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Consumer preference for label presentations of freshness, taste, and serving suggestion on fresh fish packages of Japanese flounder Paralichthys olivaceus

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Abstract

Understanding consumer choice behavior for seafood is important for the efficient and sustainable use of marine resources and the improvement of human health. This study aims to identify the information content that effectively motivates Japanese consumers to purchase fresh fish products. Group interviews with 12 consumers were conducted in September 2021 to collect qualitative information on consumer evaluations of the presentation of package labels for freshness, taste, and serving suggestion. Subsequently, data were collected through a web-based survey, administered to 3651 consumers in the Kanto area, Japan from October to November 2021. A latent class logit model was applied to the data to estimate the influence of product attributes and personal characteristics on the choice and willingness-to-pay for each product attribute. The consumers gave the highest rating to freshness labels. The taste label was evaluated highly by consumers in one class. The group interview showed that when the serving suggestion label recommending meunière use was presented, consumers associated it with the recommendation to heat the fish because of less freshness. The results of the choice experiment also showed that the “meunière” label was evaluated negatively. The consumer segment characterized by a high income and frequent purchases of fish tended to respond to all types of labels.

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Notes

  1. Even the basic tastes are merely one of various factors that affect deliciousness. Most of the food choice factors shown in Table 1 are related to deliciousness because consumers choose more delicious foods. The factors not related to deliciousness would include, for example, consumer budget and accessibility.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Fisheries Research and Education Agency.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Fisheries Resources Institute, Fisheries Research and Education Agency, 2-12-4, Fukuura, Kanazawa-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa, 236-8648, Japan

    Ryutaro Kamiyama

  2. Policy Research Institute, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, 3-1-1, Kasumigaseki, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, 100-0013, Japan

    Hiroki Wakamatsu

  3. Fisheries Technology Institute, Fisheries Research and Education Agency, 2-12-4, Fukuura, Kanazawa-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa, 236-8648, Japan

    Takuya Seko & Kenji Ishihara

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  1. Ryutaro Kamiyama
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Correspondence to Ryutaro Kamiyama.

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Kamiyama, R., Wakamatsu, H., Seko, T. et al. Consumer preference for label presentations of freshness, taste, and serving suggestion on fresh fish packages of Japanese flounder Paralichthys olivaceus. Fish Sci (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12562-024-01779-w

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