European consumer segments with a high potential for accepting new innovative fish products based on their food-related lifestyle

Abstract

Consumer lifestyles influence consumer behaviour towards food product choices and provide important insights about the existence of consumer segments that vary in their response to new food products. With the aim to contribute to a more market-oriented enhancement of the European aquaculture industry competitiveness, the objective of this study was to identify and profile food-related lifestyle segments of consumers that vary in terms of their willingness to buy new aquaculture fish products. Data were collected through a survey among respondents in three large European fish markets (Spain, France and Germany, N = 1500 in total). Certain core dimensions of the food-related lifestyle construct were used as segmentation bases. We identified five consumer segments across two country groups. The segments differed mainly in terms of their psychographic profile and their intention to buy new aquaculture fish products. Our results contribute to identifying the most promising European consumer segments in terms of buying intention that can be targeted when promoting new aquaculture fish products. The findings have important strategic marketing implications for the food industry and aquaculture, while highlighting the important role food-related lifestyles can play in European segmentation for new food product development.