Wisconsin is the leading dairy producing state in the nation. In 1989 and 1990 the issue of synthetic growth hormones used in the dairy industry was widely covered by the mass media. Wisconsin residents have been exposed to information from all sides of the issue. Therefore, they make an ideal population to study potential consumer response to the hormone's commercial use.

Between February 26 and May 9 of 1990, a telephone survey was conducted to collect such information.  A sample of 1,056 randomly selected households around the state was drawn. In each household an adult person (18 years or older) who made most of the household’s food purchasing decisions was interviewed by telephone. Information about their awareness of bovine growth hormone (rBGH) and bovine somatotropin (BST) usage on dairy cows and their opinions on mandatory rBGH labeling was collected. They were also asked how the price increase in non-rBGH treated dairy products would affect their milk purchases. The response rate of the survey was 69.2 percent, and approximately 75 percent were women. The average respondent was 46 years old, had one year of education beyond high school, and lived in an urban county (population over 100,000). 

This dataset was compiled from the results of this 1990 telephone survey.