Consumer Perceptions and Willingness to Recommend Aquaculture Products in Türkiye

Aquaculture plays a critical role in food security and sustainable animal production, yet consumer acceptance remains limited in many producing countries, including Türkiye. This study investigates whether selected consumer perceptions toward aquaculture products are associated with consumers’ willingness to recommend these products to others, an indicator of social acceptance.Data were collected through an online survey in Türkiye and analyzed using responses from 443 valid participants. The analysis focused on perceptions related to brand preference, production process control and safety compared with wild-caught products, and preference for internationally recognized safety and sustainability certifications. Likert-type responses were evaluated using descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and ordinary least squares regression.The findings indicate that consumers generally hold favorable perceptions regarding the safety, controllability, and certification of aquaculture products. However, these perceptions account for only a small proportion of the variation in willingness to recommend. None of the examined perceptual variables showed a statistically significant effect at the conventional significance level, although perceptions of greater production control exhibited a marginal positive association. Overall, the results demonstrate that technical and rational evaluations of aquaculture products alone are insufficient to drive active recommendation behavior.These findings suggest that improving consumer advocacy for aquaculture products in Türkiye may require strategies that extend beyond safety and certification claims, incorporating affective and experiential dimensions of consumer decision-making.