Paying for animal welfare labelling no matter what? A discrete choice experiment

Abstract

Abstract Animal welfare is a credence attribute with public good characteristics. Using a discrete choice experiment, consumers’ willingness to pay (WTP) for a concretely planned state animal welfare label is derived and compared by product group (fresh vs. processed meat) and tax scenario (no tax vs. additional animal welfare tax included in price). Consumers have a positive WTP for the state label. However, label WTP is significantly lower for processed than for fresh meat. An additional tax does not impact label WTP on average. Results provide insights for both policymakers on label implementation and farmers on further investments in animal welfare.