Health Information Availability and the Consumption of Eggs: Are Consumers Bayesians?

• Main Authors: Hung-Hao Chang, David R. Just
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Western Agricultural Economics Association 2007-04-01
• Series: Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics
• Subjects: generalized bayesian model; health knowledge; information; psychological bias
• Online Access: https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/8602

This study uses a generalized Bayesian updating model to estimate the impact of health information appearing in the popular media on the consumption of eggs. The framework permits us to explore the possible effects of several known psychological biases in learning. Generalized Bayesian learning allows media publications to have a decaying effect on behavior. Our primary finding is that health information has a significant impact on U.S. egg consumption. Furthermore, the reaction to health information is found to be temporary. Health information will, on average, decay to a point of unimportance in a matter of a few weeks without a constant and consistent stream of confirming information.