The choice of prawn or shrimp? Lesson from consumer preferences and price acceptance in the Bangladesh wet fish market

In order to satisfy consumer demand, prawn and shrimp produced in Bangladesh is consumed both at domestic and foreign markets. To analyze the factors influencing consumers' preferences and their willingness to pay for the quality attributes of prawn and shrimp, this study uses a logistic regression and a hedonic price model. A dataset of 350 consumers from wet fish markets in four distinct metropolitan cities of Bangladesh is used for the analysis. It is found that price, size of the crustaceans, perception of safety, household size, number of children at home, number of schooling years, and the respondents' monthly income explain why they choose prawn over shrimp. In addition, they pay more for four distinct characteristics of prawn; sizes, taste, fresh and brownish color, while pay less for frozen and an additional kilogram of prawn. On the other hand, shrimp are typically chosen in bicolor and the smallest three size classes, and cost less when purchased frozen. The policy is that the proper authorities should monitor and implement training programs for the respective officials and the stakeholders of prawn and shrimp value chain etc. over the total marketing system to ensure the food safety issues.