Consumers' Preferences and Willingness to Pay for Ground Bison

A consumer sensory panel study in conjunction with consumers’ willingness to pay experiment for 93%

ground bison, 93% ground beef, and 80% ground beef was conducted in Sioux Falls, SD. The average,

bid for 93% ground bison was $0.38 per lb. higher than the average bid for 80% ground beef. On an

average, bids for 93% ground bison were lower than the bids for 93% ground beef by $0.28 per lb.

providing nutrition information significantly increased panelists’ bids for both 93% ground bison and

93% ground beef. On an average, bids for 93% ground bison, and 93% ground beef, by the panelists with

nutrition information were higher as compared to the panelists in the control group by $1.23 and $0.47

per lb., respectively. Highly significant factors impacting the premium for 93% ground bison are the

availability of nutrition information, ability to identify bison, and presence of 7-18 years old children in

the household. Our analysis demonstrates that informing the potential bison consumers of bison nutrition

have potentially a large pay off. The analysis also shows that the 93% ground bison is competing with

93% ground beef, and the factors which impacting 93% ground bison and 93% ground beef are more or

less similar.