Pasture grazing, animal welfare, and biodiversity: a latent class analysis of German consumers’ preferences for beef and milk

Abstract Empirical insights into consumer preferences for sustainability attributes of cattle products are relevant for developing labeling policies, consumer communication strategies, and agri-environmental compensation schemes for farmers. We analyzed and compared consumers’ preferences for two cattle products, beefsteak and milk, with sustainability labels pertaining to the attributes of biodiversity-fostering, animal-friendly, and pasture-based production alongside local and organic labels. We conducted online discrete choice experiments with 1029 consumers in Germany, estimated mixed logit models, and applied latent class analysis. Our results indicate that the mean preferences for sustainability attributes are similar for beef and milk, with the strongest preferences observed for animal welfare, local origin, and pasture grazing. In both cases, organic production was not among the top three attributes. However, it is striking that the preferences were highly heterogeneous among consumers. The latent class analysis identified five distinct consumer segments with varying preferences for sustainability attributes, highlighting the importance of targeting specific groups in policy and communication strategies and pointing to opportunities for differentiation in production systems.