The purpose of this study is to examine the demand for goat meat and its potential
increase in Southern states. The study analyzes data from an extensive consumption
survey in 11 Southern states (Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North
Carolina, Oklahoma, Louisiana, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas) and establishes
econometric models for the four-layers of goat meat demand: (1) current demand; (2)
demand increase from per capita consumption; (3) demand increase from new consumers;
and (4) demand changes related to season and occasions. Based on the fitted models, the
study identifies the major factors influencing goat meat purchasing in a large set of
socioeconomic and demographic variables. The analysis differs from others in its solid
data source and quantitative assessment of multiple layer demand.
Data
The data used in this study are from a telephone consumption survey conducted through
the Survey Research Center of University of Georgia in 2004. More than 2751
households in eleven Southern states were interviewed. The survey followed a complete
random sampling procedure and samples were taken from local telephone books. The
sample size for each state was roughly the same and with the minimum sample size of
237 and the maximum of 257 households.
The questionnaire used in the survey has 48 primary questions. Twenty three of the
questions are one-layer queries; the other twenty five are multiple-layer queries, in which
1 to 8 sub-queries were raised to collect further information. The problems fall into the
categories: (1) consumption behavior encompassing whether consumers ate goat meat at
the survey time, whether they were willing to consume more, how much a household
consumed annually, and whether there was a willingness to buy for non-goat-meat