How to orient consumers towards animal welfare products? by Jutta Roosen (Technical University Munich)

In this study, we implement a 2-D model of supermarket shelves for milk, meat and eggs mimicking German retail environments. Products are labeled using the four-level husbandry label developed by German retailers. 

In a randomized control trial, we measure the impact of an increased availability of products following high animal-welfare standards (level 3 and 4) from 25% of the assortment to 75% of the assortment. 

In addition, we implement a treatment arm with a price intervention increasing the price of products implementing low animal-welfare standards (level 1 and 2). 

We can show that the availability intervention is more effective in increasing the share of animal-welfare products in consumers’ shopping baskets compared to the price intervention. Consumers also show higher support for the facing intervention compared to the shopping intervention.

About Professor Roosen

Professor Jutta Roosen’s research focuses on consumer behavior and demand analysis. Her main interest is on cognitive aspects of perception and cultural influences on behavior. Her work often deals with questions of food quality and safety, nutrition and health behavior as well as sustainable consumption of energy and food. 

Jutta Roosen studied in Bonn, Washington and Iowa and earned her PhD (1999) in economics from Iowa State University, USA. She later served as assistant professor at the UCLouvain in Belgium (1999-2002). Prior to her appointment as Chair of Marketing and Consumer Research at TUM in 2008, she was a professor at Kiel University.