Willingness to pay for animal welfare across labels, products, consumers, and time

In recent years, the number of labels indicating improved animal welfare conditions on meat products has increased making it difficult for consumers to understand, evaluate, and compare husbandry conditions across products. Based on a discrete choice experiment implemented in three cross-section surveys over a period of 15 months with a total of 6000 German respondents, we estimate the willingness to pay (WTP) for various levels of animal welfare associated with different meat products. We use three existing labels with overlapping animal welfare requirements mimicking the situation in the German meat market: The well-established organic label as well as a binary animal welfare label by the Animal Welfare Initiative and a multi-level animal husbandry label which were introduced in Germany in 2015 and 2019, respectively. We show that the multi-level label scheme leads to more product differentiation and, subsequently, higher WTP estimates. WTP further depends on meat type, where animal welfare improvements for beef and chicken products are valued much higher compared to those for pork. WTP for the organic and the highest level of the husbandry label increases with higher household incomes. WTP for these labels is also higher among women. • This study estimates willingness to pay for animal welfare at three points in time. • Willingness to pay for organic and high levels of animal welfare is stable over time. • Multi-level welfare labels lead to higher willingness to pay estimates. • Welfare improvements for beef and chicken are valued much higher than for pork. • Willingness to pay for organic and high levels of animal welfare is higher as income increases.