The Impact of Anthropomorphism in Conversational Agents on the Willingness to Pay for Sustainability Attributes in Pork
Abstract
This study investigates German consumers' willingness to pay (WTP) for sustainability attributes inpork, focusing on regional origin, carbon footprint, and animal welfare as defined by the new hus-bandry label. A discrete choice experiment analyzed through mixed logit models explores consumerpreferences, considering the influence of green consumer values and the design of artificial intelli-gence (AI) assistants, such as conversational agents (CA). The results indicate that German consum-ers highly value regional origin and animal welfare, while their WTP for carbon footprint reductionis comparatively limited. Green consumer values play a significant role in shaping WTP, with envi-ronmentally conscious consumers showing a stronger preference for sustainable pork attributes. Thestudy also examines the role of CA, finding that the degree of anthropomorphism in CAs has littleimpact on consumer valuations. Contrary to prior studies suggesting that human-like agents influencedecision-making, more anthropomorphic CAs did not significantly enhance consumers' WTP and, insome cases, appeared to reduce their likelihood of purchasing, indicating that anthropomorphic cuesalone may be insufficient for effectively nudging consumers toward more sustainable choices.
Keywords
Animal welfare; Consumer Behavior; Discrete Choice Experiment; Sustainability; Willingness to pay