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.
May 3, 2021
Article
Practicing What We Preach: Inviting Feedback on our COVID-Induced Adaptations
You've heard it a million times by now — "Life sure does look different than it did a little over a year ago!" That's because it does. And as we seemingly creep in to a time filled with less panic... Read More »
April 26, 2021
Letter
If a Picture’s Worth 1,000 Words, What Words Would They Be?
We know that our words matter. We also know that a picture is said to be worth 1,000 words, and we use pictures in marketing materials and to convey information all the time. But do we really know... Read More »
April 19, 2021
Letter
Travel, Paper Products, Schooling Kids and Caretaking: Daily Life Impacts of COVID-19 in 2021
In Summer 2020, we shared data about the daily impacts of the pandemic on our lives including less travel and concerns about finding and buying perishable products and toilet paper. From our June... Read More »
April 12, 2021
Letter
Societal Values & Personal Risky Behaviors Unchanged in 6 Months of Pandemic Era, Except We’re Drinking More Alcohol
After previous analyses of human behaviors surrounding mask wearing to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the summer of 2020, we began exploring how to assess individual’s perceptions of personal... Read More »
April 5, 2021
Article
Purdue Pete and Pistol Pete — The COVID-19 Vaccine Edition: Vaccine Intentions by Purdue and OSU Territories vs. Rest of the U.S.
In the summer of 2020, we reported on the mask wearing beliefs and intentions of residents of two regions, namely Purdue University and the states surrounding Indiana and Oklahoma State University... Read More »
March 29, 2021
Letter
COVID-Induced Lifestyle Adaptations We’re Keeping Post-Pandemic
Alright, we get it. 2020 was not amazing, and while 2021 thus far isn’t quite as toilet paper-focused, it isn’t exactly coming up roses just yet for those of us still impatiently waiting to... Read More »
March 22, 2021
Letter
U.S. Adults: Most Likely to Wear Masks and Least Likely to Reduce Around-Town Interactions
All eyes are on the possibility of impending recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. As part of our investigation into personal human behaviors that have impacts on others and on society as a whole,... Read More »
March 15, 2021
Letter
Why Are You Complaining? (Is this a sport? Are you trying to win a medal?)
We all dread being on the receiving end of complaints. Complaints are inherently bad; it’s in the definition. From Dictionary.com: a complaint is an expression of discontent, regret, pain, censure,... Read More »
March 8, 2021
Letter
Self-Reported 2021 Intentions to Take the Shot (or Not) by Demographics
March 2021 has arrived — the one-year mark from which our lives transformed. There remains anxiety and human lives lost at rates that have numbed most of us to the realities being faced. On... Read More »
March 1, 2021
Article
Agriculture and Natural Resources in Unexpected, *Magical* Places
In spring of 2020 when many U.S. households are usually in the thick of planning summer vacations, traveling to see family and taking family trips to iconic destinations such as national parks or... Read More »
February 22, 2021
Letter
Much Ado About Dairy? Unique Market Considerations for Milk & Dairy Markets in 2021
We watched our world change before our eyes as the realities of COVID-19 set in for nations across the globe. From an economics and markets perspective, it is far (far) from over. But the food system... Read More »
February 15, 2021
Letter
Media About You Is Happening With or Without You, Agribusinesses
You didn’t do anything wrong, but media about you is still about you, and it still matters. Certainly in 2021 we are aware of the rampant mis and dis information out there. It doesn’t have to be... Read More »
February 8, 2021
Letter
The Importance of Sample Size
We learn in statistics classes that the size of our data sample matters. Then, we get “in the real world” and realize that our sample is too often at the mercy of outside forces — the sample... Read More »
February 1, 2021
Article
#Agribusiness: Documenting Potential for Online Media Analytics in Top Seed Industry Agribusinesses
Answering the call for online media analytics applied directly to agribusinesses, this analysis seeks to quantify the online media sentiment for five prominent agricultural corporations, all selected... Read More »
January 25, 2021
Letter
Online Media Analytics in Agribusinesses (or Lack Thereof)
