Assessing Consumer Valuation of Sustainability Certification in Seafood Products: Insight from a Discrete Choice Experiment of Korean Blue Food Market

This study utilizes a discrete choice experiment (DCE) to estimate consumer valuation of sustainable aquaculture certification for Atlantic salmon (<i>Salmo salar</i>), one of the most important imported seafood products in South Korea. This experiment investigates consumer preferences across five product attributes: country of origin, product type, preparation method, sustainability certification, and price. Data were collected through an online survey administered by a professional research firm that yielded 24,000 valid choice observations from 1000 respondents. Conditional logit estimates revealed that all specified attributes significantly influenced consumer choices among seafood alternatives. Among the key product attributes, sustainability certification has emerged as the most influential factor affecting consumer decisions. The marginal willingness to pay for sustainably certified aquaculture is estimated to be USD 1.33 per 100 g. These findings provide valuable insights for seafood marketers and policymakers who seek to promote sustainable aquaculture in South Korea.