Understanding consumer purchasing behaviour: a pathway to healthier, kinder food choices

A core challenge facing the world today is how to sustain the more than 2 billion people who are expected to join the world population by 2050, giving rise to a population reaching approximately 9.7 billion. Such intense population growth, combined with rising affluence and current increases in per capita consumption of animal-based products, are forcing the world to face the intersecting challenges of how to feed such a large population whilst controlling the impact of food production on the planet, people and animals. In response to the growing demand for foods of animal origin, much animal agriculture in Western countries, such as Australia, has moved away from the predominantly small scale and extensive operations that existed before the second agricultural revolution towards intensive systems characterised by confinement. Such intensification has led to many animal welfare concerns as well as environmental, social, and human health consequences. Public values and attitudes towards animals are changing and we are seeing an increase in concern for animal welfare in the food production process. A recent report commissioned by the Department of Agriculture and Water Resources into Australia’s changing sentiments for farm animal welfare found that 95% of respondents viewed farm animal welfare as a concern and 91% wanted at least some regulatory reform. Despite these trends, there remains a well-documented gap between consumers’ attitudes and actions at the supermarket, known as the attitude-behaviour gap. Some of the reasons highlighted within the literature for this gap include inconvenience, lack of knowledge and information, and the abundance of confusing claims and labels on food packaging. The aim of this thesis is to investigate Australian consumers’ attitudes towards farm animal welfare, reasons for any gap between their sentiment for animal welfare and food choices at the supermarket, and, finally, approaches to encourage more welfare-friendly food choices. This thesis comprises eight discrete chapters. The first chapter is an introduction to the broader thesis field of food production, animal welfare, and consumer choice. Chapter Two is an in-depth review examining public attitudes towards animal welfare in food production. Chapter Three reviews the attitude-behaviour gap for farm animal welfare and uses the behaviour change wheel to explore how we can encourage consumers to make food choices that are better for animal welfare. The fourth, fifth and sixth chapters report three empirical studies. First is a study of Australian consumers’ attitudes towards animal welfare in food production, and the motivations and barriers that affects their purchasing of welfare-friendly products (Chapter Four). The second is an investigation into the attitudes towards animal welfare and empathy for animals shown by a unique population of people who attended an animal welfare event at the University of Sydney (Chapter Five). These findings were then more broadly compared to the attitudes of the general public. The third study is a discrete-choice experiment that examined consumers’ preferences for animal-based products (pork, poultry and eggs) with animal welfare accreditations and whether providing consumers with details about the animal welfare standards of these on-package accreditations had a positive effect on high welfare purchase intentions (Chapter Six). The seventh chapter is devoted to documenting the creation of an animal welfare rating system that provides consumers with information and ratings (of avoid, good, best) for chicken, pig, and egg products based on on-package animal welfare accreditations. Potential future applications of the ratings are discussed. The final chapter (Chapter Eight) is a discussion of the thesis findings overall, with concluding remarks

What We Know about the Public’s Level of Concern for Farm Animal Welfare in Food Production in Developed Countries

Population growth and rising consumption of meat, dairy, eggs and fish are forcing the world to face the intersecting challenges of how to sustainably feed a population expected to exceed 9 billion by 2050, while also controlling the impact of food production on the planet, on people and on animals. This review acknowledges the absence of a globally accepted definition of animal welfare and then explores the literature regarding different levels of concern for animal welfare in food production by such stakeholders as veterinarians, farmers, and the general public. It focuses on the evidence that the general public’s level of concern for animal welfare is linked to various demographic and personal characteristics, such as age, gender, religion, location, meat eating, and knowledge of animal welfare. Certain animals have characteristics that influence concern for their welfare, with those species that are considered more intelligent being afforded more concern. There is compelling evidence that the general public’s understanding of animal welfare in food production is poor. Acknowledging that public concern can be a driving force to change current production methods, the authors suggest widespread consciousness raising to redefine socially acceptable methods of food production from animals and to ensure that it remains in step with societal concerns

Gender Dimorphism in Skeletal Muscle Leptin Receptors, Serum Leptin and Insulin Sensitivity

