As export trends decline and market share for American commodities 

decrease, one must ask, "Why?" Fundamentally, the world's consumers

frequently do not attach particular or differential value to American

agricultural products; that is, they view them as commodities, in the

truest sense of the word. The challenge is to determine precisely what

are global consumers' perceptions of American commodities, e.g., wheat,

and, based on this assessment,  to determine what mechanisms could be

implemented to enhance perceived consumer value, thus strengthening

preferences for American wheat and, in turn, reversing trends in export

and market share.

As part of an on-going longitudinal study, our international research

team has conducted extensive field work examining the European

distribution system for durum wheat, with an emphasis on trying to

discern people's understanding (or lack thereof) of the superiority of

durum for the likes of pasta, etc. We have assessed stakeholders

throughout the supply chain and have discovered that the closer we get to

consumers, the less people know about durum wheat, which has huge

implications for marketing and of course ultimately demand, prices,

customer loyalties, market share, etc.

In addition to expanding the qualitative data-set, we presently are in

the process of administering a multi-country pilot experiment to

determine more precisely consumer attitudes toward American wheat, durum,

country of origin and and the effects of these variables on purchase

intentions, price sensitivities, etc. We hope to expand the study and of

course welcome any funding.  

Expansion would focus on sample enlargement and representativeness,

inclusion of more variables for measurement and analysis, which

will enable us to determine more precisely the forces that affect

decisions throughout the supply chain. Finally, we intend to design and

to measure promotional programs to persuade important

international decision-makers in the supply chain that desert durum (or

other American wheat) do in fact add value and should command price

premiums and/or customer loyalty.