Smell Your Cheese to See if it is Getting Old
We have a long, admittedly odd, history of learning from rodents here on Consumer Corner. Lessons from famous rodents delved into some of the reasons we associate so closely with animals, even the... Read More »
March 20, 2023
Letter
Meemaw’s Math and Where She Went Wrong
A few weeks ago, we tackled the Young Sheldon inspired philosophical question of “Why does everybody knowing something make it right?” Spoiler: It doesn’t, and you should probably be... Read More »
March 13, 2023
Letter
Childcare Apps: Friend or Foe?
I think most parents will agree – finding childcare is STRESSFUL! (I mean parents are our example of stressed out consumers on Consumer Corner, after all.) Millions of parents in the U.S. require... Read More »
March 6, 2023
Letter
Why Does Everybody Knowing Something Make it Right?
The challenge with consumers is that they aren’t just walking around as these mythical one-dimensional consumer-bots. Instead, they are walking around as thinking, feeling and ever-changing human... Read More »
February 27, 2023
Letter
Consumer Spending in Casual Dining Restaurants: Up, Up, Up!
Spending on casual dining restaurants has been increasing during recent years. In the samples from our CFDAS Database, the aggregate netspends on casual dining in billions $ from 2016-2022 were 18.9,... Read More »
February 20, 2023
Letter
Threats To and From Agricultural/Food Production, as Ranked by U.S. Consumers
The Center for Food Demand Analysis and Sustainability (CFDAS) recently finished its final report from December 2022. The final report Volume 1, Issue 12: December 2022 CONSUMER FOOD INSIGHTS by... Read More »
February 13, 2023
Letter
Egg Prices and Supporting Consumer Decision Making with Big Data
Egg prices have soared, hitting historically the highest level at $4.25 per dozen in 2022 (BLS, 2023). This is a 138% increase compared to December 2021, and the price spike exceeds the one... Read More »
February 6, 2023
Letter
Lessons from Stressed-Out Consumers Scorned
Humans have ever-evolving tastes and preferences. Further, there are times we are interested in being adventurous with new things, and then there are other times when we most certainly are not. You... Read More »
January 30, 2023
Letter
Squirrels are Better than People
Squirrels are better than people when it comes to decision-making. They’re rational and consistent, even though they may appear somewhat haphazard when playing in traffic. (I said they were... Read More »
January 23, 2023
Letter
You, The Consumer, (Almost Certainly) Don’t Know What You Want
Way, way back in June of 2020 … you remember those days, right? You were wearing the newest in Zoom fashion (otherwise known as the oldest clothes you owned). We even had a Consumer Corner letter... Read More »
January 17, 2023
Letter
Agricultural Outlook 2023 … Inflation, Recession, Trade and Commodity Coverage from the Purdue Department of Agricultural Economics
As we said last week, “At the end of the day, it’s about the people”. And we’re happy to have a whole crew of people here in our department with specialty areas covering all gametes of... Read More »
January 9, 2023
Letter
It’s About the People
At the end of the day, it’s about the people. People make the difference in businesses, in schools, in governments, in leadership of organizations, etc. In late 2022, we had a series of videos from... Read More »
January 2, 2023
Letter
Reflections from Consumer Corner #2022
Time flies! As we look back on 2022 here on Consumer Corner, we’re excited to have shared and documented insights from consumer and online media research, lessons from consumers in the... Read More »
December 26, 2022
Letter
Shades of Gray
Most of the pivotal aspects of ‘what we do’ in life can be boiled down to the decisions we make — big ones that shape the paths of future possibilities, or little ones that stack up to become... Read More »
December 19, 2022
Letter
#BabyFormula
You have undoubtedly heard about, experienced, witnessed or participated in the uncertainty and ultimately panic of the recent U.S. baby formula shortage. While you may have spent your 2022 summer... Read More »
December 12, 2022
Letter
Marketplace Politics
You may have seen that Consumer Corner partnered with the Center for Animal Welfare Science’s director, Dr. Candace Croney, to attempt to look at livestock and animal welfare through the lens of... Read More »
December 5, 2022
Letter
We Do Not Talk Enough About the People
Without a doubt, the topic of livestock housing, especially for pigs, is a contentious topic today. We’ve explored a variety of aspects of these conversations, mostly in the context of politics via... Read More »
November 28, 2022
Letter
Learning from Leaders: Things We Wish People Would Ask About Pork Production
Last week we delved into how Malcolm DeKryger, President and Co-Owner of Belstra Milling Company, shared his views on marrying animal science with public pressures in his industry. That conversation... Read More »
November 21, 2022
Letter
Learning from Leaders: Navigating the Marketplace with Malcolm DeKryger
Back in April 2022, Consumer Corner partnered with the Center for Animal Welfare Science’s director, Dr. Candace Croney, and Dr. Carson Reeling in attempt to look at livestock and animal welfare... Read More »
November 14, 2022
Letter
Implications of Science and Communication Discourse Today
There may be no more obvious example of where science is rejected in public debate than in the COVID-19 pandemic-era. “If we’re paying attention to anything happening in the public sphere today,... Read More »
November 7, 2022
Letter
#Halloween2022
With The Wall Street Journal headlines like “Soaring Inflation Pushes Halloween Candy Prices Scary High” leading the week ahead of Halloween 2022, there was some concern about whether rising... Read More »
October 31, 2022
Letter
Unfunded Producer Mandates for Animal Welfare in Animal Agriculture
When the language on a ballot initiative or other public referendum is worded so the intent is simply to help animals, what is often missing are the details on what changes need to be implemented,... Read More »
October 25, 2022
Letter
Leave People Wanting More (Not Begging You to Stop)
In navigating this dance between what’s biologically possible, what’s economically viable, what’s socially acceptable, and what’s accomplishable politically and within regulatory guidelines,... Read More »
Contact Us
Nicole Olynk Widmar
ASSOCIATE HEAD AND PROFESSOR, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS
Phone: (765) 494-2567
Email: nolynk@purdue.edu