Analysis of factors affecting households’ fish consumption in Erzurum, Turkey

Abstract

This paper focused on the socio-demographic factors influencing fish consumption in Erzurum, Turkey. The data were collected from 271 households by using face to face survey technique. The Logit model has been used to analyze the socio-economic factors affecting fish consumption of households. The prices of meat, chicken and fish, and income have been used as the variables affecting the probability of fish consumption. According to the results from logit regression analysis, red meat price, chicken meat price and income are significant and positively correlated with fish consumption. An increase in red meat price resulted in a 1.82 % increase in the likelihood to purchase fish. As in the price of meat, the estimated 0.02 change in probability for income indicated that a unit rise in chicken meat price caused a 2.25 % increase in the likelihood to purchase fish. In the light of the findings, it can be recommended that fish marketers and processors should consider income, the prices of red meat, chicken meat and fish among socioeconomic factors in their formulation of marketing strategies aimed at promoting fish consumption in Turkey. Furthermore, stocking and marketing conditions should be rearranged, and household and marketing standards should be formed.