PERCEPTUAL DIFFERENCES IN TWO FARMED FISH FROM BANGLADESH: LOGIT MODEL INFERENCES FOR CONSUMER PREFERENCES
Consumer preferences of fish and fishery products are important due to several product-market characteristics such as price of the fish, its availability, affordability, freshness, flavor and texture as well as age, education, income of the consumers, health and environmental issues. Therefore, the aim of the study is to depict how consumer preferences vary with the different market segments of two popular farmed fish species in Bangladesh; pangasius (pangasianodoan hypophthalmus) and tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus) which have a great contribution in the tremendous growth of aquaculture production in Bangladesh.
For this purpose, 600 respondents-300 of each-were interviewed through a pretested structured questionnaire from seven districts of Bangladesh between the years of 2016 and 2017. The standard dichotomous logistic regression model on the purchase decision of farmed fish (dependent variable) to all independent variables is employed to analyze factors influencing the purchase decision of farmed fish for their household consumption. It was discovered that there are notable discrepancies.
The results show that the average price of both the farmed fish is 118BDT with a minimum price of 30BDT and a maximum of 250BDT. The average price of pangasius is lower than the price of tilapia.
The results also show that several factors are important for tilapia purchase decisions including socioeconomic parameters, such as age, income, and household size. The pangasius preferences are largely important for availability, flavor and taste whereas tilapia preferences are important for freshness including its availability and flavor. The results are different while the product markets are segmented; pangasius-production & consumption zones and tilapia-production & consumption zones.
The implications of the study are actors involved in the two fish supply chain can target the different product market segments considering the findings. Additionally, the pangasius actors need to pay attention to its flavor. The government can also play a significant role in overseeing or subsidizing this sector with a view to increasing fish production and supply, and develop the nation’s GDP.