Purpose -This paper explores the drivers and barriers to seafood consumption in Australia and investigates attitudes toward pre-packaged fresh chilled seafood products.Design/methodology -A two-stage study of seafood consumption in Australia was conducted comprising ten focus groups across six states (n=60) and a national online consumer survey (n=1815).Findings -The main drivers for seafood consumption in Australia are health, taste, convenience, and a desire for diet variety. The main barriers to seafood consumption are price, concerns regarding origin, concerns about freshness, difficulty in evaluating seafood quality, and not liking the taste or texture of fish. The main appeals of pre-packaged fresh chilled seafood products are convenience and ease of preparation, while barriers include price and concerns about origin and freshness.Research limitations/implications -The survey focussed on the main or joint grocery buyers in households and thus may not be representative of the entire Australian population. Practical implications -The findings provide important insights for the Australian seafood industry indeveloping and delivering seafood offerings that will appeal to Australian consumers and thus stimulate seafood consumption. This knowledge will also assist the Australian Government and health educators to more effectively campaign to encourage increased seafood consumption.Originality/value -While research on antecedents to seafood consumption in Europe has been extensive, research into the drivers and barriers to seafood consumption in western countries such as Australia and strategies for increasing seafood consumption is less evident.Keywords Consumers, Seafood consumption, Seafood, Drivers, Barriers Paper type Research PaperAn executive summary for managers and executive readers can be found at the end of the article. IntroductionSeafood is widely accepted to be an important part of a balanced and healthy diet (Trondsen, et al., 2003). Seafood consumption is related to significant health benefits including lower instances of cardiovascular disease (Sidhu, 2003;Verbeke and Vackier, 2005). While annual per capita seafood consumption in Australia is increasing, at approximately 25 kg per year, it remains well below the recommended levels of two serves per week and average consumption for other Asian and European countries, such as Korea (54 kg), Netherlands (52 kg), Spain (41 kg) and France (35 kg) (FAO, 2007). There has been a substantial amount of research concerning consumers' motives and barriers to seafood consumption in European countries; however, there is a lack of research about seafood consumption in western countries such as Australia. Recent concerns about the lack of seafood in the diet of consumers in western countries and the negative consequences for both physical and mental well-being have placed a greater urgency on the need to understand reasons for low seafood consumption. A 2010 London meeting of The Royal Society of Medicine involving the world's foremost authorities in neu...

This study investigates the role and interplay of intrinsic and extrinsic cues when evaluating fish quality and in shaping consumers' attitudes toward fish and fish consumption. A sensory analysis of nine different fish including five variants of Barramundi was conducted to determine how consumers evaluated the fish on intrinsic cues. Focus groups were then conducted to explore the impact of extrinsic cues on attitudes and purchase intentions. While quantitative sensory analysis revealed distinct differences between barramundi variants on intrinsic cues, the qualitative focus groups revealed that, as a brand, barramundi is perceived much more favourably and consistently, with consumers using extrinsic cues, particularly country of origin as surrogate indicators of quality. Key implications include the need for aquaculture producers to ensure intrinsic product quality and consistency, as while Australian consumers use the extrinsic cue of "Australian grown" as a surrogate indicator of quality, as their familiarity and confidence with seafood grows, this overreliance on extrinsic cues may diminish. Keywords:extrinsic cues aquaculture fish consumption intrinsic cues seafood sensory analysis country of origin