There is now a scientific reason why free-range or cage-free eggs are the top choice of eggs for the customers. A study suggests that people believe it is tastier and has more quality than eggs from caged hens.
In a study published in Anthrozoos titled "Happy Chickens Lay Tastier Eggs: Motivations for Buying Free-range Eggs in Australia," researchers from the University of Adelaide reported that the motivations for people buying free-range eggs include such reasons like better quality, more nutrition values, and safer to eat. In addition, they reasoned that purchasers want to avoid industrialised food.
Although the participants of the study said that caged-egg production involves a "cruel" process, they did not reason it out as to why they prefer the free-range eggs over the caged eggs. But what participants said is that the free-range chickens look "happier" and connected it to the quality of the eggs.
In an article published by Medical Express, the study is suggesting that consumers are more likely to buy a food product that came from an ethical process and is viewed as being of better quality.
It was also revealed by the study that there were high levels of awareness about animal ethics among participants of the caged-egg production compared to other forms of animal farming. Additionally, participants who prefer to buy free-range or cage-free eggs did not tend to buy meat with ethical concerns.
This is because the price difference is much smaller in eggs compared to the different types of meat products. Some people even produce their own free-range eggs at their homes by keeping some few hens.
Dr. Heather Bray, the lead author of the study, said that taste and quality are the strong motivations for the customers to buy the free-range eggs despite paying a higher price. "More importantly these findings suggest that consumers think about animal welfare in a much broader way than we previously thought, and in particular they believe that better welfare is connected to a better quality product," she said.
