Researchers regularly conduct willingness-to-pay or valuation studies for product marketing or public policy purposes. However, a large volume of research suggests valuation tools such as conjoint analysis may be subject to social desirability bias, where subjects misrepresent their true preferences to create a favorable impression. The objective of this study is to measure the effects of social desirability bias on conjoint survey responses. Consumers were asked to rank organic ground beef relative to other ground beef products at various prices. A popular scale measuring individuals’ tendency to exhibit social desirability bias was also administered. Regression analysis found no correlation between individuals’ social desirability scale scores and their preferences for organic beef. Thus, in this study, social desirability bias does not appear to be a problem for valuation researchers.

Previous studies found individuals’ attractiveness or beauty is positively correlated with job success. Is this success due to attractiveness alone, or does attractiveness induce greater productivity? This study was conducted to measure the effects of attractiveness on sales productivity. Data from an undergraduate sales class at Purdue University were used to measure the impact of individuals’ attractiveness on sales revenue. Regression analysis was used with sales revenue as the dependent variable and attractiveness measures as independent variables, along with other variables. An asymmetric impact of attractiveness exists for males and females. More attractive females have higher sales revenues, but beauty is unrelated to sales performance for males.

Farm Credit Services of East Central Oklahoma (FCSECO) is part of a nation-wide cooperative that supplies financing for full-time and part-time farmers. FCSECO not only makes loans to farmers but because it is a cooperative, its members/borrowers also benefit from what is known as the patronage payment. The patronage payment is a way of distributing Farm Credit’s profits to its members/borrowers. Since FCSECO is customer-focused and customer-driven, it is essential that the FCSECO Board of Directors knows their customer base and what they desire as a customer. It would benefit FCSECO to determine the substitutability between patronage payments and fixed interest rates.

A conjoint survey was conducted on random FCSECO customers. After performing an OLS regression analysis, the results illustrated that the average FCSECO customer values a higher patronage payment more than a lower fixed interest rate on a given loan. This information is valuable to the FCSECO Board of Directors because it shows which attribute the average FCSECO customer has a preference towards. Since the average FCSECO customer greatly values the patronage payment, the FCSECO Board of Directors could use the patronage payment to its advantage in securing new loans.

The members of affluent Western societies have become increasingly aware of environmental issues. The increases in environmental awareness have created new environmentally conscious markets, such as organic foods and products, and organizations. This article looks at whether socio-demographic variables can predict environmental attitudes and whether there is a connection between environmental attitudes and the realization of behaviours that promote environmental protection (organic food purchases and environmental group membership). In Edmonton, Alberta, Canada and surrounding communities, health and environment attitudes as well as demographic information were collected through intercept surveys administered at locations that ensured a representative sample of the communities (n = 389). Regression analyses in STATA 7.0 were used to determine the predictive abilities of environmental attitudes and socio-demographic variables on environmental attitudes and environmental behaviours respectively. It was found that socio-demographic variables provided limited explanatory power for environmental attitudes and that while environmental attitudes and behaviours are correlated, environmental attitudes are unable to accurately predict environmental behaviours. The lack of explanatory power may be due to the scale used, or more likely due to the general acceptance and knowledge of environmental issues. As environmental attitudes become more commonplace, differences in socio-demographic factors may no longer have the predictive ability once seen in past studies.

Co-operatives serve as engines for local economies; generating and retaining local wealth, operating through existing social networks within communities and providing economic opportunities for local people. Is there a correlation between levels of social engagement and the presence of co-operatives and credit unions? Using the Statistics Canada GSS survey, 2003 and Environics Analytics, Business Locations data it is possible to assess the linkages between social engagement and the presence of co-operatives in Canada. Linkages between demographics (including the breakdown of rural/urban co-operatives and credit unions) and social engagement we isolated volunteerism as a dependant variable in logit regressions. It was established that: across Canada, the older people are, if an individual is female, the larger her or his household is, the less TV he or she watches, the more she or he uses internet, the higher the rate of highschool graduation, the more trusting people are of their neighbours, the more rural an area is, the more fully employed people are, the less likely they are to say no to volunteerism. Although, in all provinces the rural areas have higher levels of social engagement, social engagement is not a direct indicator for the existence of higher levels of co-operative businesses.

This paper addresses if calf health does affect feedlot performance and carcass value. The physiological aspects of this question as well as a regression analysis to further evaluate this problem will be addressed in this paper. A large set of data that can help to explain this health and value question has been made available for this study. These data were collected from the years 1990 - 2005 from a cattle feeding and carcass program in Coyle, Oklahoma as part of an Oklahoma State University program entitled the OK Steer Feedout (University 2004-2005). The information found in the physiological examination of this question indicates that calf health greatly affects feedlot performance and carcass value. The loss of muscle and fat deposits due to the immune response launched by the calf to fight disease, suggests a loss in marbling and carcass weight. The decrease in appetite creates a lower average daily gain, affecting the out weight of the calf. The symptoms seen as a result of infection affect feedlot performance, yield grade, and quality grade. The extent of the influence of sickness on the characteristics that determine performance characteristics was determined by the regression models. The models indicate medical costs (which indicate sick cattle) negatively affect performance characteristics. To cow/calf producers, this creates the opportunity to provide healthy cattle and to be justified in receiving a premium for their product. For feedlots and stockers, it means a more valuable consistent product, cattle with better average daily gains, and fewer days on feed. Economically, the cattle industry stands to benefit from the promotion of healthy cattle. How much they stand to benefit requires further research.