This study examines the consumers’ willingness to pay (WTP) for safer fish produced under controlled feed management and without antibiotics in Bangladesh. In this study, we used tilapia and pangas considering that these species are commonly consumed fish species in Bangladesh. Data were collected from 135 fish consumers of Mymensingh, Patuakhali, and Narayanganj districts through experimental auction (Vickrey auction) sessions conducted in June and July 2022. The bidders were purposively chosen from rural (36%) and urban (64%) areas. Among the respondents, 28% were female consumers, and the remaining 72% were male and selected from different income groups. We presented two items with varied qualities for each variety of fish throughout the auction. One was purchased from the neighborhood wet market, and the other was cultured with controlled feed management under the supervision of the Bangladesh Fisheries Research Institute. Each bidder bid two prices for each fish in a particular session.
In the 1st section of each fish auction, the participants were asked to bid their WTP for two fish treatments based on the products’ visual sensory attributes. The information about the sources and production practices was not revealed during the first section of the auction. In the 2nd section, the bidders were provided with the pathogenic bacterial count, presence of antibiotics, and heavy metal levels of two treatments of fish. They were then asked to bid their WTP on those fish treatments.
The consumers showed a willingness to pay 35% and 31% premiums for safer tilapia and pangasius, respectively, when they fully acknowledged the visible and invisible attributes. Local wet market buyers paid 33% and 21% more for safer tilapia and pangasius at the Mymensingh and Narayanganj auction venues, which is approximately in line with the average WTP seen in controlled auction settings.
The research looked at how consumers’ buying habits changed if they knew more about the safety features of the products and the descriptive result showed that they were willing to spend more for safer fish. The result indicates that any marketing activities with full information about the food products particularly