Determining and modelling consumers’ preferences for ornamental fish keeping

A study was carried out in metropolis Chennai, Tamil Nadu with the objective to find out and model the consumers’ preferences for ornamental fish keeping. Data were collected through personal interview with the help of pilottested interview schedule and orthogonal plan cards. Conjoint analysis and the consequent part-worth estimates for the ornamental fish attributes showed highest average importance score of 38.76 per cent for fish care attribute followed by aquarium type (37.92%) and fish size (23.32%). Among the type of aquaria, community aquarium had high utility value followed by single species and planted aquaria. In fish care level, the consumers preferred mostly the easy care level fishes followed by intermediate level while showing a negative attitude towards fishes warranting intense care. Among ornamental fish sizes, consumers showed more interest for large size fishes followed by medium and small size.