Consumer Preferences for Canned Tuna Products: The Case of the Largest Tuna-Producing City in the Philippines

Consumption of processed products has increased due to changes in the eating habits of consumers. This paper aimed to examine consumer preferences for canned tuna in a top canned tuna-producing city in the Philippines. Qualitative approach was used to identify the attributes and levels that were commonly considered by consumers and a quantitative approach, conjoint analysis, was used to estimate utility and importance values of the product attribute and levels to consumers.Price, packaging form, eco-label and flavour have fairly equal relative importance. Two consumer segments were found using cluster analysis. The first segment placed high importance on packaging forms while the second segment on all attributes. Probit analysis showed the influence of socio-demographic factors and purchasing information to the consumer’s association to the cluster. While consumers were aware of the concept of eco-label they tended to misinterpret the same as an assurance of food safety. The misconception can be reduced by intensive information drive on promoting marine resource conservation to influence consumer preference.