TY - JOUR
T1 - The effects of information on willingness to pay for animal welfare in dairy production
T2 - Application of nonhypothetical valuation mechanisms
AU - Elbakidze, L.
AU - Nayga, R. M.
N1 - Funding Information:
Research was supported by federal funds provided by US Department of Agriculture's Federal State Marketing Improvement Program .
PY - 2012/3
Y1 - 2012/3
N2 - The objective of this study was to examine consumer willingness to pay (WTP) for animal welfare in dairy production using nonhypothetical Vickrey auctions and open-ended choice experiments. Two hundred fifteen subjects participated in experimental sessions with 4 types of dairy products (humane animal care-labeled cheese and ice cream and conventional cheese and ice cream) and 4 valuation mechanisms. Information treatment, which included information about humane animal care principles in dairy production, was used to examine the effects of information on WTP. The results showed that participants, on average, were willing to pay extra for a scoop of humane animal care-labeled ice cream above the price of conventional ice cream. However, no premium WTP for humane animal care-labeled cheese was detected. Furthermore, provision of information only about humane animal care principles in dairy production, without corresponding information about conventional production practices, did not increase WTP for humane animal care-labeled products.
AB - The objective of this study was to examine consumer willingness to pay (WTP) for animal welfare in dairy production using nonhypothetical Vickrey auctions and open-ended choice experiments. Two hundred fifteen subjects participated in experimental sessions with 4 types of dairy products (humane animal care-labeled cheese and ice cream and conventional cheese and ice cream) and 4 valuation mechanisms. Information treatment, which included information about humane animal care principles in dairy production, was used to examine the effects of information on WTP. The results showed that participants, on average, were willing to pay extra for a scoop of humane animal care-labeled ice cream above the price of conventional ice cream. However, no premium WTP for humane animal care-labeled cheese was detected. Furthermore, provision of information only about humane animal care principles in dairy production, without corresponding information about conventional production practices, did not increase WTP for humane animal care-labeled products.
KW - Animal welfare
KW - Willingness to pay
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84857293648&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3168/jds.2011-4730
DO - 10.3168/jds.2011-4730
M3 - Article
C2 - 22365193
AN - SCOPUS:84857293648
SN - 0022-0302
VL - 95
SP - 1099
EP - 1107
JO - Journal of Dairy Science
JF - Journal of Dairy Science
IS - 3
ER -