Aquaculture imports from Asia: an analysis of U.S. consumer demand for select food quality attributes. (9th January 2014)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Ortega, David L.; Wang, H. Holly; Olynk Widmar, Nicole J.
• Is Part Of: Agricultural economics. Volume 45:Number 5(2014:Sep.)
• Page Start: 625
• Page End: 634
• Publication Date: 2014-01-09
• Subjects: Agriculture -- Economic aspects -- Periodicals; 338.105
• DOI: 10.1111/agec.12111
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0169-5150

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main"> <title>Abstract</title> <p>The increasing share of imported food in the United States, coupled with highly publicized incidents of food contamination and adulteration in Asia, particularly China, is posing new challenges for consumers and food safety regulators. In this study, we focus on imported shrimp and tilapia, to evaluate consumer willingness‐to‐pay (WTP) for enhanced food safety, use of antibiotics, and eco‐friendly environmental practices. Results show that U.S. consumers were willing‐to‐pay more for enhanced food safety, followed by the use of no antibiotics and environmental friendly production practices. American consumers in our sample were found to have a higher WTP for domestic products and placed more trust on U.S. government verification of product attributes followed by third‐party certification.</p> </abstract>