New Report Details How Consumers Select Seafood

SeafoodSource.com recently released a new seafood consumer survey, detailing American consumers’ interest in seafood at the retail level. Appraising Proteins: American Consumer Behavior at the Retail Level discusses the findings of an online survey of more than 500 American seafood consumers who were asked questions about themselves and their grocery-shopping behavior, with a focus on how seafood fits into their budgets and lifestyles.

 

Kerry Gross, market analyst at Diversified Communications, publisher of SeafoodSource.com, said the report analyzes the decision-making process that goes into how American consumers choose what to buy for dinner, through their grocery shopping experiences to what they ultimately put on their dinner plates.

 

“We segmented shoppers based on the proteins they like to purchase,” Gross said. “It’s interesting how segments purchase proteins differently and make decisions based on nutrition or convenience – so not all shoppers are the same.”

 

The report identifies six protein purchasing market segments that influence seafood sales: “Plan Ahead-ers,” “Harried Healthies,” “Premium Protein Purchasers,” “Budget-Conscious Consumers,” “Deal Enthusiasts” and “Seafood Selectors.”

 

Key findings include: the demographic and geographic attributes of each seafood-buying persona; how many consumers actually enter the grocery store knowing which proteins they’ll buy; which subset is most likely to be influenced while in the store, and how; and who’s choosing what when given the choice between seafood and poultry, beef or pork. Gross said seafood is holding its own against other major protein choices in several different categories of shoppers.

 

“Seafood professionals can take the findings to make smarter marketing and merchandising decisions,” said James Wright, senior editor for SeafoodSource.com, who collaborated on the project.

 

An infographic and more information on survey findings can be found on SeafoodSource.com.