Hen housing system information effects on U.S. egg demand

Dan Ochs, Christopher Wolf (), Nicole Widmar, Courtney Bir and John Lai

Food Policy, 2019, vol. 87, issue C, -

Abstract: The U.S. egg industry has been moving rapidly towards “cage-free” aviary housing as an alternative to conventional cages for hens. A choice experiment was used to evaluate the U.S. public’s willingness to pay (WTP) for egg attributes including housing system, color, size, and certifying agency. A significant difference in WTP for hen housing systems was found using video information treatments describing hen housing systems. When respondents were shown videos of egg production systems, they were indifferent between cage-free aviary and the alternative enriched colony hen housing system whereas with no video information the respondents clearly preferred the cage-free system. Results point towards potential public misunderstanding of the costs and benefits associated with the “cage-free” egg label designation and highlight potential discrepancies between industry commitments and informed consumer preferences.

Keywords: Egg industry; Hen housing; Information effects; Perceptions; Video; Willingness to pay (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jfpoli:v:87:y:2019:i:c:9

DOI: 10.1016/j.foodpol.2019.101743

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