Understanding why consumers in China switch between wild, farmed, and synthetic bear bile products

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dc.citation.issue3
dc.citation.volume36
dc.contributor.authorHinsley A
dc.contributor.authorWan AKY
dc.contributor.authorGarshelis D
dc.contributor.authorHoffmann M
dc.contributor.authorHu S
dc.contributor.authorLee TM
dc.contributor.authorMeginnis K
dc.contributor.authorMoyle B
dc.contributor.authorQiu Y
dc.contributor.authorRuan X
dc.contributor.authorMilner-Gulland EJ
dc.date.accessioned2024-06-12T00:40:21Z
dc.date.available2024-06-12T00:40:21Z
dc.date.issued2022-06
dc.description.abstractAn important rationale for legally farmed and synthetic wildlife products is that they reduce illegal, wild-sourced trade by supplying markets with sustainable alternatives. For this to work, more established illegal-product consumers must switch to legal alternatives than new legal-product consumers switch to illegal wild products. Despite the widespread debate on the magnitude and direction of switching, studies among actual consumers are lacking. We used an anonymous online survey of 1421 traditional Chinese medicine consumers in China to investigate switching among legal farmed, synthetic, and illegal wild bear bile. We examined the past consumption behavior, applied a discrete choice experiment framed within worsening hypothetical disease scenarios, and used latent class models to investigate groups with shared preferences. Bear bile consumers (86% respondents) were wealthier, more likely to have family who consumed bile, and less knowledgeable about bile treatments than nonconsumers. Consumer preferences were heterogenous, but most consumer preferences switched between bile types as disease worsened. We identified five distinct latent classes within our sample: law-abiding consumers (34% respondents), who prefer legal products and were unlikely to switch; two all-natural consumer groups (53%), who dislike synthetics but may switch between farmed and wild; and two nonconsumer groups (12%), who prefer not to buy bile. People with past experience of bile consumption had different preferences than those without. Willingness to switch to wild products was related to believing they were legal, although the likelihood of switching was mediated by preferences for cheaper products sold in legal, familiar places. We found that consumers of wild bile may switch to legal alternatives, given the availability of a range of products, whereas legal-product consumers may switch to illegal products if the barriers to doing so are small. Understanding preferences that promote or impede switching should be a key consideration when attempting to predict consumer behavior in complex wildlife markets.
dc.description.confidentialfalse
dc.edition.editionJune 2022
dc.identifier.citationHinsley A, Wan AKY, Garshelis D, Hoffmann M, Hu S, Lee TM, Meginnis K, Moyle B, Qiu Y, Ruan X, Milner-Gulland EJ. (2022). Understanding why consumers in China switch between wild, farmed, and synthetic bear bile products. Conservation Biology. 36. 3.
dc.identifier.doi10.1111/cobi.13895
dc.identifier.eissn1523-1739
dc.identifier.elements-typejournal-article
dc.identifier.issn0888-8892
dc.identifier.numbere13895
dc.identifier.urihttps://mro.massey.ac.nz/handle/10179/69794
dc.languageEnglish and Spanish and Chinese (abstract)
dc.publisherWiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Society for Conservation Biology
dc.publisher.urihttps://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/cobi.13895
dc.relation.isPartOfConservation Biology
dc.rights(c) 2022 The Author/s
dc.rightsCC BY 4.0
dc.rights.urihttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.subjectAsiatic black bear
dc.subjectAsiatic black bear, consumer behavior, consumer demand, stated preferences, supply-side approaches, wildlifefarming
dc.subjectcomportamiento del consumidor
dc.subjectconsumer behavior
dc.subjectconsumer demand
dc.subjectcrianza de fauna
dc.subjectdemanda del consumidor
dc.subjectestrategias del lado del suministro
dc.subjectoso negro asiático
dc.subjectpreferencias manifestadas
dc.subjectstated preferences
dc.subjectsupply-side approaches
dc.subjectwildlife farming
dc.titleUnderstanding why consumers in China switch between wild, farmed, and synthetic bear bile products
dc.typeJournal article
pubs.elements-id453321
pubs.organisational-groupOther
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