FACTORS AFFECTING CONSUMERS' BELIEFS ABOUT AQUACULTURE

Beliefs about food harvesting methods have increased their importance in consumer's purchase decisions since the beginning of the new century. This article tests different factors that may affect consumers' beliefs and attitudes towards aquaculture as a method for food production. Individual's demographic characteristics, place of purchase and generic advertising credibility, are the factors whose effects were tested using two independent samples in consecutive years. A factor index from a set of scales recording different beliefs about aquaculture and its products is used as the dependent variable in two linear models testing for significant relations in both years. Educational level, retail format and advertising credibility appear to be the major factors affecting the scores of the beliefs' index in all samples.