@start-1@A series of Welfare Quality reports, which review the extent of existing knowledge on consumer beliefs, concerns and expectations about welfare-friendly products, have revealed significant differences across seven European countries. The research showed that whilst the level of awareness about animal welfare has increased across much of Europe since the early 1990s, due partly to the various scandals involving the meat sector, changes in actual consumer behaviour have varied greatly between different study countries. For example, whilst statistics show a temporary decline in the consumption of meat following the BSE crisis in Italy, France and Britain, there were no clear drops in demand in Sweden, the Netherlands and Norway. These differences in consumer behaviour can be attributed partly to the different economic,@end-1@@start-2@ social, cultural and institutional contexts of each study country. For example, the nature of the food supply and distribution system varies greatly from country to country, which in turn affects the price and availability of welfare-friendly products and the types of information that consumers can access. Similarly, cross-country differences in cultural norms and values with regard to animals can also influence consumer attitudes towards welfare-friendly products. Finally, cross-country differences in who is deemed to be responsible for animal welfare can have a large impact on consumer practices; for example, in Sweden and Norway the state is deemed to be largely responsible for animal welfare issues, whereas in the UK there is more of an emphasis on individual responsibility through consumer choice. More @end-2@