The more you know: The equivocal effects of prior knowledge on preferences for hunted vs. farmed wild boar meat

Much of the so-called ‘wild’ or ‘game’ meat bought these days is actually farmed (not hunted), and current legislation does not require marketers to reveal the production method. What would consumers make of this distinction if they knew? We explore the roles of objective and subjective prior knowledge in determining consumer preferences for wild boar (Sus scrofa) sausage produced using meat from hunting, farming or an unspecified production method. A discrete choice experiment that includes two tests and corresponding self-evaluations reveals that farmed meat is the most preferred type, closely followed by hunted meat, while meat from an unspecified production method is clearly the least preferred. Objective knowledge about hunting is positively related to preferences for hunted meat, while the opposite is true for the effect of prior knowledge about farming on preferences for farmed meat. Finally, subjective knowledge is not a reliable predictor of preferences for either hunted or farmed meat.