Consumer perceptions of free range laying hen welfare

Isabelle Pettersson, Claire Weeks, Lorna Wilson, Christine Nicol

Research output: Contribution to journalArticle (Academic Journal)peer-review

85 Citations (Scopus)
330 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Purpose
To understand which factors and resources free-range egg consumers believe are important for hen welfare.

Design/methodology/approach
An online survey was distributed via the mailing list of a UK free-range egg brand receiving 6,378 responses. The survey was mostly five-point Likert-scale based. The same survey was also distributed to a group of animal welfare specialists receiving 34 responses.

Findings
Respondents bought free-range eggs because hens are ‘happier’ (74.2%) and ‘healthier’ (69.0%) and because they believed such eggs to taste better (57.9%). They rated all the suggested factors that might contribute to hen welfare as ‘important’ or ‘very important’ (on average) but believed outside access and fresh air to be most important. Respondents rated the suitability of resources relating to behavioural needs high (‘suitable’ or ‘very suitable’) indoors and shelter as the most suitable outdoors. Consumers differed from welfare specialists in their views on factors contributing to hen welfare, but their views on resource suitability were similar.

Research limitations/implications
The sample was biased towards free-range egg consumers who had expressed an interest in a brand marketed as high welfare.

Originality/value
This is the first study to ask consumers what they consider to be important for hen welfare and how they think hen welfare can be improved. Because consumers can affect on-farm welfare through their purchasing habits assessing the degree of agreement between consumers and animal welfare specialists is important.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1999-2013
Number of pages5
JournalBritish Food Journal
Volume118
Issue number8
Early online date10 Jun 2016
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Aug 2016

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