Consumer preferences for sea fish using conjoint analysis: Exploratory study of the importance of country of origin, obtaining method, storage conditions and purchasing price

Abstract

The fishing industry plays an important role in the EU economy. Within the EU member states, Spain is the largest fish producer (catches and aquaculture) in terms of volume and also one of the major fish and fishing products consuming countries. However, despite the role of this food category in the Mediterranean diet, fish consumption might experience an important decrease in the future as a result of the changes in food habits observed over the last years. The main objective of the present paper was to investigate, by means of an exploratory study, the relative importance of different attributes on consumer perception of different factors (country of origin, obtaining method, storage conditions and purchasing price) in the decision making process when choosing sea fish in general. To achieve this goal the study was organized in two complementary steps: a qualitative approach (focus group discussions) aimed to identify which attributes and levels were considered the most relevant in the decision-making process when choosing sea fish; and a quantitative approach where conjoint analysis (CA) was applied to determine the utility values for the different levels of the selected attributes and the relative importance that these attributes have for sea fish purchasers. Among others, the most important factors for consumers when choosing sea fish were the country of origin (Spain–Morocco–Norway), the obtaining method (wild-farmed sea fish), the storage conditions (chilled-frozen) and the purchasing price (6–12–18 €/kg). In general, quantitative results showed that country of origin was the most important factor when choosing sea fish, although other related factors such as perceived fish freshness might be included. The three remaining attributes had a similar moderate importance, the autochthonous fresh wild sea fish sold at 6–12 €/kg being the preferred option. Only one segment of consumers (19.6%) preferred farmed sea fish instead of wild sea fish. However the relative importance of the obtaining method attribute compared to the country of origin or the storage condition was very low. Based on these results, effective information strategies seem to be needed in order to support and increase farmed sea fish consumption, thus reducing the impact of unsustainable fishing practices and facing up to the overexploitation of the natural fish resources.