Sayeed Zubayer, Sugino Hiroaki, Sakai Yutaro, Yagi Nobuyuki
Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-8657, Japan.
Foods. 2021 Nov 19;10(11):2873. doi: 10.3390/foods10112873.
The mud crab is an economically important species found in the mangroves and estuaries of tropical countries and is a popular seafood product in the coastal areas of Southeast Asian markets. The aim of this study is to identify factors affecting consumer preference of mud crabs, and to understand consumers' willingness to pay (WTP) for these factors in a Singapore market where imported mud crabs from other Asian countries are sold. The results showed that the country of origin matters to participants, affecting purchasing decisions, and consumers were willing to pay approximately 16.48 SGD (11.49 USD, the average price of four shops: 35.55 USD/kg for one mud crab) more if the mud crabs were from Sri Lanka if compared with Indonesian or Cambodian mud crabs. Moreover, consumers were willing to pay 25.08 SGD (17.48 USD) more if the mud crabs were alive and 13.40 SGD (9.34 USD) less if the mud crabs were frozen compared with fresh, but not alive, mud crabs. Furthermore, consumers' preference in mud crab was associated with the consumers' religion. Some groups of consumers preferred female mud crabs with eggs over male mud crabs, while other groups preferred male crabs. The results identified diverse consumer preference of mud crabs and, therefore, could provide new insights that are useful for sustainable consumption of mud crabs in the region.
青蟹是一种具有重要经济价值的物种，在热带国家的红树林和河口地区均有发现，并且是东南亚市场沿海地区广受欢迎的海产品。本研究的目的是确定影响消费者对青蟹偏好的因素，并了解在销售来自其他亚洲国家进口青蟹的新加坡市场中，消费者对这些因素的支付意愿（WTP）。结果表明，原产国对参与者很重要，会影响购买决策，与印度尼西亚或柬埔寨青蟹相比，如果青蟹来自斯里兰卡，消费者愿意多支付约16.48新元（11.49美元，四家商店的平均价格：一只青蟹35.55美元/千克）。此外，与新鲜但已死亡的青蟹相比，如果青蟹是活的，消费者愿意多支付25.08新元（17.48美元），如果青蟹是冷冻的，消费者愿意少支付13.40新元（9.34美元）。此外，消费者对青蟹的偏好与消费者的宗教信仰有关。一些消费者群体更喜欢有卵的雌蟹而非雄蟹，而其他群体则更喜欢雄蟹。研究结果确定了消费者对青蟹的多样化偏好，因此可以为该地区青蟹的可持续消费提供有用的新见解。
