Trade-offs between consumer concerns: An application for pork supply chains

This paper studies, by means of customized conjoint analysis, the trade-offs that Dutch consumers make between multiple pork-production attributes, and their relation to consumer concerns. Results show that attributes that deal with animal welfare and food safety are on average perceived as the most important pork-production attributes. Not surprisingly, they are less important than the product attributes taste and price. Still, a number of market segments can be identified in which taste and price are relatively less important. Results support the implementation of differentiated chain designs with distinct and innovative decisions on trade-offs to be made, such as with respect to the housing of pigs and the use of genetic modification.