Consumer Demand For Ethically-Improved Animal Production Systems

Resumo / Abstract:

The dawn of the new millennium has staged the slow but steady shift of the Western agri-food sector towards more demand-driven production and marketing activities. Technological innovation and fierce worldwide competition made foods readily available and affordable to a relatively affluent population, thereby converting consumer demand into the major driving element of agri-food chains. The sector began reacting to this new market reality by carrying out structural changes and moving away from bulk production and sales, towards the delivery of added-value goods or services. This strategic move, however, will only be fully successful if foods and production systems can be re-designed to meet consumers’ needs in a manner that is both economically sustainable and socially acceptable1.

This paper presents a well-founded, up-to-date and in-depth analysis of the nature and extent of consumer demand for ethically-improved meat and fish production systems and their products in different EU countries. Such analysis is based on data resulting from a large series of studies – focus group, collage, survey, contingent valuation and experimental auction research – recently conducted into consumer perceptions, attitudes and behaviour in regards to animal production systems and foods with different levels of ethical attributes2-4. Among other findings, these studies show that:

- Consumers in general do not differentiate well between animal production systems with different ethical standards (conventional rearing included);

- Positive differentiation of animal production systems with improved ethical standards is essentially due to perceived consumption benefits addressing basic individual consumer needs, not higher societal ones;

- In general, revealed preference and willingness-to-pay for fresh meat and fish are mainly driven by habit and hedonic preference, not ethical considerations;

- Stated preference and willingness-to-pay for meat and fish produced under improved ethical standards usually lead to an overestimation of true demand;

- Consumers are willing to pay a premium price for meat and fish produced under improved ethical standards mostly when these are perceived to lead to a lower personal health risk, not to a higher societal benefit.

Reasons for the apparent contradiction between EU citizens’ attitudes and their food consumption behaviour are provided, as well as practical implications for those involved in food production, marketing and policy.

Outros seminários / Other seminars: Programa completo / Full programme.