Understanding Consumer Pork Attribute Preferences

Abstract

The best-worst scaling method was used to investigate consumers’ perceptions of the relative importance of seven different pork production and product attributes. Demographic information was then analyzed to determine which consumer characteristics were statistically significant determinants of these preferences. Of the attributes studied, animal welfare was ranked third most important following pork/food safety and taste. Consumer characteristics including gender, having a source for animal welfare information, and having purchased pork in the last year were found to be determinants of the size of the share of preference for many of the pork attributes studied.