The consumer response model showed that bad news has a larger impact on market prices than good news. These parameter estimates were next used to evaluate the impact of market information on grower returns. Due to Unfavorable Media and the Value of Media Defense . All cases represent cumulative cost or benefit of all media exposure from January 1994 to October 1997. The elasticity of supply is denoted by .
Values are in millions of current dollars.
Although it sounds cliche, in this case an ounce of prevention may indeed be worth more than a pound of cure. The problem is that a disease-free reputation is a classic example of a public good. Because all growers benefit from this product-image, but none can be compelled to pay their individual benefit, the private market will fail to provide any protection at all. It seems natural, therefore, that commodity groups could treat contamination prevention as an equal and companion objective to promoting their products. To the extent that their strawberries are seen as close substitutes for all others, however, they are still subject to the risk that one culprit will again damage the buying public's image of strawberries as a safe and healthy food.