<p>I think you do mean <strong>cue utilization theory</strong>. According to <a href="https://books.google.ca/books?id=CUYVBQAAQBAJ&amp;pg=PA294&amp;lpg=PA294&amp;dq=cue%20utilitarian%20theory%20organic&amp;source=bl&amp;ots=WGEAx3lsZ2&amp;sig=kwMsigNfE31wQldLJzeMqI66a7s&amp;hl=en&amp;sa=X&amp;ei=WX2FVbmPONDjsATpy4HYDQ&amp;redir_esc=y#v=onepage&amp;q=cue%20utilitarian%20theory%20organic&amp;f=false" rel="nofollow">the link provided in @NickJ's comment</a>, and as far as economic theory goes, I'd say that cue utilization is basically a signaling story.</p>

<p>Putting "cues" on organic food products (e.g. the "organic" label, information on nutrition and natural content) amounts to a signaling act committed by the seller. Since the organic cues is less costly for the real organic food producers to produce (for instance, labeling non-organic foods as organic would face legal disputes, and hence a negative expected cost), these cues (or signals) are reliable.</p>

<p>Thus in principle, organic food sellers sending cues to consumers is no different from the classical signaling model where job seekers uses university degrees to signal their ability. </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-06-23T03:52:48.030Z
Oh, yes, my God, I do mean Cue Utilization Theory. There was a typo in my previous messages. Really sorry to confuse you guys. Thank you for your explanation.
user20849
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-06-23T07:28:19.787Z
@user20849: In that case, would you please consider editing your original question and its title to reflect the correction? Thank you `:)`
Herr K.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-06-22T17:15:46.210Z
2015-06-22T17:15:46.210Z
Herr K.
<p>I think they are quite similar. I am a bit confused. Can anyone explain this to me?</p>

<p>I got the name and the information about the cue utilitarian theory from a journal article that related to organic food consumption. According to the authors, when people buy products like organic food, they could hardly evaluate the quality by merely observing it, since organic food could be kind of credence product. It is difficult to evaluate whether it is really free from chemicals and pesticides. So, people tend to rely on some cues to make the quality evaluation indirectly. This is how the Cue Utilitarian Theory works.</p>

<p>Let me narrow it down to a consumer behavior context. It seems to me that both theories can be used to explain that when there is an information asymmetric between retailers and consumers, some product attributes will be used as cues to evaluate product quality. I just wonder if they are basically the same in concept, then how and which one should I use them respectively.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-06-19T11:04:09.910Z
@user20849 What do you mean by "cue utiliarian theory"? Can you be more specific?
Oliv
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-06-19T12:07:27.813Z
I never heard of signaling theory in economics. Signaling games? Contract theory?  and as @Oliv pointed out: Neither me nor Google has some useful information on cue utilitarian theory. Could you explain these two terms to us?
The Almighty Bob
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-06-19T12:10:53.900Z
I vote to close this question as unclear. Could you please add a short explanation of what you mean by the two terms? Especially the cue utilitarian theory is pretty unclear. We don't need a complete definition but just something to start from. As soon as you have done we will open this question again.
The Almighty Bob
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-06-19T12:34:49.747Z
Ok, that's why I am confused. I got the name and the information about the cue utilitarian theory from a journal article that related to organic food consumption. According to the authors, when people buy products like organic food, they could hardly evaluate the quality by merely observing it, since organic food could be kind of credence product. It is difficult to evaluate whether it is really free from chemicals and pesticides. So, people tend to rely on some cues to make the quality evaluation indirectly. This is how the Cue Utilitarian Theory works. Hope this helps.
user20849
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-06-19T18:45:18.500Z
@user20849 Sorry but it is really hard to answer your question without more knowledge about these theories. I would even say that trying to disentangle two theories only makes sense if these theories are themselves precisely defined. Do you have other examples of applications of the "cue utilitarian" and the "signaling" theories?
Oliv
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-06-19T19:47:15.693Z
Do you have a link to the article?
The Almighty Bob
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-06-20T14:50:00.473Z
Did you mean '[cue utilization theory](https://books.google.com/books?id=CUYVBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA294&lpg=PA294&dq=cue+utilitarian+theory+organic&source=bl&ots=WGEAx3lsZ2&sig=kwMsigNfE31wQldLJzeMqI66a7s&hl=en&sa=X&ei=WX2FVbmPONDjsATpy4HYDQ&ved=0CCMQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=cue%20utilitarian%20theory%20organic&f=false)'?
NickJ
<theory>
How is signaling theory different from cue utilization theory?
user20849
# How is signaling theory different from cue utilization theory?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2015-06-19)

I think they are quite similar. I am a bit confused. Can anyone explain this to me?

