Determinants affecting consumers’ preferences of retail market and WTP for safe Rui (Labeo rohita)

Abstract

In developing countries, food safety is an important predictor of consumer attitude when purchasing fish. This paper explores factors affecting the choice of retail markets and consumers’ Willingness to Pay (WTP) for safe fish in Bangladesh. Cross-sectional data were collected through a consumer survey (n = 420) in two major cities. Factor analysis, multinomial logit model, and log-linear regression were employed to investigate the latent structure of a set of variables; assess factors affecting consumers’ WTP and their choices of retail markets for safe fish. The study outcomes demonstrate that consumers perceived the production method as the more influential attribute in choosing safe fish, and their WTP for production method is higher than for safety claims. High earners and female customers with a heightened safety awareness have the strongest preference for safe fish from supermarkets. In contrast, low-income consumers only are more likely to buy safe fish at wet markets. For a high-income level, the presence of a minor in the family, a low number of family members, willingness to join an Environmental Club, and a positive attitude toward attributes substantially influence consumers’ WTP for safe fish positively.

Keywords:

• Safe fish
• willingness to pay
• supermarket
• wet market
• consumer choices
• Bangladesh

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the AEM editor-in-chief and anonymous reviewers for their thoughtful and more detailed comments on the improvement and quality of the paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).