How Much Credence Does It Take? Evidence on the Trade-Off between Country-Of-Origin Information and Credence Attributes for Beef from a Choice Experiment in Sweden.

Carl Lagerkvist,Sebastian Hess,Helena Johansson

doi:10.3390/foods6100084

Abstract

Based on a discrete choice experiment with 336 consumers, this study investigated whether the consumer propensity to choose a simplified European Union (EU) vs. non-EU denomination of origin for beef, instead of a specific country-of-origin (COO) denomination, depends upon the amount and type of credence information provided to the individual. The likelihood of choosing the EU/non-EU denomination of origin depended on the total number of other labelling credence attributes provided and also on the type of detailed credence attributes present in the choice. The presence of cues relating to animal welfare and far-reaching traceability had the highest likelihood of influencing the choice of the EU/non-EU denomination of origin. The compensatory qualities of each credence attribute in relation to the EU/non-EU origin denomination thus differed.

Highlights

Consumers have difficulties forming expectations of meat quality [1], and there has been an increasing use of labels to provide consumers with information about credence quality attributes such as health-related effects, convenience, ethical factors, farm animal welfare, etc. [2,3]
For non-minced beef, following the Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) crisis, there has been a requirement in the European Union (EU) since 2000 to provide information about place of origin (EU 1760/2000), including the presentation of an individual reference or code number referring to the specific animal and a licence number for the slaughterhouse
Further obligations set by mandatory labelling requirements for identity or product segregation are costly, with the potential to distort investments and marketing incentives in relation to markets or products with fewer such obligations

Summary

Introduction

Consumers have difficulties forming expectations of meat quality [1], and there has been an increasing use of labels to provide consumers with information about credence quality attributes such as health-related effects, convenience, ethical factors, farm animal welfare, etc. [2,3]. For non-minced beef, following the Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) crisis, there has been a requirement in the EU since 2000 to provide information about place (i.e., country) of origin (EU 1760/2000), including the presentation of an individual reference or code number referring to the specific animal and a licence number for the slaughterhouse. This mandatory labelling requirement regarding origin was motivated by an information asymmetry perspective in relation to consumer concerns about food safety and quality. Compared with the beef system, the labelling scheme for pig/poultry/sheep/goat is less demanding and requires information on the country in which the animal is reared and slaughtered

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Discussion

Conclusion