Introduction

Fish have always been considered an important part of human diet and they have long been recognized as a health-promoting food for human nutrition (Banovic et al. 2019). Fish is known to be an excellent source of proteins, long-unsaturated chains of omega-3 fatty acids (EPA and DHA), and vitamin D (Cantillo et al. 2021). Notably, population growth, urbanization, increased demand for fishery and aquaculture products, and the depletion of fish stocks have stressed the need for aquaculture production.

Particularly, aquaculture sector is considered an important economic activity both at global and European levels. It provides food security, employment, and social cohesion especially in coastal areas. Consequently, aquaculture sector plays an important role in constant supply of fish products in the market. More specifically, it contributes half (49.2%) in the total global fisheries production indented for human consumption (FAO 2022). As a result, it is considered the fastest-growing animal food-producing industry globally, representing an annual growth rate of nearly 4.6% during the last decade (FAO 2022). The main commercial species at global level are carp, oysters, salmon, shrimp, and tilapia.

At European level, the total aquaculture production is nearly 1.37 million tons, contributing in almost 1.2% of total world aquaculture production (CFP 2022). Spain, France, Italy, and Greece are the main producers. The main commercial species are Mediterranean mussels, Atlantic salmon, rainbow trout, Gilthead seabream, and European seabass. Consumption levels are also significant. Notably, it has been indicated that the average person living in the EU consumes 3.3 kg (live weight) per year fish or seafood more than in the rest of the world (CFP 2022).

However, aquaculture sector operates in the context of an increasingly market-based economy, characterized by rapid changes in market and ultimate in consumer demand. Consequently, the sustainability of aquaculture sector is strongly depending upon market orientation and consumer demand.

Therefore, this review focuses on marketing challenges, namely product communication, and suggests potential policy and marketing strategy initiatives that could enhance the sustainable development of the aquaculture sector. Thus, the main objectives of the current study are threefold: first, to provide a brief account of evolutionary prospects of the sector; second, to indicate major marketing challenges, namely product communication in aquaculture; third, to suggest policy and marketing strategy recommendations on how to improve consumers’ knowledge and consequently how to tackle consumers’ confusion regarding sustainability production practices. Consequently, on the basis of in-depth review, a systematic search was conducted in which latest insights from relevant research, review articles, and online documents are identified, categorized, and discussed. Data were collected principally by two search engines, namely Scopus and Google Scholar. Research articles and review articles as well as online relevant research documents were included in literature review.

Evolutionary prospects of the sector

Production method information, environmental impacts, and potential fallout to human’s health are rising concerns these days in terms of consumers’ perspective (Rickertsen et al. 2017; Zander et al. 2018). Furthermore, eco-labeling, the knowledge for environmental footprint and the need to protect the natural resources along with the interest for more local products, seems to affect consumer’s choices increasingly (Hoerterer et al. 2022). Consequently, quality and safety of organic products are considered the major determinants of buying motivation (Kazlauskienė et al. 2014). This recent trend is the response of many producers to act more efficiently through the adoption of more sustainable production methods. Thus, there is a special interest on innovative production methods that enhance products’ quality. The best way for this to work is to understand consumers’ needs and respond effectively to these needs by adapting most efficient marketing strategies, especially nowadays where the environmental sustainability of marine resources as well as the health and safety of fishery and aquaculture products are considered major marketing challenges to overcome (Cantillo et al. 2023).

Furthermore, consumers’ interest in health, longevity, and food safety is the key driver in fish consumption (Cantillo et al. 2021). Particularly, major marketing challenges such as depletion of fisheries stocks but also important opportunities such as increased consumption of fishery products and increased demand for safe and quality products (Cantillo et al. 2023), as well as continuous rising of organic products’ market share, have contributed significantly in the dynamic development of organic aquaculture sector.

