Consumer Preferences for Animal Welfare in China: Optimization of Pork Production-Marketing Chains

Yaoming Liang; Yu Cheng; Yanjie Xu; Gengrong Hua; Zijian Zheng; Hui Li; Li Han

doi:10.3390/ani12213051

Consumer Preferences for Animal Welfare in China: Optimization of Pork Production-Marketing Chains

Animals (Basel). 2022 Nov 6;12(21):3051. doi: 10.3390/ani12213051.

Authors

Yaoming Liang^{1

2}, Yu Cheng³, Yanjie Xu¹, Gengrong Hua⁴, Zijian Zheng¹, Hui Li^{1

5

6}, Li Han⁵

Affiliations

¹ College of Economics & Management, South China Agricultural University, No. 483 Wushan Road, Tianhe District, Guangzhou 510642, China.
² College of Veterinary Medicine, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China.
³ School of Sociology and Anthropology, Sun Yat-sen University, 135 Xingang Road, Haizhu District, Guangzhou 510275, China.
⁴ Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Macau, Avenida da Universidade, Taipa, Macau 999078, China.
⁵ College of Public Management, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China.
⁶ College of Natural Resources and Environment, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China.

Abstract

Consumption demands for pork produced by farms that employ strategies to improve animal welfare ("animal welfare pork") will be an important indicator for predicting domestic pig feeding standards and pork industry development. This paper analyzes consumer preferences for animal welfare pork based on the choice experiment data of 1274 pork consumers in Guangdong province, China. The results show that consumers had a significant preference for animal welfare pork and that they were willing to pay a premium of 2.359-10.477 CNY/500 g (5.27-23.39%) on average. There is heterogeneity in consumer preferences regarding age, education level, and income. Producers of animal-derived products can not only adjust the mix of production conditions to improve pig welfare and innovate contractual arrangements for industry chain stakeholder groups, but they can also develop differentiated marketing strategies for animal welfare products to meet consumer demands for animal welfare.

Keywords: animal welfare; choice experiment; consumer preferences; willingness to pay.

Grants and funding

This research was funded by the project “China’s Experience and Global Sharing in the Building of a Community of Common Health for Mankind” (20&ZD122).