The influence of food involvement on fish consumption: An Australian case study.

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of food involvement as a means of understanding differences in fish consumption levels. This study presents the findings of an online survey of 899 Australian consumers which investigated drivers and barriers to fish consumption among regular, light and very light fish consumers. The findings reveal that higher food involvement leading to increased fish consumption is associated with reduced perceived risk, higher perceived hedonic and symbolic value, and increased product importance. Regular fish consumers are less likely to perceive risk with selecting fish and recognising if fish is fresh than lighter fish consumers. Moreover, regular fish consumers are more likely to perceive higher levels of hedonic value (liking fish and feeling satisfied after eating fish), higher symbolic value (the extent to which people consider eating fish says something about them as a person) and greater product importance (greater interest in food traceability and looking for authentic foods to cook)than lighter fish consumers.Based on these findings, recommendations for increasing food involvement as a means of stimulating seafood consumption through marketing interventions such as consumer information and education, promotional strategies and product development are provided.