Abstract The modern consumer is now more attentive towards animal welfare practices and this represents an important factor when purchasing meat, whereby ethical, sociological and economic implications are evaluated. In addition, the socio-demographic characteristics of consumers evidence different sensitivities with regard to selection patterns and consumption styles. This study aims to explore the role of Gender in beef meat purchasing preferences, assessing consumer awareness of responsibility towards animal welfare, through the use of cross-tabulation with χ2 to test the different behaviour of men and women and the use of principal component analysis and cluster analysis to classify attitudes of choice according to gender. Among the research aims, this study examined consumer attitudes towards certain ‘ethically incorrect’ animal products, as well as their awareness of the institutional responsibility in controlling animal welfare standards during the meat production process. The study conducted in Northwest Italy, involving 512 respondents, shows that women are more sensitive to AW aspects and place trust in those responsible for certification of animal welfare standards, such as veterinarians and consumer associations, and also shows that it is possible to identify an ‘animal welfare sensitive’ profile of meat consumer. HIGHLIGHTS Modern consumer evaluates ethical, sociological and economic implications in animal friendly meat purchasing process Gender affects awareness of the responsibilities of veterinary, public health control bodies and consumer associations to verify animal welfare Cluster highlighted consumer differences in perception towards animal welfare

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动物福利和性别：选择新鲜牛肉时意识和偏好的关系？

摘要 现代消费者现在更加关注动物福利实践，这是购买肉类时的一个重要因素，由此评估道德、社会和经济影响。此外，消费者的社会人口特征表明，他们对选择模式和消费方式具有不同的敏感性。本研究旨在探讨性别在牛肉购买偏好中的作用，评估消费者对动物福利的责任意识，通过使用 χ2 的交叉表来测试男性和女性的不同行为以及使用主成分分析和聚类分析根据性别对选择态度进行分类。在研究目标中，本研究调查了消费者对某些“道德上不正确”的动物产品的态度，以及他们对在肉类生产过程中控制动物福利标准的机构责任的认识。在意大利西北部进行的涉及 512 名受访者的研究表明，女性对 AW 方面更为敏感，并信任负责动物福利标准认证的人员，例如兽医和消费者协会，还表明有可能确定肉类消费者的“动物福利敏感”概况。亮点 现代消费者评估动物友好肉类采购过程中的伦理、社会学和经济影响 性别影响兽医、公共卫生控制机构和消费者协会的责任意识，以验证动物福利 集群突出了消费者对动物福利的看法差异