Taste, sustainability, and nutrition: Consumers' attitude toward innovations in aquaculture products

Marine aquaculture is one of the solutions to provide sustainable nutritious food. While technological and product development in the marine aquaculture industry is challenging, the industry is also facing consumer skepticism. Therefore, it is crucial to understand consumers' food decisions to deliver the benefits of marine aquaculture on environmental sustainability and human nutrition. This study aims to test how a sheer cognition of innovative or traditional production methods influences the USA consumers' acceptance of marine aquaculture products. In an online experimental study, 186 consumers from the USA evaluated their perceptions of a series of marine aquaculture products that vary in processing levels. Participants were randomly assigned to one of the three conditions: Tradition, Technology, and Control condition. In the Tradition condition, participants were told the products are produced in a traditional way. In contrast, a high-tech production system is emphasized in the Technology condition. In the Control condition, the producer uses a conventional method to farm seafood. The results of a set of general linear models for repeated measures reveal that emphasizing traditional production methods is associated with better perceptions of tastefulness, healthiness, and sustainability. Further analysis of a structural equation model found that the difference between the Tradition versus Technology brand image mainly lies in the perceived sincerity of the producer. The image of a traditional producer contributes to better consumer trust, and it further leads to a higher perceived value of healthiness and sustainability. The results of the study shed light on the strategies to accelerate technological advances and the social acceptance of innovative nutritious food. The research is one of the early attempts in the aquaculture industry to collect consumer feedback on tech/product development. The process can support future tech/product research projects by enhancing the societal embeddedness of marine aquaculture innovation.