How Does Cultural and Colonial Heritage Affect Optimal Branding Strategies? Evidence From the Rice Sector in Senegal
Date
2024-09-29
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Agribusiness
Abstract
Africa's cultural and colonial heritage has profoundly segmented rice markets. Whereas in ancient centers of rice domestication, consumers maintained preferences for local rice consistent with their cultural heritage, preferences have shifted toward imported Asian rice in coastal areas around seaports, due to prior exposure to colonial import substitution policies. To enhance the competitiveness of locally produced rice relative to imported versions, it is necessary to tailor new local rice products to both market segments. A study was conducted in Senegal to test branding strategies for local rice in a country where both market segments coexist. Brands that mimic local and international labels were developed for local rice, and urban consumers bid to upgrade non-preferred to preferred brands through the Becker–DeGroot–Marschak (BDM) mechanism. Contrary to expectations, results from an endogenous switching regression show that descendants from ancient Senegalese rice domesticators placed premiums on local rice with foreign-looking brands, indicating that foreignness is perceived as a quality cue even in market segments rooted in cultural heritage. Thus, branding local rice using a combination of local and foreign cues could be an effective strategy in promoting domestic rice to both segments shaped by cultural and colonial heritage.
Description
This article was originally published in Agribusiness. The version of record is available at: https://doi.org/10.1002/agr.21983
© 2024 The Author(s). Agribusiness published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.
Keywords
BDM mechanism, branding, endogenous endowment, rice, willingness to pay
Citation
Britwum, K. and Demont, M. (2024), How Does Cultural and Colonial Heritage Affect Optimal Branding Strategies? Evidence From the Rice Sector in Senegal. Agribusiness. https://doi.org/10.1002/agr.21983