Collective reputation and food

Abstract This paper gives an overview of the economic literature on food and collective reputation. Often both the quality of food and the producer of the food are not known at the time of purchase; therefore, consumers sometimes rely on a collective reputation for the expected quality. This collective reputation could be for a region, commodity, country, franchise, or cooperative. This paper summarizes the theoretical literature that illustrates incentives for firms and regions, as well as the empirical literature that analyzes collective reputation for various types of food. Recommendations for future work and policy implications are given.