Thus, today, organic aquaculture sector presents significant development at global level with major perspectives. More specifically, the total global organic aquaculture production is nearly 690,000 tons, with China and Europe representing 81% and 15% respectively of total global organic aquaculture production (Willer et al. 2021). In 2016, the total global organic aquaculture production was more than 415,000 tons (Gampelli et al. 2019). This is a considerable growth of 66%. Organic aquaculture today constitutes nearly the 0.5% of total global aquaculture production (Gampelli et al. 2019), while it is expected to be rising almost by 1.2 million tons in 2030 (Mente et al.2011). The main commercial species at global level are mussels, salmon, and sturgeon (Willer et al. 2021).

At European level, the total organic aquaculture production is nearly 103,500 tons (Willer et al. 2021). Particularly, in 2015, the total organic aquaculture production was 56,000 tons (EUMOFA 2017). This is also a considerable growth of 85%. The main commercial species by volume are mussel, trout, salmon, European sea bass, Gilthead sea bream, oysters, and carp (EUMOFA 2017). The major markets for organic aquaculture products are European countries, led by Germany, the UK, France, and Switzerland. An increase of 20% in the consumption of organic aquaculture products was also observed, notably in France 48%, over the last 6 years (EUMOFA 2017). A significant coverage of this current consumer demand is met by the UK and Norway.

However, despite its recent rapid growth, organic aquaculture is still in its infancy, and organic aquaculture products appear to represent a new market niche for which main marketing issues, notably product communication, need to be addressed to take advantage of the significant potential for growth in the future.

Marketing challenges

Consumer perception is a key concept in order to better understand various aspects of consumer behavior (Hoerterer et al. 2022). Consequently, the prediction of consumer behavior is strongly affected by consumer attitude (Budhathoki et al. 2022). Major studies have pointed out consumer’s interest on conserving fish stocks, the product origin, the price, texture, and production method on choosing fishery products (Saidi et al. 2022; EUMOFA 2017). Furthermore, nutritional value and product quality are considered major determinants of consumers’ purchase behavior (Ibrahim et al. 2021).

Additionally, recent studies focusing on consumer behavior and market interest demonstrate that there is a higher consumer preference of captured fish versus farmed fish (Saidi et al. 2022; Allegro et al. 2021; Mass et al. 2021; Bronnmann and Asche 2017; Kaimakoudi et al. 2014). This is due to the fact that there is a substantial consumer knowledge gap regarding aquaculture production systems. Additionally, this is also being observed in organic aquaculture sector, indicating a substantial consumer knowledge gap and consequently consumer confusion unable to identify the added value of organic aquaculture products (Hoque et al. 2021). This is particularly important for aquaculture sector as it has been observed repeatedly that consumers’ lack of information regarding aquaculture’s risks and benefits has caused an image problem within the European public (Cantillo et al. 2023; Mass et al. 2021; Bronnmann and Hoffmann 2018; Kaimakoudi et al. 2014).

Consumer knowledge

Notably, a plethora of recent studies have point out that aquaculture products are suffering from low quality perception by consumers, creating an image problem within the sector (Saidi et al. 2022; Chico et al. 2021; Carrason et al. 2021; Wongprawmas et al. 2021; Mass et al. 2021; Kresic et al. 2020; Kaimakoudi et al. 2014). Consequently, a greater preference is observed towards captured fish versus farmed fish. Usually, this is due to the fact that aquaculture products are considered lower quality and safety products. More specifically, captured fish versus farmed fish are perceived to be superior in terms of taste, healthiness, and nutritional value, especially by older consumers living in coastal areas with traditional fishing activity (Bimbo et al 2022; Saidi et al. 2022; Kaimakoudi et al. 2014).

Analytically, consumers are misinformed about the method of production and species type of aquaculture products indicating a need for improved information accessibility (Osmond et al. 2023; Saidi et al. 2022). There is an overall lack of awareness regarding farmed fish production and their potential safety and quality characteristics. The limited knowledge of farmed fish product safety, as well as the use of antibiotics, antifungals, and other pharmaceuticals in production method, raises major consumers’ concerns (Saidi et al. 2022; Meng et al. 2021). Consequently, consumers are misinformed regarding the production method of aquaculture products indicating a need for improved information accessibility of the public. Thus, there is a need to develop more efficient communication strategies of product information (Nie et al. 2022) indicating aquaculture production method and the safety and quality characteristics of farmed fish products (Feucht and Zander 2015).

