A hybrid-fuzzy TOPSIS method to analyze the consumption and buying behavior of fishery and aquaculture products (FAPs) in the EU28

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this investigation is to develop a hybrid fuzzy TOPSIS methodology in order to understand in a practical and integrated way, the consuming and buying behavior of EU residents towards Fishery and Aquaculture Products (FAPs), with an emphasis in the consumption and buying frequency. Design/methodology/approach: Data were obtained from the Special Eurobarometer Survey (European Union, 2018b), which is a survey of 27,732 EU residents with different socio-demographic characteristics that represent the 28 EU countries. A hybrid fuzzy TOPSIS methodology that synthesizes the consuming and buying behavior of the EU residents toward FAPs was developed. Findings: The results show that among the countries, Spain has the highest consumption and buying patterns of FAPs, while among the generations it corresponds to the residents born between 1928 and 1945. In addition, there are important differences that depend on the country of residence as well as the generation of the residents. The elasticity analysis evidenced that marketing strategies would have the biggest impact in the countries located in the Central-Eastern zone of the EU and on the generation formed by the people born after 1980. Originality/value: Although in the literature there are many studies that aimed to understand the behavior of consumers for FAPs, few investigations have focused on analyzing and integrating both the consumption and buying behavior, and to our best knowledge, there are no studies providing a methodology that allow making comparisons between different countries regarding the consumption and buying behavior of FAPs.