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Abstract

Substantial experimental and economic game research has attempted to explain people’s prosocial behavior. To test whether such social preferences exists in the field of purchasing livestock products, we estimated consumers’ preferences for environmental benefits, animal welfare concerns, and livestock farmers’ profits. We discovered that consumers are concerned about social benefits resulting from their purchase of livestock products. We also determined the extent to which people’s measured preferences for social benefits can explain consumers’ willingness to pay a premium for environmentally-friendly livestock products or those certified for animal welfare. Our results indicate: 1) social preferences explain a non-trivial portion of people’s willingness to pay a premium for livestock products mentioned above; and 2) the correlation between the estimated premium and people’s stated willingness to pay a premium is statistically significant and positive. Overall, our results suggest that concerns for social benefits can be observed in consumers’ behavior of purchasing livestock products.

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