To determine if there is a gender dimorphism in the expression of leptin receptors (OB-R170, OB-R128 and OB-R98) and the protein suppressor of cytokine signaling 3 (SOCS3) in human skeletal muscle, the protein expression of OB-R, perilipin A, SOCS3 and alpha-tubulin was assessed by Western blot in muscle biopsies obtained from the m. vastus lateralis in thirty-four men (age = 27.1±6.8 yr) and thirty-three women (age = 26.7±6.7 yr). Basal serum insulin concentration and HOMA were similar in both genders. Serum leptin concentration was 3.4 times higher in women compared to men (P<0.05) and this difference remained significant after accounting for the differences in percentage of body fat or soluble leptin receptor. OB-R protein was 41% (OB-R170, P<0.05) and 163% (OB-R128, P<0.05) greater in women than men. There was no relationship between OB-R expression and the serum concentrations of leptin or 17β-estradiol. In men, muscle OB-R128 protein was inversely related to serum free testosterone. In women, OB-R98 and OB-R128 were inversely related to total serum testosterone concentration, and OB-R128 to serum free testosterone concentration. SOCS3 protein expression was similar in men and women and was not related to OB-R. In women, there was an inverse relationship between the logarithm of free testosterone and SCOS3 protein content in skeletal muscle (r = −0.46, P<0.05). In summary, there is a gender dimorphism in skeletal muscle leptin receptors expression, which can be partly explained by the influence of testosterone. SOCS3 expression in skeletal muscle is not up-regulated in women, despite very high serum leptin concentrations compared to men. The circulating form of the leptin receptor can not be used as a surrogate measure of the amount of leptin receptors expressed in skeletal muscles

Applying the Behavioural Change Wheel to Encourage Higher Welfare Food Choices

Over the last several decades, positive public attitudes towards animal welfare have continued to develop. Consumers&rsquo; attitudes towards farm animal welfare indicate increasing concern about animal welfare in food production. Yet, this growing interest in the lives of farm animals does not correspond with a wholesale increase in demand for higher welfare products, providing evidence of the citizen-consumer attitude-behaviour gap (herein referred to as the attitude-behaviour gap). Minimising the attitude&ndash;behaviour gap and supporting consumers to make higher animal welfare choices may help producers to enhance the lives of farm animals. However, despite increasing awareness in this area, solutions to resolve this gap often focus on knowledge transfer and do not appear to have had a significant impact. The aim of this article is to review current knowledge around the attitude-behaviour gap, and situate it within the context of the behaviour change wheel; exploring the capabilities, opportunities, and motivations driving, as well as the barriers inhibiting consumers from making higher welfare food choices. Using this framework, the review aims to identify interventions that may boost consumer demand for higher welfare products sold at a premium price and provide suggestions for future research. Further work to increase understanding in this area is then also suggested

Searching for Animal Sentience: A Systematic Review of the Scientific Literature

Knowledge of animal sentience is fundamental to many disciplines and imperative to the animal welfare movement. In this review, we examined what is being explored and discussed, regarding animal sentience, within the scientific literature. Rather than attempting to extract meaning from the many complex and abstract definitions of animal sentience, we searched over two decades of scientific literature using a peer-reviewed list of 174 keywords. The list consisted of human emotions, terminology associated with animal sentience, and traits often thought to be indicative of subjective states. We discovered that very little was actually being explored, and instead there was already much agreement about what animals can feel. Why then is there so much scepticism surrounding the science of animal sentience? Sentience refers to the subjective states of animals, and so is often thought to be impossible to measure objectively. However, when we consider that much of the research found to accept and utilise animal sentience is performed for the development of human drugs and treatment, it appears that measuring sentience is, after all, not quite as impossible as was previously thought. In this paper, we explored what has been published on animal sentience in the scientific literature and where the gaps in research lie. We drew conclusions on the implications for animal welfare science and argued for the importance of addressing these gaps in our knowledge. We found that there is a need for more research on positive emotional states in animals, and that there is still much to learn about taxa such as invertebrates. Such information will not only be useful in supporting and initiating legislative amendments but will help to increase understanding, and potentially positive actions and attitudes towards animals

Demographics Regarding Belief in Non-Human Animal Sentience and Emotional Empathy with Animals: A Pilot Study among Attendees of an Animal Welfare Symposium

Attitudes to animals are linked to beliefs about their ability to experience pain and suffering, their cognition, and their sentience. Education and awareness-raising play a pivotal role in increasing society&rsquo;s consideration of non-human animal welfare. The current pilot study explores the attitudes towards animal welfare among a unique population of people who attended an animal welfare symposium at the University of Sydney. It involved administration of a validated questionnaire that assessed attitudes to animals; specifically exploring participants&rsquo; (n = 41) beliefs about the sentience of animals and their emotional empathy with animals. The resultant data revealed significant associations between participants&rsquo; beliefs in animal sentience and their demographic variables (age, sex and occupation). Female attendees showed stronger beliefs in sentience than male attendees did. Concerning sentience in cows, pigs and cats, older attendees showed stronger beliefs than younger people in sentience relating to hunger and pain. Also, with regard to questions about sentience in dogs, older attendees showed stronger beliefs than younger people in pain-related sentience in dogs. When exploring emotional empathy with animals, the participants&rsquo; statements could be assigned to three clusters characterised by the internal emotional lives of animals and the treatment of animals by humans (Cluster 1), human interactions with animals (Cluster 2) and the keeping of companion and zoo animals (Cluster 3). To the authors&rsquo; knowledge, this pilot study is the first of its kind to investigate the attitudes towards animal welfare of an important group of people who work, study or have a special interest within the animal care and welfare domain

