title: What determines fresh fish consumption in Croatia?
abstract: Although fresh fish is widely available, consumption still remains below the recommended intake levels among the majority of European consumers. The economic crisis affects consumer food behaviour, therefore fresh fish is perceived as healthy but expensive food product. The aim of this study was to determine the factors influencing fresh fish consumption using an expanded Theory of Planned Behaviour (Ajzen, 1991) as a theoretical framework. The survey was conducted on a heterogeneous sample of 1151 Croatian fresh fish consumers. The study investigated the relationship between attitudes, perceived behavioural control, subjective norm, moral obligation, involvement in health, availability, intention and consumption of fresh fish. Structural Equation Modeling by Partial Least Squares was used to analyse the collected data. The results indicated that attitudes are the strongest positive predictor of the intention to consume fresh fish. Other significant predictors of the intention to consume fresh fish were perceived behavioural control, subjective norm, health involvement and moral obligation. The intention to consume fresh fish showed a strong positive correlation with behaviour. This survey provides valuable information for food marketing professionals and for the food industry in general.
authors.affiliation: Department of Agricultural Marketing, University of Zagreb, Faculty of Agriculture, Zagreb, Croatia. Electronic address: matomic@agr.hr.
authors.forename: Marina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tomić
authors.affiliation: Department of Fisheries, Beekeeping, Game Management and Special Zoology, University of Zagreb, Faculty of Agriculture, Zagreb, Croatia. Electronic address: dmatulic@agr.hr.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Matulić
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Zagreb, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Zagreb, Croatia. Electronic address: mjelic@ffzg.hr.
authors.forename: Margareta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jelić
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D001294:Attitude to Health; D003258:Consumer Behavior; D017523:Croatia; D004435:Eating / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D005399:Fishes; D005518:Food Preferences / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D033182:Intention; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010465:Perception; D017747:Seafood; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Consumers; Fresh fish; Structural equation modeling; Theory of planned behaviour