Estimating the value consumers place on farm animal welfare (FAW) provides information on the extent to which consumers are ready to support policy changes aim at improving the welfare of farm animals and developing animal-friendly production systems that can also compete on markets. The current study focused on the welfare of broilers, which was chosen due to its very intensive nature as well as the small shares of alternative broiler production systems in German markets in comparision with other types of farm animals or with other European countries. The welfare problems of broilers in the conventional production system are caused by many reasons such as selective breeding for rapid growth, high stocking density, intensive feeding programs, and long transit periods. Based on such background, the study aimed at exploring consumer preferences and willingness-to-pay (WTP) for a certified FAW product, namely broiler meat, using the contingent valuation method. The label "FAW-certified" implies that the product has been produced under conditions which are in compliance with the welfare needs of respective animals. In addition, the study used the choice experiment method to investigate how consumers value different FAW attributes and alternative broiler production systems, including outdoor and extensive indoor systems. The choice experiment design was based on three process attributes: (a) outdoor access possibility and age of birds at slaughter, (b) the stocking density, and (c) conditions during transport and slaughter. These attributes were studied at different levels reflecting different welfare standards by asking consumers to make trade-offs among a number of hypothetical production scenarios.

The data was obtained from a survey of 300 German broiler consumers using face-to-face interviews. The results of the contingent valuation showed that 82% of the respondents were ready to buy certified FAW products. A majority of these (95%) were willing to pay an extra sum of about e1.5 for 1 kg of "FAW-certified" broiler fillets, which represents a price increase of about 27% in comparison with the actual price of conventional broiler fillets.