Compromise Effect in Food Consumer Choices in China: An Analysis on Pork Products

Compromise effect suggests that a product will have a higher chance to be chosen from a product choice set when its attributes are not the extremes (the best with the highest price or the worst with the lowest price). Few studies have examined compromise effect in food purchase. We investigate consumer pork purchase decision in the context of different decoy information intended to induce behavior and consider different presentation of decoy information. Furthermore, we explore compromise effect in relation to price, quality, and safety, which are directly related to consumer health. Results demonstrate that consumers exhibit significant compromise effects after receiving both low-price and high-price decoy information. However, when decoy information is presented after consumers have made choices without decoy information, their behavior changes systematically with a weakened compromise effect. This study highlights the implications of compromise effect in food marketing and policies related to food traceability and safety.