Torbjørn Trondsen

Determinants of seafood consumption in Norway: lifestyle, revealed preferences, and barriers to consumption

Abstract Little research attention has previously been paid to understand the complementary relationship between the consumption of seafood and variation in lifestyle factors. The present paper seeks to address this question by hypothesizing that the consumption of seafood is strongly influenced both by the variation in lifestyle factors and consumers experience with available products in the market. Understanding the main lifestyle factors influencing consumption behaviour and seafood demand is important for marketers who want to increase the product values both for the consumers and themselves. A recursive sequential model of the decision-making process is used to evaluate the effect of socio-demographic variables, consumption of other dinner dishes, other lifestyle variables, and attitudes towards seafood on consumption amongst women of three major seafood categories at-home. The most important finding which can be influenced through the marketing process is that product attributes more than beliefs concerning price are important perceived barriers for consumption. The presence of school-aged kids in the household and regional residence influences what kind of seafood is consumed, while total consumption increases with increasing size of the household, increasing age and higher education. This indicates that there is a potential for suppliers to increase the sales value through marketing of high quality products which satisfy experienced and higher educated consumers, while families with kids should be satisfied through marketing of value-added product forms.

Market orientation of value chains: A conceptual framework based on four case studies from the food industry

Purpose – This paper extends the concept of market orientation from the firm to the value chain level and seeks to develop empirically founded propositions on determinants of different levels of market orientation of value chains.Design/methodology/approach – Four case studies on value chains within the areas of agribusiness and fisheries are conducted. For each value chain, desk research is combined with interviews with decision‐makers of all types of value chain members. Interview guidelines were derived from a conceptual model of potential determinants of value chain market orientation.Findings – Degree of market orientation of value chains is found to be related to degree of heterogeneity and dynamism of end‐users served, nature of chain relationships, regulations and prevailing mental models of decision‐makers. Short and balanced chains are believed to further upstream market orientation.Research limitations/implications – The results point at two areas, where additional research on market orientatio...

Perceived barriers to consumption of fish among Norwegian women.

This study aimed to characterize constraints on consumption of fish perceived by consumers in Norway. A random sample of Norwegian women aged 45-69 years answered a self-administered mail questionnaire in 1996 about eating habits, perceived barriers to fish consumption, socioeconomic status, and questions related to health. Altogether, 9407 women answered the questionnaire (response rate: 52.5%). Data were analyzed by means of logistic regression. Limited supply of fish products that satisfy childrens wishes reduce at-home fish consumption. People with health problems and those who wish to lose weight are dissatisfied with the range of products offered in the marketplace. Satisfaction with quality and availability of wild lean codfish, especially in inland regions, is lower than for aqua-cultured fat salmon. Neither income nor education or health factors were significantly associated with consumption levels among those who would like to eat more fish. Higher education and income were associated with increased dissatisfaction about fish consumption, but also with reduced perception of most barriers. It is concluded that improvements in the supply of high-quality fresh and processed fish products that satisfy (a) childrens wishes, (b) health-oriented family members, and (c) convenience-oriented consumers, will significantly increase at-home consumption of fish.

Health and seafood consumption patterns among women aged45–69 years. A Norwegian seafood consumption study

Main research question: the aim of the study was to investigate how perception about diet and health, eating habits and socioeconomic pattern influence choice of seafood. Materials and methods: a randomly drawn sample of Norwegian women aged 45–69 years answered a self-administrated mail questionnaire about eating habits, socioeconomic status, and questions related to health. There were 9407 women answered the questionnaire (response rate 52.5%). Findings: the mean level of seafood consumption was 2.7 times a week. Seafood consumption increased with (1) increasing belief in the idea that diet is important for health (2) using medicine for cardiovascular disease (3) other healthy eating habits (4) increasing age, (5) increasing household size, (6) decreasing family income, and (7) having residence in coastal areas. The growing consumption of fat fish is greater in central eastern Norway, while lean fish consumption is related to traditional food consumption. Processed fish consumption is related to consumption of other fast food. Conclusions and implications. seafood consumption is strongly related to consumption of three food groups: healthy food, fast food, and traditional food. The marginal benefit is high for health information and the marketing of seafood as healthy food, which fits into the current food lifestyle of consumption in all three food segments. Marketing implications are outlined.

Consumption of seafood: the influence of overweight and health beliefs

Abstract This study investigated the relationship between self reported body weight and health perceptions and choice of seafood in a region with a traditionally high-level of fish consumption. A random sample of women aged 45–69 years who live in northern Norway answered a self-administrated questionnaire about eating habits, socioeconomic factors and questions related to health sent to them by mail; 7556 women answered the questionnaire (56.1% response rate) which was analyzed by logistic regression methods in which odds ratios (OR) were calculated. The mean frequency of consumption of seafood was 15 times a month. Some 46% of the respondents were overweight, 77% agreed that food is important for health and 55% had a desire to reduce weight. Overweight women consumed less lean fish than normal weight women (OR=0.8). Fish consumption was not associated with the desire to reduce weight. Fat and lean fish, but not processed fish, consumption are associated with the perception that food is important for health. A generally healthy food consumption pattern was strongly associated with weekly fish consumption, with normal weight and with the desire to reduce weight. Very high family income was associated with higher fat fish consumption (OR=1.9) normal body weight and for the desire to reduce weight (OR=2.1). High fish consumption in childhood and the belief that food is important for health were strongly associated with high fish consumption (OR=2.1 and 1.4 respectively for lean fish). Kids 60 years compared with 45–49 years). It is concluded that the desire to reduce weight does not influence fish consumption, but overweight women consume less lean fish than women of normal weight. Normal body weight and the desire to reduce overweight are associated with a broader healthy lifestyle pattern, in which seafood has a role in the diet. Higher fish consumption is associated with increasing consumers’ belief and behavior according to foods importance to health, high fish consumption in childhood and a higher level of education and income.

