Consumer Preference for Eggs from Enhanced Animal Welfare Production System: A Stated Choice Analysis

The first choice experiment investigated consumer preferences for different housing systems, while the second investigated consumer preferences for attributes of a housing system. Each choice experiment had two information treatments. In both treatments, a description of each housing system was provided, while in the second treatment, there was additional information regarding the consequences (in terms of effect on birds) of each housing systems based on scientific research. The results indicate that Canadian consumers are willing to pay a premium for eggs from free run and free range systems, but not for eggs from enriched cage systems. There are also positive marginal WTPs for cage-free, outdoor access, access to nests box, perches, scratching pads and more space. In both choice experiment, the WTP for enhanced animal welfare attributes are lower in treatment 2 (with additional information) than treatment 1. Consumer preference for outdoor access is quite consistent across two choice experiments.