Decisions That Shape Supply Chains

Nicole J. Olynk Widmar · Michael L. Smith · Erin Robinson

Dec 2025 · Purdue University Press

Ebook

Pages

Tools

About this ebook

What drives consumer decisions, and how do those decisions ripple through our food and agricultural systems? In Decisions That Shape Supply Chains, readers are invited to look beyond conventional models of behavior and explore the complex, sometimes counterintuitive factors influencing real-world consumer choices. Drawing on behavioral science and applied research, this volume examines how decisions made in grocery aisles, drive-through lines, and online shopping carts ultimately inform what gets planted, processed, packaged, and promoted across the food-supply chain. From attitudes toward GMO foods to parenting as a form of consumerism and emotional decision-making under stress to the environmental tradeoffs consumers weigh (or ignore), the topics covered in this book challenge assumptions and reframe the conversation about who holds influence in the marketplace. For agribusiness professionals, researchers, and policymakers, these insights offer better ways to connect with the people at the end of every supply chain: the consumers themselves.

What drives consumer decisions, and how do those decisions ripple through our food and agricultural systems? In Decisions That Shape Supply Chains, readers are invited to look beyond conventional models of behavior and explore the complex, sometimes counterintuitive factors influencing real-world...

Discover more

About the author

Nicole J. Olynk Widmar is an agricultural economist specializing in farm businesses and consumer decision-making under uncertainty. She serves as a professor and the head of the Department of Agricultural Economics at Purdue University.

Michael L. Smith is a research scientist specializing in the human dimensions of resource use, applying cross-disciplinary methods in agricultural economics and the social sciences. He works in Purdue University’s Department of Agricultural Economics.

Erin Robinson is a communications and marketing professional with experience in agricultural business and academic research environments. As marketing manager for Purdue University’s Center for Food and Agricultural Business, she develops marketing strategies, creates content and outreach initiatives, drives brand awareness, and evaluates marketing effectiveness.

Rate this ebook

Tell us what you think.

Reading information

Smartphones and tablets

Install the Google Play Books app for Android and iPad/iPhone. It syncs automatically with your account and allows you to read online or offline wherever you are.

Laptops and computers

You can listen to audiobooks purchased on Google Play using your computer's web browser.

eReaders and other devices

To read on e-ink devices like Kobo eReaders, you'll need to download a file and transfer it to your device. Follow the detailed Help Center instructions to transfer the files to supported eReaders.

Flag as inappropriate