Demand Analysis of a Supplementary Food Product for Infants

Experimental Evidence in Ghana

Abstract

A new supplementary processed food product for infants has been launched in Ghana recently. We conduct a sales experiment with nutritional education and estimate its demand assuming a two-stage decision structure. The results are as follows. First, the effects of budget constraints (price and income) on the demand are observed only in the second stage (how much to buy), but not in the first stage (whether to buy), implying that there exist some households whose purchasing behavior is not influenced by price. Second, the provision of nutritional information increases purchase frequency, even if it does not include any advertisements.