Environmental Economics

Speciesism: we are biased toward our own species (for example, see the work of Peter Singer). Disclaimer: I’m mainly familiar with Singer’s work via the essay, “The Drowning Child and the Expanding Circle.” Also, genetic distance may matter. Although bushmeat (chimpanzee meat) is consumed by some, many of us will shudder at the thought of consuming chimp meat. Genetic distance isn’t a factor with the robins.
On the conservation side (and the willingness to pay literature), there is a greater propensity to allocate resources to protect charismatic macrofauna (the large & cute animals).
I have no grand conclusion besides: humans are funny animals.

So here is a related question: Imagine you ask someone for the WTP for a chicken. And then you ask for the WTA the chicken’s death? Is it going to be the same and if not then for what reasons?
Or slightly differently: If you see a chicken in a farm and the farmer asks whether you want to eat it, that particular one, would you feel the same about is as if you had bought any particular chicken in a supermarket?
I really think the processing part does play a role, the personification or the relationship that one has with the animal. And in the moment one has spent some time with an animal, even a short period, that might already be enough to form a sort of bond.