Culnan et al. (2010) found that Fortune 500 companies use at least one of the most popular social media platforms for their interaction with customers despite variations in the use of the platforms... Read More »
January 21, 2021
Letter
Allocation of a Paramount Resource — Water
In our previous consumer corner letter, we introduced a nuanced effort to provide the necessary commodity of water. In addition to sustaining life, water is an essential input for agriculture,... Read More »
January 18, 2021
Letter
Water, Water, Everywhere…
It's challenging to consider something so familiar to us: water. Among all of the natural and environmental resources supporting life, water and air are arguably the most vital. In 1977, the United... Read More »
January 11, 2021
Letter
Connecting Agribusinesses to Consumers Through Social Media
New media provides a low-cost opportunity for sellers to engage with their buyers more directly and personally than ever before. Additionally, new media marketing creates unique opportunities to... Read More »
January 4, 2021
Article
2020 Holiday Season Adaptations
In the U.S., the time period between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day is characterized by indulgence … well, more like overindulgence. We recently published a paper that documented holiday-related... Read More »
December 28, 2020
Letter
Trying to Help When, Where and How We’re Able
We first invited you to Consumer Corner in June of 2020 to derive insights from agricultural economics consumer-relevant research and bring them into the conversations occurring in the agribusiness... Read More »
December 21, 2020
Letter
Online Media Surveillance for the Public (Greater) Good?
Online life IS life for many of us today. Social and online media are in the spotlight, as many of us attempt to work from home in a questionable state of attire (speaking only for myself).... Read More »
December 14, 2020
Letter
Progress is Required; Consensus is Not
During emotionally, politically and socially troubled times, it seems that individual’s social graces fall away and people become entrenched in ‘what’s right’ with a growing sense of honor... Read More »
December 7, 2020
Article
Straight From the Mouths of the Most Honest Consumers — Kids
If you’ve hung around at all in Consumer Corner, you know that Dr. Nicole Widmar refers to a certain, specific demographic as the most honest beings to walk the earth — kids. Often, contrary to... Read More »
December 7, 2020
Letter
A Very Merry Unbirthday To You – Yes, You, Consumer Corner!
Consumer Corner was born on June 1, 2020, thus marking its half birthday December 1, 2020. Birthdays and half birthdays come but once each a year. Today, December 7, 2020, would therefore be a... Read More »
November 30, 2020
Letter
Friendsgiving: The Holiday That (Historically) Kept on Giving – 2020 Investigation
While it was a trend that was accelerating before now, one cannot deny the ‘mass movement of our lives into an online space that occurred in 2020 in response to the (ongoing) COVID-19 pandemic. We... Read More »
November 23, 2020
Letter
Social Life of Food in a Digital World – A case of the Incredible Edible Egg
Social and online media have hatched their way into nearly every aspect of our daily life from direct marketing and healthcare to political campaigns. According to Pew Research, only about a quarter... Read More »
November 16, 2020
Letter
The ‘Truth’ About Gluten
Is gluten bad for you? At one point there was evidence that some non-Celiac patients experienced irritable bowels when consuming gluten. However, further studies showed this is not the case. The... Read More »
November 9, 2020
Letter
Thoughts on Value, Cost and Price
Value and price have been a matter of discussion by moral philosophers and economics writers ever since Antiquity . For example, see Aristotle and St. Thomas Aquinas’ thoughts on fairness, price,... Read More »
November 2, 2020
Letter
#Halloween: Online Media Sentiment in 2020 Versus 2019
By October 2020 we were all aware of the many aspects of everyday life that have been upended by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. A recent infographic in Choices Magazine by Eleanor R. Messer, Kabir... Read More »
October 27, 2020
Article
Internet “Have Nots” (Including Many Children) are Suffering Digital Divide Consequences in the COVID-19 Era
Our interest in the digital divide and the many inequities that come from not having ready access to modern information and communication technology was recently fueled by work on Indiana... Read More »
Contact Us
Nicole Olynk Widmar
ASSOCIATE HEAD AND PROFESSOR, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS
Phone: (765) 494-2567
Email: nolynk@purdue.edu