The price of attention: An analysis of the intersection of media coverage and public sentiments about eggs and egg prices

Retail prices for eggs surged during the period from early 2022 to mid-2023 in the U.S. We investigate the impact of egg price fluctuations on online and social media discourse, analyzing the relationship between egg prices and public sentiment. Utilizing online and social media listening data from...

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Main Authors: Sachina Kagaya, Nicole Olynk Widmar, Valerie Kilders
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-01-01
Series:Poultry Science
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0032579124010605
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author Sachina Kagaya
Nicole Olynk Widmar
Valerie Kilders
author_facet Sachina Kagaya
Nicole Olynk Widmar
Valerie Kilders
author_sort Sachina Kagaya
collection DOAJ
description Retail prices for eggs surged during the period from early 2022 to mid-2023 in the U.S. We investigate the impact of egg price fluctuations on online and social media discourse, analyzing the relationship between egg prices and public sentiment. Utilizing online and social media listening data from September 2019 to August 2023, we explore how the total number of statements (i.e., mentions) and sentiment respond to changes in egg prices in the U.S. We find a significant association between increases in egg prices and both the volume of mentions and the sentiment of online discussions. Notably, mentions increased and sentiment became more negative as egg prices rose, highlighting a clear public response to price changes. However, the relationship between egg prices and online and social media attention is complex, which becomes apparent when studying the timing of increased concern with the timing of online news media coverage. Importantly, using regression discontinuity in time, we show that online and social media conversations about eggs and egg prices tend to increase after the rapid rise in online news coverage. Similarly, online and social media conversations about eggs and egg prices tend to decrease after the rapid rise in online news coverage.
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series Poultry Science
spelling doaj-art-6d6bb4fb6b45463eb0ead75704f1d3af2025-01-22T05:40:12ZengElsevierPoultry Science0032-57912025-01-011041104482The price of attention: An analysis of the intersection of media coverage and public sentiments about eggs and egg pricesSachina Kagaya0Nicole Olynk Widmar1Valerie Kilders2Department of Agricultural Economics, Purdue University, 403 Mitch Daniels Blvd. West Lafayette, IN 47906, United StatesDepartment of Agricultural Economics, Purdue University, 403 Mitch Daniels Blvd. West Lafayette, IN 47906, United StatesCorresponding author.; Department of Agricultural Economics, Purdue University, 403 Mitch Daniels Blvd. West Lafayette, IN 47906, United StatesRetail prices for eggs surged during the period from early 2022 to mid-2023 in the U.S. We investigate the impact of egg price fluctuations on online and social media discourse, analyzing the relationship between egg prices and public sentiment. Utilizing online and social media listening data from September 2019 to August 2023, we explore how the total number of statements (i.e., mentions) and sentiment respond to changes in egg prices in the U.S. We find a significant association between increases in egg prices and both the volume of mentions and the sentiment of online discussions. Notably, mentions increased and sentiment became more negative as egg prices rose, highlighting a clear public response to price changes. However, the relationship between egg prices and online and social media attention is complex, which becomes apparent when studying the timing of increased concern with the timing of online news media coverage. Importantly, using regression discontinuity in time, we show that online and social media conversations about eggs and egg prices tend to increase after the rapid rise in online news coverage. Similarly, online and social media conversations about eggs and egg prices tend to decrease after the rapid rise in online news coverage.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0032579124010605Consumer perceptionsEgg pricesInflationMedia coverageSocial media analytics
spellingShingle Sachina Kagaya
Nicole Olynk Widmar
Valerie Kilders
The price of attention: An analysis of the intersection of media coverage and public sentiments about eggs and egg prices
Poultry Science
Consumer perceptions
Egg prices
Inflation
Media coverage
Social media analytics
title The price of attention: An analysis of the intersection of media coverage and public sentiments about eggs and egg prices
title_full The price of attention: An analysis of the intersection of media coverage and public sentiments about eggs and egg prices
title_fullStr The price of attention: An analysis of the intersection of media coverage and public sentiments about eggs and egg prices
title_full_unstemmed The price of attention: An analysis of the intersection of media coverage and public sentiments about eggs and egg prices
title_short The price of attention: An analysis of the intersection of media coverage and public sentiments about eggs and egg prices
title_sort price of attention an analysis of the intersection of media coverage and public sentiments about eggs and egg prices
topic Consumer perceptions
Egg prices
Inflation
Media coverage
Social media analytics
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0032579124010605
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