Furthermore, social acceptance is also an emerging significant dimension and constitutes an important issue in aquaculture sector, indicating the need for improving and increasing consumers’ awareness, knowledge, and trust (Weitzman et al. 2022; Mass et al. 2021; Banovic et al. 2019). Particularly, it has been indicated that the lack of product information constitutes the main barrier in social acceptance of aquaculture products in Europe (Petereit et al. 2022). Consequently, strategic initiatives such as opening aquaculture units to visitors, available to school, and other educational institutions to visit could be adopted in order to enhance consumers’ awareness and improve trust for the sector (Chico et al. 2021). Overall, informational campaigns should be carefully designed in order to improve public perception using appropriate communication tools (Murthy et al. 2023) for specific market segments with determined socio-demographic characteristics. Therefore, the selection of suitable media (Murthy et al. 2023) is strongly depended upon the identification of marketing segments that intent to reach in order to effectively disseminates the knowledge of safety and quality characteristics of farmed fish production.

Consumer confusion

Informed consumers could be more positive towards the benefits of new and sustainable production approaches, without being influenced by the skepticism that naturally follows confrontation with unknown technological advantages in food production. One of the major determinants in consumer purchase intention in organic food is trust in the organic label (Bassi et al. 2021). Therefore, the lack of knowledge on the uses and values of organic products prevents consumers to engage in purchasing decision, as it has been indicated that consumer knowledge is a major determinant in consumer decision-making process (Cantillo et al. 2021). This is not an exception for certified aquaculture products, as it has been observed that the provision of information and knowledge of production method (Bronnmann and Hoffmann 2018; Jonell et al. 2016) could be a significant determinant in altering consumer behavior towards more environmental responsible fish consumption.

This is particularly important as the clear orientation of EU’s Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) is now intensely towards the sustainable development of aquaculture sector, by providing a steady financial support aiming on quality, health, and safety as well as eco-friendly production. Eco-labels in aquaculture sector have contributed significantly in increased consumption trends for farmed fish products (Meng et al. 2021) but also in ethical sustainability of industrial aquaculture (Saha 2022). However, despite these major initiatives that were adopted by the sector towards a more sustainable and environmental friendly practice (Rector et al. 2022; Papageorgiou et al. 2021), these have led to a rapid increase in adoption of various standards (Jonell et al. 2016) based on product’s quality, health and safety, animal welfare, and environmental sustainability principles. Some of these quite well-established standards in seafood market are ISO 22000 advocated on health and safety, Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) advocated on environmental sustainability and social responsibility, Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) advocated on animal welfare, and Friends of the Sea (FOS) advocated on organic aquaculture. As a result, this rapid increase of various standards has contributed significantly in a substantial consumer knowledge gap and consequently in consumers’ confusion unable to identify the uses and values and consequently the merits of each of these standards (Cantillo et al. 2021; Hoque et al. 2021; Gampelli et al. 2019; Bronnmann and Asche 2017). Thus, consumers are skeptical and confused in front of a variety of eco-labels and organic logos in the sector (EUMOFA 2017). Notably, in case of eco-labeling, it has been furthermore observed that there is a misinterpretation by consumers as they usually tend to confuse it with the standards regarding food safety assurance (Castro et al. 2016).

This has also contributed in seafood mislabeling (Kroetz et al. 2020) and duplication of certification schemes (Saha 2022). As a result, seafood product consumption is negatively impacted, and consequently, this could negatively impact the major effort of the sector to sustain marine resources. However, despite the fact that there is a lack of knowledge about sustainable production practices (Murthy et al. 2023; Grunert et al. 2014) and consequently in understanding the meaning of eco-labels and organic logos in seafood sector, it appears that consumers are willing to choose, and pay more for sustainable fishery products (Giacomarra et al. 2021). Ultimately, this consumer’s voiced preference could contribute in conservation of fish stocks (Zander et al. 2018).

