Consumer preferences for low-methane ground beef
Date
2022
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Publisher
University of Delaware
Abstract
The agricultural sector accounts for 36.4% of methane emissions from human activity, with the bulk of emissions stemming from enteric fermentation (EPA,2021). Methane reducing feed additives (MRAs) for cattle and other ruminants can be used as a market-based methane emission mitigation tool for livestock production. There is a research gap on consumer preferences for low-methane beef products using MRAs. A hypothetical discrete choice experiment was distributed to 3,009 U.S. consumers to determine consumer preferences for beef produced using MRAs sourced from seaweed, 3NOP, or essential oils. Respondents were assigned to three treatments to examine external factors that influence consumer preferences: an environmental information treatment, which presented respondents information about with methane emissions from agriculture, a label treatment, which utilized a methane emission reduction label, and a price treatment, which compared pre COVID 2019 prices to 2021 prices. Results indicate consumers have heterogeneous preferences for ground beef alternatives. Findings suggest that methane emissions reduction labels have positive effects on consumer preferences for beef produced using seaweed and 3NOP, higher beef prices increased the likelihood of all alternative selections, and the environmental information treatment produced minimal effects on choice. Pro-environmental attitudes are associated with an increase in an MRA alternative being selected. There are potential policy implications for labeling, as consumers prefer higher methane emission reduction potential, which could be employed to further develop MRAs as a market-based methane mitigation tool. MRAs create an opportunity for consumer-driven market changes that aim to make livestock production and meat consumption more sustainable.