What do consumers think about farm animal welfare in modern agriculture? Attitudes and shopping behaviour

Abstract

Several food crises damaged the image of the agricultural sector and consumers have lost trust, especially in animal production practices. Large parts of society believe that animal welfare standards in livestock production need to be improved. As a result, numerous animal welfare products have emerged on the market. This consumer paper identifies five clusters and, thus, strategic groups for the purchase of animal welfare products within the large group of consumers that differ significantly in their attitudes towards modern agriculture, their perception of animal welfare, their social acceptance of meat consumption and their shopping behaviour. Even personal differences are found between the clusters. Based on the results, we derived specific marketing implications for each cluster. These implications can help to develop a more differentiated market segment for animal welfare products in terms of animal welfare level and required price premium, enabling consumers to make product choices according to their preferences.