Consumer Purchase Intentions for Certified Farm-Raised Atlantic Salmon

Abstract

The occurrences of food safety incidents like polychlorinated biphenyls in farmed Atlantic salmon in Canada heightened public awareness causing significant reduction in the consumption of the product. This has induced policymakers and stakeholders to implement traceability systems as part of enhancing consumers' trust and safety in the industry. This study provides information on consumers' awareness about traceability systems of farm-raised Atlantic salmon and their willingness to pay for traceable product in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. In this study, we used a logistic regression model to assess consumers' preferences for farm-raised Atlantic salmon. To estimate the parameters of the model, a telephone survey was carried out in fall 2018 over 200 consumers in the province. The results of the study showed that age of the respondents, education level, household size, and household consumptions were significant determinants of the Newfoundlanders and Labradoreans' willingness-to-pay a premium price for the farm-raised traceable salmon. Moreover, a shortage of public knowledge about the traceability systems was also observed in the empirical evidence. To increase the consumers' knowledge about the value of traceability system and its aspects, provincial authorities and private food companies need to take further initiatives. Providing detail labeling could be one of the suitable ways of communicating traceability to consumers. Besides, comprehensive monitoring by the competent authorities is also required to guarantee the truthfulness of traceable information and to reveal the food safety problems for enhancing the degree of consumer confidence in traceability systems. .