The Effect of Color on Consumer WTP for Farmed Salmon

Atlantic salmon is recognized for its pink-red color. The color is due to deposition of color pigments in the muscles. Wild salmon absorb the pink-red color pigment astaxanthin from the crustaceans they eat. To impart the pink-red color in farmed salmon, synthetically produced astaxanthin is added t...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Marine resource economics 2005, Vol.20 (2), p.211-219
Main Authors: STEINE, GRO, ALFNES, FRODE, RØRÅ, MIA BENCZE
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aquaculture industry
Carotenoids
Consumer behavior
Consumer economics
Consumer research
Farming
Fish as food
Fish culture
Mariculture
Marine
Marketing research
Mathematical independent variables
Salmo salar
Salmon
Salmon farming
Seafood industry
Thalassorama
Trout
Utility rates
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Summary:Atlantic salmon is recognized for its pink-red color. The color is due to deposition of color pigments in the muscles. Wild salmon absorb the pink-red color pigment astaxanthin from the crustaceans they eat. To impart the pink-red color in farmed salmon, synthetically produced astaxanthin is added to their feed. The more astaxanthin, the redder the flesh becomes. In conventional salmon farming, the relatively expensive astaxanthin constitutes approximately 15% of the total feed costs. In this study, we use a stated choice experiment with pictures to investigate consumer willingness to pay (WTP) for salmon with different degrees of redness. The results show that consumer WTP increases with the redness of the salmon. However, when consumers were informed about the origin of the color, the WTP for the above-normal-red salmon was reduced.
ISSN:0738-1360
2334-5985
DOI:10.1086/mre.20.2.42629470