Ambiguity tolerance and confusion avoidance in the intent to purchase farmed fish

Abstract

Aquaculture products are presently becoming a crucial part of consumers’ diets. However, asymmetric information regarding farmed fish exposes consumers to ambiguity and often makes them confused. Therefore, this study aims to ascertain the levels of ambiguity tolerance (AT) and confusion avoidance (CA) related to farmed fish and to test if consumers’ AT and CA influence their purchase intent (PI) of such fish. The impact of demographics on consumers’ CA and AT is also explored. The data were obtained through a survey conducted on a randomly selected sample of 1053 households who either purchase and have purchased fish. The collected data were analyzed employing explorative factor analysis, structural equation modeling, and a simple regression model. The study demonstrates that AT had a positive and significant impact on the PI of farmed fish, and also reduced CA. However, the current high level of CA does not influence the PI of farmed fish.