Preferences for food safety and animal welare - a choice experiment study comparing organic and conventional consumers

Food quality attributes such as food safety and animal welfare are increasingly influencing consumers' choices of food products. These attributes are not readily traded in the markets. Hence, stated preference methods have proven to be valuable tools for eliciting preferences for such non-traded attributes. A discrete choice experiment is employed, and the results indicate that consumers in general are willing to pay a premium for campylobacter-free chicken and for improved animal welfare; and they are willing to pay an additional premium for a product containing both attributes. Further, we find that organic consumers have a higher willingness to pay for animal welfare than other consumers, but they are not willing to pay more than conventional consumers when it comes to their willingness to pay for avoiding campylobacter.