Journal of International Fisheries▶ Note ◀

vol.18，2019

Consumers’ Evaluation of “Ise-Shima” and “Ama” through a Focus on Distancefrom Consumption Area
Takahiro MATSUI†, Mami HIROSE＊ and Fukuji YAMADA＊＊Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology／＊Former undergraduate studentof Mie University／＊＊Mie University, graduate school
E-mail：†t-matsui@m.kaiyodai.ac.jp【abstract】
This study uses choice experiments to clarify how high a WTP consumers have for
Ise-Shima products and Ama hand-picked products relative to ordinary marineproducts. In addition, the regression analysis declared the consumer trait that isindicative of a high WTP for Ise-Shima products. From the results of the choice
experiments, the WTP for 15 g of Ise-Shima dried Hijiki is 44.4 yen higher than for thedomestic products, and Ama hand-picked products have 38.3 yen higher WTP thanordinary products. In addition, the results of the regression analysis show that theWTP for Ise-Shima products (Hijiki) was found to be related to factors such as age,householdincome, preference,

advertisementawareness, shopping frequency,Japanese food frequency and distance to Ise-Shima. Regarding distance, in particular,
the relationship is not simple as “the WTP decreases as the distance becomes
physically longer”. It suggests that other influences are controlled and attention ispaid only to the effect of distance, “the WTP can increase as the distance lengthens.”
On top of that, other factors such as the awareness of advertisements on localities
affect WTP. As a result, “the WTP becomes higher if the distance shortens” is arelationship that exists.
【keywords】
Ise-Shima, Ama, consumers’ evaluation, WTP

1. Introduction
In recent years, fisheries in Mie Prefecture have faced critical issues, such as adecline in resources, price stagnation, and the aging of fishermen. In thesecircumstances, the strengths of the marine products produced in Mie Prefecture must
be clarified. As part of this clarification, this research analyzes the brand value of the- 19 -

Takahiro MATSUI, Mami HIROSE and Fukuji YAMADA“Ise-Shima” and “Ama” —traditional Japanese woman divers—. In other words, weinvestigate how consumers evaluate these brands. We also examine how distanceaffects brand values.
Mie Prefecture, especially the Ise-Shima region, attracted significant attention
because of the 62nd Shikinen-Sengu (the relocation of the Ise Grand Shrine) held inOctober 2013 and the 42nd Summit Conference (Ise-Shima Summit) in May 2016. Inaddition, Ama attracts significant attention through a TV drama that was broadcast
from April to September 2013. Because Mie Prefecture has approximately half of theAma population, how we utilize these advantages under the severe conditions in themarine industry is seemingly important.
In these circumstances, this study clarifies how much consumers are willing to payfor Ise-Shima marine products (Ise-Shima products) and those harvested by Ama (Amaharvested products) relative to the other marine products(1). Furthermore, thisresearch also reveals the characteristics of people who have high willingness to pay(WTP) for the Ise-Shima products.
In the next section, we measure marginal willingness to pay (MWTP) for Ise-Shimaproducts and Ama harvested products through a choice experiment. In Section 3, thisresearch uses a regression analysis to examine the traits of consumers with a highWTP for Ise-Shima products relative to ordinary products. In Section 4, a discussion, asummary, and future tasks are provided.

2. Value of Ise-Shima and Ama; measurement through choice experiment2-1. An overview
Matsui et al. (2015) conducted choice experiments on university students to measure
the MWTP for Ise-Shima products and Ama harvested products. Seaweed products (15g dried Hijiki, Sargassum fusiforme) were analyzed, using the attributes and levels
shown in Table 1. There was a significant increase of WTP both in Ise-Shima products
and Ama hand-picked products. Approximately 10 yen MWTP was shown as the result,
Table 1 Attributes and levels in Matsui et al. (2015)
AttributePrice
Locality
Producer/MethodLevels
98 yen128 yenIse-Shima
Mie
Ama hand-picked seaweed

158 yen
188 yenJapan
Korea
Ordinary seaweed

Note: The same attributes and levels are used in this research.

