Consumers' acceptance of insect-fed farmed fish

Abstract

This thesis deals with aquaculture and more specifically with farmed fish fed on insects. The work aims to examine the factors that are decisive in impacting on consumers’ purchasing decisions. Two factors that seem to contribute to the acceptance or rejection of insect-based fish are food neophobia and food technology neophobia. The study was substantially concerned with the aquaculture sector, concerning farmed fish fed on insects. It was focused on the purchasers of the aquaculture sector. The study followed a quantitative research design and made use of an online questionnaire to collect data. The online questionnaire comprised of existing and modified measurement items that are designed to collect information about consumers’ purchase intention of farmed fish fed on insects and the variables that influence this decision. The study utilized a seven-point Likert scale in order to measure the key variables. Results show that consumers’ preferences for insect-based fish are heterogeneous and important in consumption choices. The major share of the responders is environmentally conscious, present positive attitudes towards aquafarming, expose low percentages towards FN and FTN, and support the use of insect-based protein as feed in aquaculture production. For this segment, the need for alternatives sources of feed is necessary, and tend to be the early adopters of any novel technique that has a positive impact on humans’ health and the environment.