The role of perceived risk, knowledge, price and cost in explaining dry fish consumption in Bangladesh within the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB)

Abstract

Dry fish is the low-cost dietary protein source in Bangladesh. As far the concern of the researcher, this study is the first of its kind to explore the dry fish consumption behaviour in Bangladesh. The general purpose of this study is to apply the general framework of the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB), explain attitudes, intention and dry fish consumption in Chittagong city and to extend the traditional TPB-model with some additional variables; perceived risk, knowledge, price and cost.

The field experiments were performed in Chittagong city, Bangladesh with convenience sample of 208 respondents. The measurement scales used in this study were selected or adapted from previous studies. The study employs the methods of factor analysis, test of reliability, principal component analysis and multiple regression analysis to analyze the data.

The findings showed that attitude, norms and procedural knowledge emerge as the key determinants of intention, while intention, attitude, norms and perceived risk effect on the consumption frequency. PBC, price and cost had no significant effect on intention and dry fish consumption. Perceived quality is found as the most important attribute to forming consumers’ attitude towards dry fish consumption. The proposed TPB and the extended model both of them fit well with the data and proved the expectations of this study in a promising way.

The study found that people are more concerned about potential long-term risk to their family and others. Therefore, management attention should focus on reducing risks with which consumers may be faced through producing safe and hazard free dry fish. A communication strategy should focus much more on improving procedural knowledge and signing food safety for consumers with lower knowledge than the others.

Key words: TPB, perceived risk, knowledge, price and cost, dry fish consumption, attitude and intention, Bangladesh.