Abstract
Understanding how consumers’ concerns affect the consumer decision-making process is important for developing a market for animal-friendly products. This paper presents a synthesis of research on the role of animal welfare in consumer decision-making.
Drawing on basic models and concepts from consumer behaviour literature, we present the findings along the lines of five phases of the consumer decision-making process: (i) need recognition; (ii) information search; (iii) information evaluation; (iv) purchase decision; and (v) post-purchase evaluation. Consumer decision-making about animal-based food products is routine, situational and sometimes irrational, instead of based on complete information. Consumers associate animal welfare with a higher quality perception and labels and high prices further increase the perception of quality. The findings have implications for stakeholders that aim to develop a market for animal-friendly products, like (coalitions of) governments, animal interest groups, retailers and brand manufacturers.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 11-19 |
Journal | Animal Welfare |
Volume | 20 |
Issue number | 1 |
Publication status | Published - 2011 |
Keywords
- corporate social-responsibility
- livestock production
- price elasticity
- meat
- quality
- welfare
- associations
- responses
- policy