A Kettle of Fish: A Review of the Scientific Literature for Evidence of Fish Sentience

Fish are traded, caught, farmed, and killed in their trillions every year around the world, yet their welfare is often neglected and their sentience regularly disregarded. In this review, we have sought to (1) catalogue the extent to which fish sentience has featured over the past 31 years in the scientific literature and (2) discuss the importance of fish sentience in relation to their commercial uses. We searched the journal database Science Direct using 42 keywords that describe traits or elements of sentience to find articles that were referring to or exploring fish sentience. Our review returned 470 results for fish sentience in 142 different species and subspecies of fish, and featured 19 different sentience keywords. The top four keywords were; &lsquo;stress&rsquo; (psychological) (n = 216, 45.9% of total results), &lsquo;anxiety&rsquo; (n = 144, 30.6%), &lsquo;fear&rsquo; (n = 46, 9.7%), and &lsquo;pain&rsquo; (n = 27, 5.7%). Our findings highlight an abundance of evidence for fish sentience in the published scientific literature. We conclude that legislation governing the treatment of fish and attitudes towards their welfare require scrutiny so that their welfare can be safeguarded across the globe

Ranking of production animalwelfare and ethics issues in Australia and New Zealand by veterinary students

The importance of animal welfare and ethics (AWE) within the veterinary education should reflect community concerns and expectations about AWE, and the professional demands of veterinary accreditation on the first day of practice (or \u27Day One\u27 competences). Currently, much interest and debate surrounds the treatment of production animals, particularly around live export. To explore the attitudes to AWE of veterinary students in Australia and New Zealand, a survey was undertaken to (i) understand what students consider important AWE topics for initial production animal competence; and (ii) ascertain how these priorities correlated with gender, area of intended practice and stage-of-study. The results from 575 veterinary students showed that all students ranked strategies to address painful husbandry procedures as the most important issues on their first day in production animal practice. Additionally, it was found that the importance students assigned to an understanding of human-animal interactions declined as they progressed through the veterinary course. In contrast, the importance of an understanding of euthanasia issues for production animals increased for male students as they progressed through the course, and remained consistently high in females. Females also gave higher ranking to the importance of understanding production animal stress associated with transport, and ranked strategies to address painful husbandry procedures more important than did males. These findings should help the development of AWE teaching resources that address students\u27 attitudes and competence and that can be delivered when students are most receptive

Importance of welfare and ethics competence regarding animals kept for scientific purposes to veterinary students in Australia and New Zealand

Veterinarians are in a strong position of social influence on animal-related issues. Hence, veterinary schools have an opportunity to raise animal health and welfare standards by improving veterinary students\u27 animal welfare and ethics (AWE) education, including that related to animals used for scientific purposes. A survey of 818 students in the early, mid, and senior stages of their courses at all eight veterinary schools across Australia and New Zealand was undertaken on their first day of practice (or Day One Competences) to explore how veterinary students viewed the importance of their competence in the management of welfare and ethical decision-making relating to animals kept for scientific purposes. From highest to lowest, the rankings they assigned were: Animal Ethics Committee (AEC) Procedures or Requirements; 3Rs (Replacement, Refinement and Reduction); Humane Endpoints; Euthanasia; What Is a Research Animal? and Conscientious Objections. Female students rated Conscientious Objections, Humane Endpoints, and Euthanasia significantly higher than male students did across the three stages of study. The score patterns for these three variates showed a trend for the male students to be more likely to score these topics as extremely important as they advanced through the course, but female students\u27 scores tended to decline slightly or stay relatively stable. No gender differences emerged for the three variates: 3Rs (Replacement, Refinement and Reduction); AEC Procedures or Requirements; and What Is a Research Animal? . This study demonstrates that understandings of the regulatory and normative frameworks are considered most important in animal welfare and ethics competence in veterinary students. To the authors\u27 knowledge, this is the first study to investigate what importance veterinary students place on their competence regarding animals kept for scientific purposes