USE OF IMPLICIT TOOLS IN RESTAURANTS TO PROMOTE THE CONSUMPTION OF FISH WITH LOW MARKET VALUE

In recent years, European consumers have increasingly concentrated their fish consumption on a few marine species, which have a high economical value. Unfortunately, the intensive fishing pressure exerted on few species can jeopardize the stability of marine ecosystems and produce a huge amount of discard fishes. To address this, promoting the consumption of all the caught fishes, even the species considered of less commercial values, could be a valid solution to tackle excessive and illegal fishing and to promote a responsible and sustainable consumption. Fishes with low market value have all the qualities to be considered a healthy and sustainable food, both for their high nutritional value and limited environmental impact. However, encouraging its consumption at home is not easy, as these species are not easy to handle and need a lot of time to be cooked. Hence, the present study aimed to test a way of promoting the consumption of fish with low market value in restaurants using implicit conditioning tools. In this context, a Choice Experiment was conducted on a sample of 774 Italian consumers, using a Between-Subjects Design.