Emerging markets for U.S. pork in China

Economic globalization has opened up international markets for U.S. food products, especially new markets in emerging economies. While opportunities for increased demand for U.S. pork in China look promising, little is known about this emerging market. The objective of this thesis is to provide an analysis of Chinese consumer demand for pork and evaluate the potential for U.S. pork in China. Two essays are developed to achieve this goal. The first essay explores the determinants of Chinese consumer perception of pork quality and identifies the relationship between Chinese consumer perception of pork quality and their attitude towards pork attributes including credence, experience and search attributes. The empirical model is applied to survey data from consumers in three major cities in mainland China and Hong Kong collected in 2014 summer, and is estimated using a seemingly unrelated regression method. After investigating consumer's perception of pork quality in the first essay, the second essay aims to provide a closer look at factors that influence consumer purchasing decisions of pork from China and developed countries. A choice experiment approach is employed to examine consumer's willingness to pay (WTP) for select quality attributes in pork. Marketing and agribusiness implications of the findings are discussed.