Summary
This study employs an incentivised artefactual field experiment to examine how consumers perceive and value different egg production systems, and how their beliefs and willingness to pay shift following exposure to factual information. The findings suggest that information provision attenuates initial overestimation of the welfare and nutritional benefits associated with cage-free eggs, while strengthening beliefs about the benefits of pasture-raised and certified organic systems. The paper contributes to the literature on credence goods, consumer information processing, and the formation of preferences in differentiated food markets.
UK applicability
The study was conducted in the United States, but its findings are broadly relevant to UK food policy and retail contexts, where similar labelling distinctions between caged, barn, free-range, and organic eggs exist and where consumer understanding of production system differences remains an ongoing policy concern.
Key measures
Willingness to pay (WTP, monetary values); belief scores regarding welfare, environmental, and nutritional attributes; pre- and post-information treatment belief revisions
Outcomes reported
The study measured consumer willingness to pay and beliefs about hen welfare, environmental impact, and nutritional quality across conventional, cage-free, pasture-raised, and certified organic egg systems, before and after targeted information provision.
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