This study investigates UK consumers’ perception and willingness to pay (WTP) for egg attributes associated with laying hen welfare, namely with beak-trimming practices and injurious feather pecking (IP). The aim is to examine any change in WTP after improved consumer awareness.,Building upon existing literature, the authors designed an online survey in which the method of discrete choice experiment (DCE) was employed. The study includes two identical DCEs with the second being introduced after respondents were presented with an educational excerpt about beak-trimming practices, on farm IP occurrence and the docile nature of white egg laying hens – reducing IP.,The mixed logit regression model demonstrated that consumers' WTP for egg attributes associated with beak trimming and IP decreased in the second DCE (12.6% for organic and 2.55% for free-range). For eggshell colour, the analysis revealed a shift from a preference to brown eggs to indifference between eggshell colours.,Overall, UK consumers have a preference in higher hen welfare resulting in a decrease in WTP once they are aware of welfare losses in current systems; however, more insights are required in terms of the promotion of white shelled eggs as a means of reducing IP on UK farms.

中文翻译：

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英国消费者愿意为蛋鸡福利付费

本研究调查了英国消费者对与蛋鸡福利相关的鸡蛋属性的看法和支付意愿 (WTP)，即断喙做法和有害的啄羽 (IP)。目的是检验消费者意识提高后 WTP 的任何变化。基于现有文献，作者设计了一项在线调查，其中采用了离散选择实验 (DCE) 的方法。该研究包括两个相同的 DCE，第二个是在向受访者提供有关断喙实践、农场 IP 发生和白蛋鸡的温顺性质——减少 IP 的教育摘录之后引入的。，混合逻辑回归模型表明，消费者对与断喙和 IP 相关的鸡蛋属性的支付意愿在第二个 DCE 中下降（有机和 2.0% 分别为 12.6%）。55% 为自由范围）。对于蛋壳颜色，分析显示从对棕色鸡蛋的偏好转变为对蛋壳颜色的冷漠。总体而言，英国消费者偏好较高的母鸡福利，一旦他们意识到当前系统中的福利损失，WTP 就会降低；然而，在推广白壳鸡蛋作为减少英国农场知识产权的一种手段方面需要更多的见解。