- 20 -

Consumers’ Evaluation of “Ise-Shima” and “Ama” through a Focus on Distance from
Consumption Area

which was generally considered to be fine. Thus, we decided to adopt seaweed products(15 g dried Hijiki) for the current study, using the same attributes and levels as inMatsui et al. (2015).
In October 2014, choice experiments were conducted on the people registered withMacromill, Inc. The other items mentioned in Section 3 were also conducted together.
The subjects were consumers in five prefectures: Aichi, Mie, Nara, Kyoto, and Osaka.
From each prefecture, 90 people (450 in total) were categorized by gender andgeneration (20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, and 60s) based on the population ratio(2).
To create a profile, the L16 orthogonal table was used. The subjects selected themost desirable alternative among four, product A, product B, product C (15 g driedHijiki), and “not buying any”, 16 times repeatedly. Figure 1 is part of the profile
actually used (displayed on the web)(3).
2-2. Results
Table 2 shows the results of the estimation using the conditional logit model
implemented with the Statistical Computing Environment R “survival” package.
Based on this result, the MWTP for each attribute was estimated. In the estimation,
the standards were fixed: the locality is Japan and the producers and methods areordinary seaweed.
Product A
Locality
Ise-Shima
Producer/method
Ordinary
harvestedseaweedPrice
158 yenTable 2

Product B
Locality
Mie Pref.
Producer/method

Product C
Locality
Mie Pref.
Producer/method
Ama
Ordinaryhand-picked
harvestedseaweedseaweedPrice
Price
188 yen
128 yenFigure 1 Example profile

I buy none ofthem

Estimation results (conditional logit model)

Constant term
Price
Ise-Shima products
Mie products
Korean products
Ama hand-picked products

Coefficient
3.68-2.58×10-2
1.15
0.646
-2.16
0.989

- 21 -t-value39.3
-39.8
20.9
12.1
-25.3
26.2

p-value
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00

MWTP
44.4
25.0
-83.7
38.3

Takahiro MATSUI, Mami HIROSE and Fukuji YAMADA

All items are significant at the 1% level. The WTP for 15 g of Ise-Shima dried Hijiki
is 44.4 yen higher than that of domestic products. The WTP for Ama hand-picked
products is 38.3 yen higher than that of products produced by the ordinary method.
According to similar research in Matsui et al. (2015) on students, the MWTP of theIse-Shima dried Hijiki is 9.39 yen and of the Ama hand-picked products is 8.19 yen.
This indicates that the MWTP of the ordinary consumers is much higher than that ofstudents(4).

3. Characteristics of people with high willingness to pay for Ise-Shima products
3-1. An overview
In the previous section, general consumers were shown to have a high MWTP for
Ise-Shima products and Ama hand-picked products. In this section, we clarify thetraits of consumers with a higher WTP for Ise-Shima products relative to ordinary
marine products(5).
Oura (2007) analyzed fruits and vegetables from the viewpoint of production andlocality marketing. Regarding the place of origin display, he concluded that “(1) theplace of production close to the point of consumption is highly evaluated, and (2)locality with special brand image is highly evaluated” (p.127). By using a choice
experiment, this finding revealed consumers’ WTP for various agricultural products(petit tomatoes, green onions, broccoli, and onions) from different localities (Chiba,Saitama, Ibaraki, Gunma, Aichi, Hyogo, Kumamoto, Saga, Hokkaido, Korea, China,and the United States) for consumers in specific areas (Tokyo, Kanagawa, Chiba, andSaitama). However, the study did not clearly analyze the impact on consumers’
evaluation based on the distance between the place of production and the consumers.
Therefore, in this section, we ask the WTP for the marine products harvested in thespecific area (Ise-Shima) for consumers from different areas. We used regression
analysis to determine how distances from the producing area and other personal
attributes influence WTP. To reveal each consumer’s WTP, questionnaires in CVM
format (a payment card method) are provided, in addition to the items of the choice
experiment mentioned in the previous section.
First, as previously described, the WTP for Ise-Shima products is necessary as anexplained variable. The subjects answered the following question: “How much can they
pay within 100-160 yen for 15 g of Ise-Shima dried Hijiki given that ordinary domestic

