Meat liking, animal welfare and consumer willingness to pay

Abstract

Three products (beef, lamb and chicken) were used to assess the effect of information about animal welfare on meat liking. Each experiment was planned in three tests. In the first test the consumers were offered the product, and asked to taste it and rate their liking receiving no information (perceived liking). In the second test the subjects received the information concerning farming conditions and their effects on animal welfare. They were asked to read the information and give their liking expectation for that product (expected liking). In the third test consumers were given the product along with the information sheet. They were instructed to read the information before tasting the sample and express their liking score (actual liking). Consumers rated the products on a nine-point hedonic scale. Only for beef, a second-price sealed-bid auction was used to assess consumer willingness to pay (WTP) according to the level of welfare of the animals used in the production process. Results from the three experiments showed that expectations induced by the information on animal welfare affected quality perception. Thus, if expectations were negatively disconfirmed (the product was worse than expected), the assimilation model was generally applicable, which means that hedonic ratings moved towards the expectations when external information on animal welfare was given compared to tasting without information. In addition, consumers showed a WTP for beef paired with information higher than its actual commercial value (P<0.001). In conclusion, information about animal welfare can be a major determinant of animal-based food liking and consumer WTP.