Attitudes of European Citizens Towards Pig Production Systems

Livestock Science, Vol. 126, Forthcoming

Posted: 22 Oct 2009

See all articles by Krystallis Athanasios

Krystallis Athanasios

Independent

Marcia Dutra de Barcellos

Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS/PPGA)

Jens Oliver Kügler

Independent

Wim Verbeke

Ghent University - Department of Agricultural Economics

Klaus G. Grunert

Aarhus School of Business - Marketing and Statistics

Date Written: October 5, 2009

Abstract

The objective of the study is to map citizen attitudes towards pig meat production systems, and to investigate whether these attitudes associate with pork and pork product consumption. A conjoint experiment was carried out with empirical data collected from 1931 individuals in four European countries with higher-than-average per capita meat consumption (Belgium, Denmark, Poland and Germany). The experiment was based on the following pig farming characteristics: herd size, housing and floor type, efforts to reduce the impact of the production system on the environment, animal feed designed for producing pork with specific fat content, and finally the preferred quality characteristics of the pork end-product. The results of the conjoint analysis were used for a subsequent cluster analysis in order to identify European citizen clusters. Respondents' socio-demographic profile, attitudes towards issues that are expected to influence the way people evaluate pig meat production systems, and consumption frequency of various pork products are used as background information to identify segment profiles. Pork appears to play a substantial role as a part of the diet for most respondents in the four countries of this study. The results of the conjoint experiment at the sample level show that people assigned most importance to animal and environmental well-being as criteria to discriminate between “good” and “bad” pig production practices, despite the fact that their attitudes towards environmental protection, animal welfare and industrial food production were only moderately strong. Moreover, the results of the cluster analysis allowed small-sized, clear-cut clusters of citizens to appear, which pay attention to specific pig farming attributes. In conclusion, attitudes towards environment and nature, animal welfare and the need for an environment-friendly food production were indeed related to citizens' specific attitudes towards pig farming at the cluster level. However, the relationship between citizenship and consumption behaviour was found to be weak. What people think in their role as citizens related to pig production did not appear to significantly influence their pork consumption choices.

Keywords: pig production system, citizen, consumer, conjoint analysis, cluster

Suggested Citation

Athanasios, Krystallis and de Barcellos, Marcia Dutra and Kügler, Jens Oliver and Verbeke, Wim and Grunert, Klaus G., Attitudes of European Citizens Towards Pig Production Systems (October 5, 2009). Livestock Science, Vol. 126, Forthcoming, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1483116

Marcia Dutra De Barcellos

Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS/PPGA) ( email )

Rua Washington Luiz, 855. Centro
Porto Alegre - RS, 90010-460
Brazil

Jens Oliver Kügler

Independent ( email )

Wim Verbeke

Ghent University - Department of Agricultural Economics ( email )

Coupure Links 653
Ghent, 9000
Belgium

Klaus G. Grunert

Aarhus School of Business - Marketing and Statistics ( email )

Haslegårdsvej 10
Århus V
Denmark

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