Food labeling and Chinese consumer preference for naturalness: A new way to differentiate grass-fed dairy products
ABSTRACT: Due to the lack of recognized differentiation for grass-fed dairy products, producers of quality products have failed to capture consumer premiums. This study investigates Chinese consumers' preferences for the naturalness attributes of grass-fed dairy products as potential criteria f...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2025-03-01
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| Series: | Journal of Dairy Science |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S002203022401419X |
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| author | Jingjing Wang Chenguang Li Xiaoxia Dong Zhifeng Gao Eileen R. Gibney Shuhua Yang Lauren McGuinness Nessa Noronha Emma L. Feeney |
| author_facet | Jingjing Wang Chenguang Li Xiaoxia Dong Zhifeng Gao Eileen R. Gibney Shuhua Yang Lauren McGuinness Nessa Noronha Emma L. Feeney |
| author_sort | Jingjing Wang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | ABSTRACT: Due to the lack of recognized differentiation for grass-fed dairy products, producers of quality products have failed to capture consumer premiums. This study investigates Chinese consumers' preferences for the naturalness attributes of grass-fed dairy products as potential criteria for grass-fed milk product differentiation. We examine how grazing conditions (e.g., pasture grazing), animal feed (e.g., fed grass), functional improvement (e.g., increasing CLA, n-3, and vitamin B content), and imagery properties (healthy, natural, tasty, and sustainable) affect consumers' preferences and willingness to pay. Interestingly, consumers reported higher premiums for grazing conditions, animal feed, and functional improvements compared with imagery property attributes. Contrary to the conventional belief that functional improvement attracts the highest consumer premium, we found that for the majority of respondents (who have high preference for naturalness), grazing conditions were the most important factor. This study provides evidence for consumer preferences for the subattributes of grass-fed products, and therefore develops a potential framework to differentiate grass-fed products using naturalness criteria. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-90fd00b46dc7436a85173e06fbc4de2b |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 0022-0302 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-03-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Dairy Science |
| spelling | doaj-art-90fd00b46dc7436a85173e06fbc4de2b2025-08-20T02:54:30ZengElsevierJournal of Dairy Science0022-03022025-03-0110832340235310.3168/jds.2024-25576Food labeling and Chinese consumer preference for naturalness: A new way to differentiate grass-fed dairy productsJingjing Wang0Chenguang Li1Xiaoxia Dong2Zhifeng Gao3Eileen R. Gibney4Shuhua Yang5Lauren McGuinness6Nessa Noronha7Emma L. Feeney8School of Agriculture and Food Science, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland; Corresponding authorSchool of Agriculture and Food Science, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, IrelandInstitute of Agricultural Information, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, ChinaFood and Resource Economics, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611School of Agriculture and Food Science, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland; Food for Health Ireland, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, IrelandSchool of Agriculture and Food Science, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland; Food for Health Ireland, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, IrelandSchool of Agriculture and Food Science, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland; Food for Health Ireland, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, IrelandFood for Health Ireland, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, IrelandSchool of Agriculture and Food Science, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland; Food for Health Ireland, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, IrelandABSTRACT: Due to the lack of recognized differentiation for grass-fed dairy products, producers of quality products have failed to capture consumer premiums. This study investigates Chinese consumers' preferences for the naturalness attributes of grass-fed dairy products as potential criteria for grass-fed milk product differentiation. We examine how grazing conditions (e.g., pasture grazing), animal feed (e.g., fed grass), functional improvement (e.g., increasing CLA, n-3, and vitamin B content), and imagery properties (healthy, natural, tasty, and sustainable) affect consumers' preferences and willingness to pay. Interestingly, consumers reported higher premiums for grazing conditions, animal feed, and functional improvements compared with imagery property attributes. Contrary to the conventional belief that functional improvement attracts the highest consumer premium, we found that for the majority of respondents (who have high preference for naturalness), grazing conditions were the most important factor. This study provides evidence for consumer preferences for the subattributes of grass-fed products, and therefore develops a potential framework to differentiate grass-fed products using naturalness criteria.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S002203022401419Xgrass-fedconsumerpreference for naturalnesspasture grazingdairy |
| spellingShingle | Jingjing Wang Chenguang Li Xiaoxia Dong Zhifeng Gao Eileen R. Gibney Shuhua Yang Lauren McGuinness Nessa Noronha Emma L. Feeney Food labeling and Chinese consumer preference for naturalness: A new way to differentiate grass-fed dairy products Journal of Dairy Science grass-fed consumer preference for naturalness pasture grazing dairy |
| title | Food labeling and Chinese consumer preference for naturalness: A new way to differentiate grass-fed dairy products |
| title_full | Food labeling and Chinese consumer preference for naturalness: A new way to differentiate grass-fed dairy products |
| title_fullStr | Food labeling and Chinese consumer preference for naturalness: A new way to differentiate grass-fed dairy products |
| title_full_unstemmed | Food labeling and Chinese consumer preference for naturalness: A new way to differentiate grass-fed dairy products |
| title_short | Food labeling and Chinese consumer preference for naturalness: A new way to differentiate grass-fed dairy products |
| title_sort | food labeling and chinese consumer preference for naturalness a new way to differentiate grass fed dairy products |
| topic | grass-fed consumer preference for naturalness pasture grazing dairy |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S002203022401419X |
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