Animal Ethics and Eating Animals: Consumer Segmentation Based on Domain-Specific Values

Sarah Hölker, Marie von Meyer-Höfer and Achim Spiller
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Sarah Hölker: University of Goettingen, Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development, Marketing of Food and Agricultural Products, Platz der Göttinger Sieben 5, 37073 Göttingen, Germany
Marie von Meyer-Höfer: University of Goettingen, Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development, Marketing of Food and Agricultural Products, Platz der Göttinger Sieben 5, 37073 Göttingen, Germany

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 14, 1-17

Abstract: For a sustainable diet, especially with regard to animal welfare, human health, and environmental issues, a significant reduction in the consumption of animal source foods is essential. The most frequently reported motivations for a meat-reduced or meat-free diet are ethical concerns about animal welfare. This study realizes one of the first consumer segmentations in the context of the human–animal relationship based on domain-specific values; animal ethics. Such a consumer segmentation is relatively stable over time and encompasses the issue of the human–animal relationship in its entirety without limiting itself to a specific question. Based on a comprehensive consumer survey in Germany and by means of a three-step cluster analysis, five consumer segments characterized by different animal-ethical value profiles were defined. A subsequent analysis revealed a link between animal ethics and diet. As a key result, relationism as an animal-ethical position seems to play a key role in the choice of a sustainable diet. About a quarter of the population is characterized by a combination of animal welfare-oriented ethical positions with a clear rejection of relationism, i.e., they do not distinguish between farm animals and companion animals. This specific combination of animal-ethical values is associated with a significantly above-average proportion of flexitarians and vegetarians. Thus, the study contributes to a deeper understanding of existing animal-ethical values and their link to the choice of diet.

Keywords: human–animal relationship; animal welfare; animal-ethical intuitions; animal-ethical values; consumer behavior; sustainable diet (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

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