Hijiki is 120 yen?(6)”. Table 3 indicates the items used as explanatory variables. In- 22 -Consumers’ Evaluation of “Ise-Shima” and “Ama” through a Focus on Distance fromConsumption Area

Table 3
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
(6)
(7)
(8)

Name of variables
AgeSexChildrenHousehold members
Household income
Hijiki experience
Hijiki preference
Visitation(9)

Ads awareness

(10)
(11)

(13)
(14)
(15)
(16)
(17)
(18)
(19)
(20)
(21)

Frequency of Kintetsu
Shopping frequency
Japanese foodfrequency
Hokkaido/Tohoku
Kanto
Kinki
Chugoku/Shikoku
Kyusyu/Okinawa
Aichi
Nara
Kyoto
Osaka

(22)

Distance(12)

List of explanatory variables

Description
AgeSexHave children or not
Number of people per household
Household income
Have ever eaten Hijiki or not
Like Hijiki or not
Have been to Ise/Shima/Toba before or not
Usually aware of advertisements of Ise-Shima andToba
Frequency of use of Kintetsu trains and buses
Frequency of going grocery shopping at supermarkets
Frequency of eating Japanese food for dinnerOrigin of respondents

Residency
Direct distance between the residential city/town andIse City (km)addition to the general (age, sex, and income) and the geographical (distance, origin,and residential area) variables, items that may affect the food habits and evaluation ofIse-Shima are added.
For each of these items, answers were obtained in choice and written formats, asindicated in Table 4 (middle column). From rows (1) to (12), the explanatory variables
are shown in Table 4 (right column). The dummies for the origin and the residential
prefectures, as in (13) to (21), are based on the Chubu area and Mie Prefecture (all 0).
The explanatory variables (22) —the distances— are measured from Ise City Hall toeach city/town/village office of the residential areas using the Google maps distancemeasurement tool.
3-2. Results
Table 5 shows the results of the estimation using the Tobit model implemented in the- 23 -Takahiro MATSUI, Mami HIROSE and Fukuji YAMADA

Table 4
(1) Age(2) Sex(3) Children(4) Householdmembers(5) Householdincome(6) Hijiki
experience(7) Hijiki
preference(8) Visitation(9) Ads
awareness(10) Kintetsu(11) Shopping(12) Japanese
food

Alternatives/answer format and variables

Alternatives/answer format
Written by number
MaleFemale
NoYes
Written by number
Less than 2 million yen
From 2 million yen and more to less than 4million yen
From 4 million yen and more to less than 6
million yen
From 6 million yen and more to less than 8
million yen
From 8 million yen and more to less than 10
million yen
From 10 million yen and more to less than 12
million yen
From 12 million yen and more to less than 14
million yen
From 14 million yen and more to less than 16
million yen
From 16 million yen and more to less than 18
million yen
From 18 million yen and more to less than 20
million yen
20 million yen and overI have eaten Hijiki.
I have never eaten Hijiki.
I have not eaten Hijiki./I am not sure.
I don’t like Hijiki.
I don’t prefer Hijiki.
It’s difficult to say.
I prefer Hijiki.
I like Hijiki.
I have never visited.
I have visited.
I have never seen the advertisements./I havenever noticed the advertisements.
I seldom see the advertisements./I seldom noticethe advertisements.
I have seen the advertisements.
I sometimes see the advertisements.
I frequently notice the advertisements.
(10) I don’t use Kintetsu. (11) I don’t go shopping.
(12) I don’t eat Japanese food.
Once a week or less
Two to three times a week or more- 24 -Variables
Age0101
Number ofpeople
12345678910110
10123450112345012

Consumers’ Evaluation of “Ise-Shima” and “Ama” through a Focus on Distance fromConsumption Area