I got the name and the information about the cue utilitarian theory from a journal article that related to organic food consumption. According to the authors, when people buy products like organic food, they could hardly evaluate the quality by merely observing it, since organic food could be kind of credence product. It is difficult to evaluate whether it is really free from chemicals and pesticides. So, people tend to rely on some cues to make the quality evaluation indirectly. This is how the Cue Utilitarian Theory works.

Let me narrow it down to a consumer behavior context. It seems to me that both theories can be used to explain that when there is an information asymmetric between retailers and consumers, some product attributes will be used as cues to evaluate product quality. I just wonder if they are basically the same in concept, then how and which one should I use them respectively.

**Tags:** theory

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: @username_0 What do you mean by "cue utiliarian theory"? Can you be more specific?  
> **username_2**: I never heard of signaling theory in economics. Signaling games? Contract theory?  and as @username_1 pointed out: Neither me nor Google has some useful information on cue utilitarian theory. Could you explain these two terms to us?  
> **username_2**: I vote to close this question as unclear. Could you please add a short explanation of what you mean by the two terms? Especially the cue utilitarian theory is pretty unclear. We don't need a complete definition but just something to start from. As soon as you have done we will open this question again.  
> **username_0**: Ok, that's why I am confused. I got the name and the information about the cue utilitarian theory from a journal article that related to organic food consumption. According to the authors, when people buy products like organic food, they could hardly evaluate the quality by merely observing it, since organic food could be kind of credence product. It is difficult to evaluate whether it is really free from chemicals and pesticides. So, people tend to rely on some cues to make the quality evaluation indirectly. This is how the Cue Utilitarian Theory works. Hope this helps.  
> **username_1**: @username_0 Sorry but it is really hard to answer your question without more knowledge about these theories. I would even say that trying to disentangle two theories only makes sense if these theories are themselves precisely defined. Do you have other examples of applications of the "cue utilitarian" and the "signaling" theories?  
> **username_2**: Do you have a link to the article?  
> **username_3**: Did you mean '[cue utilization theory](https://books.google.com/books?id=CUYVBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA294&lpg=PA294&dq=cue+utilitarian+theory+organic&source=bl&ots=WGEAx3lsZ2&sig=kwMsigNfE31wQldLJzeMqI66a7s&hl=en&sa=X&ei=WX2FVbmPONDjsATpy4HYDQ&ved=0CCMQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=cue%20utilitarian%20theory%20organic&f=false)'?  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_4 on 2015-06-22. Score: 2

I think you do mean **cue utilization theory**. According to [the link provided in @username_3's comment](https://books.google.ca/books?id=CUYVBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA294&lpg=PA294&dq=cue%20utilitarian%20theory%20organic&source=bl&ots=WGEAx3lsZ2&sig=kwMsigNfE31wQldLJzeMqI66a7s&hl=en&sa=X&ei=WX2FVbmPONDjsATpy4HYDQ&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=cue%20utilitarian%20theory%20organic&f=false), and as far as economic theory goes, I'd say that cue utilization is basically a signaling story.

Putting "cues" on organic food products (e.g. the "organic" label, information on nutrition and natural content) amounts to a signaling act committed by the seller. Since the organic cues is less costly for the real organic food producers to produce (for instance, labeling non-organic foods as organic would face legal disputes, and hence a negative expected cost), these cues (or signals) are reliable.

Thus in principle, organic food sellers sending cues to consumers is no different from the classical signaling model where job seekers uses university degrees to signal their ability.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Oh, yes, my God, I do mean Cue Utilization Theory. There was a typo in my previous messages. Really sorry to confuse you guys. Thank you for your explanation.  
> **username_4**: @username_0: In that case, would you please consider editing your original question and its title to reflect the correction? Thank you `:)`  

---

