An analysis of consumer behaviour at selected fish markets of West Bengal, India

Many factors, components influence a consumer towards his/her decision-making process, which affects his/her purchasing behaviour.The present study was conducted in selected markets to analyse consumer behaviour for purchasing of fish and other available aquatic species.Primary data was collected from one hundred and twenty randomly selected consumers from four purposively selected retail markets.The frequency, percentage analysis and Kruskal-Wallis 'H' test were used to analyse consumers' preferences and constraints.The study revealed that consumers' preference was based on different income groups while the frequency of purchase was largely influenced by the family size of the consumers.Dominancy of the male consumers (85.83%) in the market was also documented.A perception index score of variety of fishes and price in the markets revealed that there was a significant difference in score between the markets, X 2 (3) = 14.711, p = 0.002 and X 2 (3) = 10.848,p = 0.013, respectively.Lack of local fresh fish was the major constraint identified followed by irregular supply of fish, price fluctuation, unhygienic condition and congestion of the market.