Study and assessment of the behavior of shrimp consumers in Iran based on the theory of planned behavior

Despite the high nutritional value of shrimp, its per capita consumption in the country is low. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate the reasons for this shortage and to propose ways to increase per capita consumption in order to maintain the health of the population. To this purpose, the behavior of shrimp consumers must first be evaluated. This study was conducted to evaluate the behavior of shrimp consumers in the country by using the general framework of the theory of planned behavior. The statistical population of the study was the whole country which selected 10 cities (Mashhad, Tehran, Gorgan, Bandar Abbas, Yazd, Shiraz, Kermanshah, Ilam, Birjand and Tabriz) by randomized sampling and completed 1000 questionnaires by citizens. Statistical analysis were performed using the Structural Equation Model and Liserl software. The results showed that attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavior control had a positive and significant effect on the intention to shrimp consumption. In addition, the perceived behavior control was also effective on increasing of shrimp consumption. It was found that only two assumptions about the significant effect of convenience of cooking on the attitude and the significant effect of income on the subjective norm were rejected and other assumptions (significant effect of quality, packaging and type of supply and processing on attitude, significant effect of price and positive and negative beliefs on subjective norm, significant effect of consumption time, availability and experimental records on perceived behavior control and significant effect of intention to consumption on increasing of shrimp consumption) were confirmed.