DEVELOPING DATA-DRIVEN MARKETING INCENTIVES FOR SUSTAINABLE COTTON PRODUCTION THROUGHOUT THE SUPPLY CHAIN

Goal #1: Identify agricultural producer barriers to adoption of sustainability programs and how their personas impact their perceptions of sustainability program recruitment campaignsThe objectives are to 1) conduct producer audience segmentation using Q-sort methodology and principal component analysis using focus groups where growers will bepresented with qualitative and quantitative approaches to rank statements related to benefits, beliefs, and willingness to engage in sustainability programs and 2) use continuous response measurement dial testing technology to rate growers'level of agreement withcurrent sustainability campaigns to understand producer feelings and perceptions.Goal #2: Evaluate the importance of sustainable agricultural products as it relates to consumer purchasing behaviorThe objectives are to 1) administer a survey to ellicit consumer preferences and willing to pay for attributes of sustainably produced cotton products using a choice-based conjoint model, and 2) use the machine learning method of collaborative filtering on survey results to categorize consumers and calculate probabilities of purchasing different productsGoal #3: Evaluate the importance of field-level sustainability to brands and retailers by integrating results from producer willingess to accept and consumer willingness to pay for sustainable products.The objectives are to 1) administer a survey to ellicit brand and retailer willingness to pay and optimal contract design with agricultural producers using a bayesian discrete choice framework