The Dynamics of Consumer Behaviour: On Habit, Discontent, and Other Fish to Fry

Recent research has drawn attention to the role of past behaviour and habit in the overall structure of consumer behaviour. We argue that in cross-sectional data past behaviour and habit must be confounded with present beliefs and attitudes when the behaviour in question has been enacted numerous times before. To disentangle the effects, longitudinal data were collected from a large panel of Norwegian consumers (effective N=4184) in 1996, 2000, and 2004. Cross-lagged panel analysis indicated that higher consumption of traditional seafood led to increasingly negative evaluations of the product supply. These negative evaluations, in turn, prompted substitution of traditional seafood with newly available, processed seafood products and an increasing dominance of aqua-cultured species. The theoretical discussion focuses on the inability of static models of consumer behaviour (in particular, the theory of planned behaviour) to capture such dynamic effects. Marketing and policy implications related to the changing structure of the seafood market are outlined.

Market Orientation and Raw Material Control

Much of the existing literature on market orientation emphasizes the role played by the competencies of companies in selling products. However, in industries that rely on a natural resource sector for its primary input, another constraint may dominate: the limitations on supply of that input. We examine this issue in the context of a particular natural resource sector, the fishery, as a case study of the more general phenomenon. Using the example of Norways apparent lack of market orientation as a supplier of fresh fish, the paper demonstrates how the characteristics of natural resource sectors as well as how public policies are used to manage those sectors may place significant roadblocks in the way of developing a market orientation by the industries that depend on those sectors for raw material. The paper notes that there has been an increased consumer demand for fresh fish, away from the frozen product. This, in principle, should lead to an increased need for a market orientation by sellers and closer relationships between the primary processors and the distributors of fresh seafood. However, several barriers, including those associated with fishery management, hinder this process. These include the presence of a structure where earnings from fishing are independent of quality, the seasonality of supplies in the raw fish markets, the way fish quotas are managed, the structure of first hand sales, and the underdeveloped relationships between supermarkets and the primary processors. In short, the analysis identifies critical linkages between fishery management and the marketing of seafood. Its broader contribution is to increased understanding of the interdependencies between the marketing of natural resource-based products and public management of that resource.

Price links between auction and direct sales of fresh and frozen fish in North Norway (1997-2003)

In North Norway the dominant method of exchange for fresh and frozen fish at the ex-vessel level is by direct (contract) sale, whereby price is negotiated between fish processors and the fishermen. More recently, an auction for frozen fish has been introduced. In this paper we investigate the relationship of prices between these methods of exchange and, in particular, whether the prices develop in a stable pattern between auction and direct sale by means of a cointegration analysis. Monthly prices of size-graded cod and haddock landed in the period 1997-2003 are analysed. For most months, frozen fish sold through auctions realised the highest price, followed by direct sales of fresh and frozen, respectively. Fish sold by auction exhibits a larger monthly variation in price than fish sold directly. Prices for cod were cointegrated to a larger degree than for haddock, and the cointegration was strongest for frozen cod. The analysis also demonstrates that the auction prices for frozen cod and haddock drive the direct sale prices of similar fish, both frozen and fresh, even though the quantity sold via direct sales is greater than that of auctions. Law of one price (LOP) and weak exogeneity were present for cod and haddock.

Market-oriented regional fisheries management—an analysis of four fish regions in the North Atlantic

Abstract What influence do exchange methods have on ex-vessel prices and what are the potential implications for the regional management of the fisheries? This paper undertakes an empirical analysis of exchange methods and ex-vessel prices for specific demersal fish controlled for fish size and quantity in four North Atlantic regions, including Iceland, North-Norway and Scotland. The methodology consists of a comparative analysis of total average price (TAP) and Anova analysis of monthly average prices of cod and plaice landed fresh during the period 1990–1999. Scotlands auctions have the highest TAPs for the species analysed whilst the lowest TAPs are returned from contract sales in Iceland and North-Norway. Icelandic auctions and More–Romsdal auctions adopt intermediate positions in this price hierarchy. Price differences are still present even when correcting for factors such as legal barriers, transport costs from different geographical locations, exchange fees and seasonal variations in supplies. The implications of these findings for current and prospective systems of regional resource and coastal management are then considered and the scope and need for further study is established.

Fisheries Management and Market-oriented Value Adding (MOVA)

This paper focuses on fisheries management systems as a motivation factor for market-oriented value adding (MOVA). Analytically, the paper relies on the marketing and industrial economics literature. It shows how established fisheries management systems reduce motivation for market-oriented value adding (MOVA) and thereby waste resource rent. An improved management model is introduced which motivates MOVA, cost-efficiency, sustainability, and fair social allocation. This model combines a Seasonal Quota Auction (SQA) and administrative allocation of licenses and quotas to communities or fisher groups. This model offers the following advantages in comparison with a pure Individual Transferable Quota (ITQ) model: (i) increases resource rent without privatizing the fish resources to a few private holders; (ii) leases seasonal quotas instead of selling permanent quotas as with ITQ; (iii) improves rent generation by motivating the most market-oriented and efficient fishers by leasing quotas on credit; and (iv) offers the choice of collecting resource rent through fishers cooperatives, regions, ITQ owners, government, or redistribution of rent as a bonus to all fishers.