There is a growing demand for salmon in China and in 2022 the country imported about 199 thousand tonnes of salmon valued at $1.4 billion. In 2018, the Chinese government decided to allow farmed rainbow trout to be label led and sold domestically as salmon, providing consumers with more options. This controversial decision aimed to offer an alternative that bridged the gap between domestically produced rainbow trout and imported farmed Atlantic salmon , known for its luxury and premium quality. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate whether country-of-origin information affected consumers’ sensory perceptions and willingness to pay (WTP) for a salmon product. Using a within-subject design with two evaluation rounds (blind and informed) we combined hedonic liking where 110 consumers rated three salmon samples ( one from each country: Norway, Chile, and China) with a discrete choice experiment.
A linear mixed-effects model analysis indicated that the consumer overall liking of Norwegian and Chilean salmon significantly increased after the country-of-origin information was provided, while regarding Chinese salmon no significant difference was noted. Under blind conditions , no significant difference was noted between Chinese, Chilean and Norwegian salmon (China vs Norway: -0.01 ± 0.16, p = 0.198) and ( China vs Chile: 0.33 ± 0.16, p = 0.116) . Once informed of provenance, Norwegian salmon was significantly preferred over both Chilean (0.63 ± 0.16, p = 0.000), and Chinese salmon (0.59 ± 0.16, p = 0.001), between which there was no preference (-0.045 ± 0.16, p = 0.961).
A multinomial logit model analysis indicated that willingness to pay for salmon was unaffected by country of production unless provenance was informed when consumer salmon choice became significantly influenced. E colabel, price, and overall liking were also found to impact consumer choice.
In summary, these results offer valuable insights for salmon producers/importers/marketers to customize their approaches in response to consumer preferences, refine product positioning, and seize upon opportunities within the competitive salmon market in China.
Keywords : Country-of-origin, Information, S ensory evaluation, C hoice experiment, Willingness to pay