CONSUMER PREFERENCE TOWARDS SEAFOOD AMONG WOMEN CONSUMERS FROM DIFFERENT WORK STATUS: A SEMANTIC DIFFERENTIAL ANALYSIS

Seafood is an essential component of the daily food intake owing to its nutritive value, ease of availability and affordability. The aim of the study is to understand whether working status of women consumers has influenced the consumer behavior towards seafood.

A sample of respondents including working and non-working women consumers (n=69) in Cochin in Kerala state, India were surveyed on seafood consumption and preferences. Opinions are presented on a controlled scale between 14 bipolar variables. The findings are plotted in a semantic differential scale which indicate that, in the case of the preferred attribute - fish species, the mean value of variable of working (3.29) and non-working (3.25) women is plotted nearer in the scale showing their similarity in preference. Mean value and nearness in plotting in the case of the preferred attribute- Price of the seafood (3.4, 3.33), purchase time (3.58, 3.54) and place of eating (3.22, 3.12) also indicate the similarity in mean value of the variable or the preference of working and non working women consumers.

Working and non-working women consumers differ in the case of preferred attributes such as freshness identification (3.04, 3.63), frequency of eating (3.09, 3.67) and use of cut, dressed/marinated seafood (3.42, 3). In the case of freshness of the food, working women does not seem to be as concerned as non working women. Compared to the non working women, the frequency of eating of seafood is lesser among working women. To reduce effort and time, working women

prefer purchase of cut/dressed/marinated seafood. As a result they are not able to analyze freshness parameters while non-working women get enough time to analyze fish or fishery product before purchase. Hence it is important for the marketer to understand the attribute preferences of different market segments such as working and non working women or other segments while marketing seafood. Marketers can effectively target different market segments with quality products, different strategies and approaches if their preferences are identified by such comparative analysis.