Italian consumer attitudes towards small pelagic fish

The paper intends to point out the characteristics of modern consumers’ behavior and perception towards small pelagic fish and the knowledge of the product in terms of its nutritional elements, target market, structure of processing and marketing elements in order to evaluate types and quality of information available along the supply chain. The study aims at understanding the demand determinants, consumers’ motivations and expectations in terms of quality, safety, health measures, traceability, availability and product innovation level. Qualitative analysis was used based on the focus groups method, administering a specific questionnaire on a territorial basis. The results indicate some strategies for commercial exploitation of small pelagic fish in order to enhance the level of quantitative and qualitative satisfaction of consumers’ demand for these fish species.