Record Details
Long-Term Health Effects, Risk Perceptions, and Consumption Patterns for Aquacultured Seafood
ScholarsArchive at Oregon State University
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Title | Long-Term Health Effects, Risk Perceptions, and Consumption Patterns for Aquacultured Seafood |
| Names |
Uchida, Hirotsugu
(creator) Roheim, Cathy (creator) Johnston, Roberty (creator) |
| Date Issued | 2014-06-07 (iso8601) |
| Note | Presentation |
| Abstract | For US aquaculture industry, primary factors influencing their competitiveness are consumers' perceptions of long-term health risks related to domestic farmed seafood consumption. The public is often particularly sensitive to food risk scares, and can often dominate other considerations in food choice and lead to large impacts on consumption and the viability of aquaculture industry. While recent labeling requirements have aided consumers in determining the seafood production process and the country of origin, it remains difficult for consumers to address health risk in purchasing decisions as there is widespread confusion with respect to riskiness of various species, whether farmed or wild. Using the data collected through experimental auctions and surveys from actual seafood consumers in Rhode Island, this paper examines how consumers perceive, process and respond to information regarding mixed, or offsetting, long-term health effects in aquaculture products, and how this influence purchase behavior relative to competing food products. We also investigate how the source and type of risk information matter. Our preliminary results show that (a) information that emphasizes health benefit (e.g., omega-3 fatty acid) had mostly no significant impacts on the demand for wild and farmed salmon products, while (b) information emphasizing the health risk (e.g., mercury contamination) had a significant impact on the demand for swordfish product. Thus we find, consistent with previous studies albeit on different settings, that negative information is more influential on consumers' behavior than positive information. Further analyses will be performed on incorporating heterogeneous preferences and individual characteristics from the survey. |
| Genre | Presentation |
| Topic | Fisheries Economics |
| Identifier | Uchida, Hirotsugu, C. Roheim, R. Johnston. 2014. Long-Term Health Effects, Risk Perceptions, and Consumption Patterns for Aquacultured Seafood. In: Towards ecosystem based management of fisheries: what role can economics play?: Proceedings of the Seventeenth Biennial Conference of the International Institute of Fisheries Economics and Trade, July 7-11, 2014, Brisbane, Australia. Complied by Ann L. Shriver & Melissa Errend. Corvallis, OR: International Institute of Fisheries. |
