title: Perception, Price and Preference: Consumption and Protection of Wild Animals Used in Traditional Medicine.
abstract: A wide array of wildlife species, including many animals, are used in traditional medicines across many medicinal systems, including in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). Due to over-exploitation and habitat loss, the populations of many animals commonly used in TCM have declined and are unable to meet market demand. A number of measures have been taken to try to reduce the impact that this large and growing market for TCM may have on wild animal species. Consumer preferences and behavior are known to play an important role in the consumption and protection of wild animals used in traditional medicine, and thus are likely to be an important factor in the success of many of these mechanisms--particularly given the significant percentage of TCMs that are over-the-counter products (access to which is not mediated by practitioners). In this study we conducted questionnaires and designed stated preference experiments embodying different simulation scenarios using a random sample of the population in Beijing to elicit individuals' knowledge, perceptions and preferences toward wild or farmed animal materials and their substitutes used in traditional Chinese medicine. We found that respondents had a stated preference for wild materials over farm-raised and other alternatives because they believe that the effectiveness of wild-sourced materials is more credible than that of other sources. However, we also found that, although respondents used TCM products, they had a poor understanding of the function or composition of either traditional Chinese medicines or proprietary Chinese medicines (PCM), and paid little attention to the composition of products when making purchasing decisions. Furthermore, awareness of the need for species protection, or "conservation consciousness" was found to play an important role in willingness to accept substitutions for wild animal materials, while traditional animal medicinal materials (TAMs) derived from well-known endangered species, such as bear bile and tiger bone, show relatively higher substitutability. These results suggest that there is still hope for conservation measures which seek to promote a transition to farmed animal, plant and synthetic ingredients and provide clear directions for future social marketing, education and engagement efforts.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.|Graduate School of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.|College of Agriculture and Biotechnology, Hexi University, Zhangye, China.
authors.forename: Zhao
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.|Endangered Species Scientific Commission of People's Republic China, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Zhigang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.|Graduate School of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Hongxia
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.|Graduate School of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Chunwang
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: College of Biological Sciences, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Aizi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mi
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.|Graduate School of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.|Graduate School of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Xiaowei
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.|Graduate School of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Shaopeng
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cui
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.|Graduate School of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Daiqiang
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.|Graduate School of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Xiaoge
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Ping
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.|Graduate School of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.|Graduate School of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.|School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Anhui University, Hefei, China.
authors.forename: Chunlin
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Songhua
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.|Graduate School of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.|Molecular and Behaviour Ecology Research Group, School of Life Sciences, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, China.
authors.forename: Zhenhua
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.|Endangered Species Scientific Commission of People's Republic China, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.|Endangered Species Scientific Commission of People's Republic China, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Zhibin
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Meng
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000835:Animals, Wild; D001290:Attitude; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D003258:Consumer Behavior; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008516:Medicine, Chinese Traditional / Q000191:economics* / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires