Development of a communication strategy for products from sustainable aquaculture

With the global catch of wild fish stagnant and potential problems arising from conventional aquaculture farms, sustainable aquaculture practices gain in importance. Yet, sustainable practices often involve higher costs which have to be accepted by consumers. Therefore, the question arises: How can products from sustainable aquaculture be successfully communicated to consumers?

Background and Objective

Since several years now, the world market for fish has been constantly growing. The production increased from 130 million tons in 2003 to 154 million tons in 2011. The rapid expansion of aquaculture is mainly responsible for this development. In 2012 aquaculture accounted for 41% of world fish supply, and it is expected to grow further during the next decade.

But aquaculture is criticized for its potentially negative impacts on the environment and for its consequences on fish welfare. One solution to these problems is the adoption of sustainable production methods. Yet, sustainable practices often involve higher production costs. For the expansion of sustainable aquaculture it is therefore essential that its products are communicated to consumers in a targeted manner in order to increase consumers’ acceptance and to stimulate a higher willingness to pay. This is the starting point of the present project.

The project aims to develop a communication strategy for a successful positioning of sustainable aquaculture products on the German market. Thereby German producers of farmed fish will be enabled to address consumers in a more suitable way.

Approach

At the beginning of the project, the spectrum of aquaculture products with sustainability claims and labels on the German market has been registered. Afterwards, the consumer communication of the organizations responsible for the found labels and claims was examined. In a next step we explored the consumers’ view on the found labels and claims as well as on sustainable aquaculture and its products. The influence of different sustainability labels and claims on the purchase decisions of consumers has been explored. In a workshop the results of the analyses were discussed with representatives of the aquaculture sector and of the food retail. Based on all these results, a communication strategy for sustainable aquaculture products was developed.

Data and Methods

• Inventory
• Analysis of the status quo of communication directed towards consumers
• Think aloud protocols
• Focus groups
• Choice experiments and survey

Results

 

• Recommendations for an improved communication of sustainable aquaculture products to German consumers.
• Assessment of the importance of sustainability claims and labels used on aquaculture products.
• Insights into consumers‘ perceptions and attitudes towards sustainable aquaculture and its products.

Thünen-Contact

• Banse, Martin Institute of Market Analysis

Involved external Thünen-Partners

• Fachgebiet Agrar- und Lebensmittelmarketing der Universität Kassel
  (Kassel, Deutschland)

Funding Body

• Bundesprogramm Ökologischer Landbau (BÖLN)
  (national, öffentlich)

Duration

11.2012 - 10.2014

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