Consumers’ Cognition, Purchasing Behavior and Willingness-To-Pay for Mullet Roe

• Main Authors: Shih-Chun Hsu, 許詩淳
• Other Authors: Yu-Hui Chen
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2018
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/s92zm3

碩士 === 國立臺灣大學 === 農業經濟學研究所 === 106 === Mullet roe is a traditional food in Taiwan and generates high economic value every year. As catch yields decrease, more research is conducted towards mullet culturing, but less goes towards consumers’ preference. Some research found that adding a little Estradiol to mullet feed could increase female mullet proportion from 15% to 95% in the 19th century. This technique is not often promoted for it is not compliant with the Veterinary Drugs Control Act, and yet feed production factories and fishermen have produced and used it for many years without consumer knowledge. Taiwan’s Fisheries Agency recently announced that estrogen is not allowed in mullet feed and promotes natural mullet culturing. However, research on consumers’ preferences is still absent. Therefore, this research investigates Taiwanese consumers’ cognition, consumption behaviors, and their willingness-to-pay for mullet roe. A choice experiment is employed and the choice data is analyzed with a mixed logit model, a random parameter model, and a latent class model, respectively. The results reveal that Taiwanese consumers’ preferences on mullet roe are heterogeneous and consumers place the highest value on the attribute of certification and inspection, followed by the attribute of wild, and ultimately on low-salt. According to statistical results, more than 70 percent of Taiwanese consumers are willing to pay higher for mullet roe which is estrogen-free. Therefore, Taiwanese consumers are inferred to put more emphasis on safety than flavor. To provide safer mullet roe, the traceability system of mullet roe should be established as soon as possible. Furthermore, this research suggests the same for other processed fishery products in Taiwan.