Health Risk Perception, Consumption Intention, and Willingness to Pay for Pig Products Obtained by Immunocastration
Surgical castration without the use of anaesthesia and/or analgesia is considered to be detrimental for the welfare of pigs and for this reason its abandonment is advocated. Immunocastration is a more welfare-friendly alternative method; however, stakeholders in the pork sector fear consumer rejecti...
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doaj-4e7f45ecdb1342aea7504754e07d4fdc2020-11-25T03:53:40ZengMDPI AGAnimals2076-26152020-09-01101548154810.3390/ani10091548Health Risk Perception, Consumption Intention, and Willingness to Pay for Pig Products Obtained by ImmunocastrationJorgelina Di Pasquale0Yari Vecchio1Giovanna Martelli2Luca Sardi3Felice Adinolfi4Eleonora Nannoni5Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Teramo, 64100 Piano D’Accio, Teramo, ItalyDepartment of Veterinary Medical Sciences, University of Bologna, Via Tolara di Sopra 50, 40064 Ozzano Emilia (Bologna), ItalyDepartment of Veterinary Medical Sciences, University of Bologna, Via Tolara di Sopra 50, 40064 Ozzano Emilia (Bologna), ItalyDepartment of Veterinary Medical Sciences, University of Bologna, Via Tolara di Sopra 50, 40064 Ozzano Emilia (Bologna), ItalyDepartment of Veterinary Medical Sciences, University of Bologna, Via Tolara di Sopra 50, 40064 Ozzano Emilia (Bologna), ItalyDepartment of Veterinary Medical Sciences, University of Bologna, Via Tolara di Sopra 50, 40064 Ozzano Emilia (Bologna), ItalySurgical castration without the use of anaesthesia and/or analgesia is considered to be detrimental for the welfare of pigs and for this reason its abandonment is advocated. Immunocastration is a more welfare-friendly alternative method; however, stakeholders in the pork sector fear consumer rejection due to perceived safety issues of immunocastrated meat. This work aimed to analyse whether Italian consumers perceive a health risk arising from the use of this technique and, if so, how the perceived risk may influence the purchase choices and the willingness to pay for products derived from immunocastrated animals. To achieve this objective, a survey was carried out on a representative sample of the Italian population. The results highlight that consumers perceive different levels of risk related to the use of immunocastration and that this influences purchasing behaviour and willingness to pay. Moreover, it should be noted that the willingness to pay is also influenced by certain demographic factors, since this is positively associated with younger respondents with lower incomes and less knowledge of farming systems, who live in rural areas and have a greater sensitivity to animal welfare. Given the concerns expressed by consumers, particular attention must be paid to the information transmitted if this technology will be widely implemented in pig husbandry.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/10/9/1548animal welfareconsumer behaviourrisk perceptionwillingness to paypigcastration |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Jorgelina Di Pasquale Yari Vecchio Giovanna Martelli Luca Sardi Felice Adinolfi Eleonora Nannoni |
spellingShingle |
Jorgelina Di Pasquale Yari Vecchio Giovanna Martelli Luca Sardi Felice Adinolfi Eleonora Nannoni Health Risk Perception, Consumption Intention, and Willingness to Pay for Pig Products Obtained by Immunocastration Animals animal welfare consumer behaviour risk perception willingness to pay pig castration |
author_facet |
Jorgelina Di Pasquale Yari Vecchio Giovanna Martelli Luca Sardi Felice Adinolfi Eleonora Nannoni |
author_sort |
Jorgelina Di Pasquale |
title |
Health Risk Perception, Consumption Intention, and Willingness to Pay for Pig Products Obtained by Immunocastration |
title_short |
Health Risk Perception, Consumption Intention, and Willingness to Pay for Pig Products Obtained by Immunocastration |
title_full |
Health Risk Perception, Consumption Intention, and Willingness to Pay for Pig Products Obtained by Immunocastration |
title_fullStr |
Health Risk Perception, Consumption Intention, and Willingness to Pay for Pig Products Obtained by Immunocastration |
title_full_unstemmed |
Health Risk Perception, Consumption Intention, and Willingness to Pay for Pig Products Obtained by Immunocastration |
title_sort |
health risk perception, consumption intention, and willingness to pay for pig products obtained by immunocastration |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
series |
Animals |
issn |
2076-2615 |
publishDate |
2020-09-01 |
description |
Surgical castration without the use of anaesthesia and/or analgesia is considered to be detrimental for the welfare of pigs and for this reason its abandonment is advocated. Immunocastration is a more welfare-friendly alternative method; however, stakeholders in the pork sector fear consumer rejection due to perceived safety issues of immunocastrated meat. This work aimed to analyse whether Italian consumers perceive a health risk arising from the use of this technique and, if so, how the perceived risk may influence the purchase choices and the willingness to pay for products derived from immunocastrated animals. To achieve this objective, a survey was carried out on a representative sample of the Italian population. The results highlight that consumers perceive different levels of risk related to the use of immunocastration and that this influences purchasing behaviour and willingness to pay. Moreover, it should be noted that the willingness to pay is also influenced by certain demographic factors, since this is positively associated with younger respondents with lower incomes and less knowledge of farming systems, who live in rural areas and have a greater sensitivity to animal welfare. Given the concerns expressed by consumers, particular attention must be paid to the information transmitted if this technology will be widely implemented in pig husbandry. |
topic |
animal welfare consumer behaviour risk perception willingness to pay pig castration |
url |
https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/10/9/1548 |
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