Jerkey beef

The research aims to reveal the OCOP jerky beef attributes consumers value the most. It focuses on estimating a utility function with these attributes as the independent variables. Some consumers, for example, might favor choices labeled “local origin” or “environmentally friendly” across various food products. This approach identifies the study as an “unlabeled experiment,” in which each alternative in the choice situation is generically labeled (Jaeger, 2000; Jin et al., 2017).The study employed a combination of two attributes with two levels each, two more attributes also with two levels each, and one attribute with four levels, creating a complete factorial design with 64 possible options (2x2x2x2x4). To handle this complexity, SPSS 22 was used to implement an orthogonal design, which resulted in 8 distinct profiles (Addelman, 1972). The OCOP jerky beef products (Products A and B, along with a standard Product C) were generic, so a cyclical design or foldover method was applied to ensure balanced attribute levels in the choice sets. In this method, the level of an additional attribute was increased by one in the subsequent alternatives within the same choice set (Louviere et al., 2000). The eight choice sets were randomly assigned to four questionnaire versions, ensuring each participant completed two sets. A total sample size of 320 resulted in 640 individual choices.