This trend is strongly supported by the environmental, ethical, and health-benefiting impacts of sustainable fish consumption, as it has been recognized by consumers with increasing awareness on sustainability issues (Bimbo et al. 2022). Notably, consumer awareness and knowledge on aquaculture production process has been indicated that strongly affects consumer’s seafood choice decision (Hoque et al. 2021). Furthermore, the use of organic eco-labels in farmed fish products has been shown that attracts more than twice the value of other eco-labels (Budhathoki et al. 2022) and is preferred over the generic aquaculture products (without labeling and certification) (Saidi et al. 2022). Therefore, the dynamics and the further expansion of organic aquaculture production are strongly depending upon the socio-demographic characteristics of the market segments that these products intend to approach (Bimbo et al. 2022; Kaimakoudi et al. 2014), and they should be seriously considered in designing appropriate marketing strategies aiming to increase product information at environmental, ethical, and health level. This is particularly important, as, nowadays, the operational costs have been increased, such as farmed fish feed and costs of energy (FAO 2022), consequently leading to higher prices of aquaculture products. This rising inflation has resulting in less sustainable product option (Petereit et al. 2022). However, it has been indicated that the perceived price is not a significant predictor of the intention to buy organic fish (Budhathoki et al. 2022). Therefore, it is essential to communicate the benefits of aquaculture products at environmental, health, and safety level in order for consumers to make an informed choice when purchasing seafood (Hoerterer et al. 2022). Consequently, this perceived quality and value of aquaculture products could promote trust and raise purchase intention (Banovic et al. 2019).

Policy recommendations

The long-term environmental, economic, and societal viability of aquaculture sector is strongly depending upon consumer and market orientation. Thus, in order to improve product’s communication and, consequently, increase the demand of aquaculture products, the adoption of a marketing strategy aiming to enhance consumer awareness and knowledge in aquaculture production process and consequently to promote the consumption of aquaculture products could reinforce the image of the sector as a whole.

Marketing campaigns towards the consumption of these products should highlight the healthiness of the products, their consistency, and affordability, as well as their sustainability features, considering that these were the most valued items by consumers (Cantillo et al. 2023). Therefore, information programs regarding aquaculture products’ safety and quality attributes should be developed, aiming at enhanced publicity for the European aquaculture sector in general, which consequently could contribute to the guiltlessness of the whole sector. Thus, as it has been proposed by relevant studies, a focus towards consumers’ awareness in relation to health and nutritional benefits of fish consumption could provide a more efficient communication strategy (Saidi et al. 2022). For this reason, it is essential to consider targeted marketing strategies designed to enhance awareness and facilitate communication about the product. Therefore, a marketing strategy aiming to increase public awareness could improve the customer value of the product and improve the image of aquaculture products within the European market.

Furthermore, one of the main principles of organic aquaculture is strongly based upon environmental sustainability of marine resources. Thus, the sector indicates compliance with major principles of environmental sustainability and animal welfare as well as food quality. As it has been indicated, the lack of product communication strategies both at public and at commercial level has been resulted in the lack of final consumer’s perception regarding the added value of organic aquaculture production method (Feucht and Zander 2015). Thus, in the future, the organic aquaculture sector could focus on clarification and dissemination in the specificity of organic labels. It should further be pinpointed that in order to improve product’s communication and, consequently, increase the demand of organically produced aquaculture products, the adoption of a marketing differentiation strategy (Budhathoki et al. 2021) aiming to enhance consumer awareness and knowledge based on scientific evidences and by promoting the potential environmental, animal welfare, and socio-economic benefits of organic aquaculture versus conventional aquaculture could reinforce the dynamics of the sector as a whole.

Consumer knowledge and consequently consumer confusion are strongly indicating the necessity for the adoption of targeted products’ communication strategies but also for a common eco-labeling certification regime within the European market for organic aquaculture products under the frame of EU’ CFP. Such policy initiatives could be crucial for the sustainable development of the sector, benefiting both local and global communities (Rector et al. 2022). Therefore, these initiatives could contribute significantly in the development of consumers’ knowledge and consequently in consumers’ trust on organic aquaculture production. Overall, it should be recognized that the sustainability of marine resources is not optional. On the contrary, it is essential in achieving the economic growth of aquaculture sector.