(13) – (17)OriginWritten name of prefecture(18) – (21)Residence

Written name of prefecture(22) Distance

Written name of residence

0 (Chubu area)
1 (Specifiedareas)0 (Mie)1 (Specifiedprefectures)
Distance (km)Table 5 Result of estimation (Tobit model)Intercept 1
Intercept 2
AgeSexChildrenHousehold members
Household income
Hijiki experience
Hijiki preference
Visitation
Ads awarenessFrequency of Kintetsu
Shopping frequency
Japanese food frequency
Hokkaido/Tohoku
Kanto
Kinki
Chugoku/Shikoku
Kyusyu/Okinawa
Aichi
Nara
Kyoto
Osaka
Distance

Coefficient
57.2
2.91
0.151
1.95
0.272
0.261
1.01
38.1
5.66
2.58
2.04
2.64
3.69
5.22
12.8
4.26
0.628
0.470
-6.94
-3.42
-6.03
-3.49
-8.11
0.109

t-value
6.16
76.7
1.85
1.00
0.114
0.332
1.79
3.26
5.38
0.7431.93
1.61
2.26
2.20
1.26
0.686
0.165
0.0690-1.27-0.575-1.48-0.600-1.59
1.81

p-value
7.26×10-10
2.00×10-16
0.0645
0.318
0.909
0.740
0.0737
1.11×10-3
7.37×10-80.458
0.05390.107
0.02420.0276
0.209
0.493
0.869
0.945
0.203
0.566
0.140
0.549
0.112
0.0710“VGAM” package of the Statistical Computing Environment R(7).
Both Hijiki experience and Hijiki preference were significantly positive at the 1%level; both shopping frequency and Japanese food frequency were significantly positiveat the 5% level; and age, household income, awareness of advertisements, and distance
are all positive and significant at the 10% level. These results indicate that those whoare aged, have high household incomes, like Hijiki (or have never eaten Hijiki), often
see advertisements for Ise, Shima, and Toba, frequently go grocery shopping, often eat
Japanese style dinners, and live farther from Ise-Shima have a higher WTP for Hijikifrom Ise-Shima (8).

- 25 -

Takahiro MATSUI, Mami HIROSE and Fukuji YAMADA

4. Discussion and Conclusion
4-1. Discussion
The result of the choice experiment in Section 2 indicated that consumers have ahigher WTP for Ise-Shima marine products and Ama hand-picked products thanordinary products. In addition, the results of the regression analysis in the previous
section indicated that, age, household income, preference, advertisement awareness,
shopping frequency, Japanese food frequency, and distance to Ise-Shima have arelationship to the WTP for Ise-Shima marine products.
The WTP for these marine products of general consumers is significantly higher
than that of students relative to Matsui et al. (2015), as shown in the result of thechoice experiment in Section 2. This result is consistent with the result of theregression analysis in the previous section. In other words, consumers are older andhave higher incomes than students.
The results of the regression analysis in the previous section indicate that
consumers who are older, have higher household incomes, like Hijiki, frequently noticeadvertisements, go shopping more frequently, and eat Japanese foods more often aregenerally considered to have a higher WTP for Ise-Shima products. However,consumers who reside farther from the production area have a higher WTP for thesemarine products. These results seem inconsistent with Oura (2007), and attention isnecessary.
Therefore, Table 6 shows the average value of the responses to the questionnaire foreach prefecture with respect to the WTP for Hijiki from Ise-Shima and the explanatory
variables that were significant in the regression analysis of the previous section. The
result of the regression analysis in the previous section indicates that “consumers whoare closer to Ise-Shima have lower willingness to pay for marine products of Ise-Shima.”
However, in fact, Mie Prefecture, which is the closest to Ise-Shima, has the highest
WTP and Osaka has the lowest WTP. Although the rankings of Aichi and Kyoto arereversed, the tendency is that consumers who are closer to Ise-Shima are more likely tohave a higher WTP for the Ise-Shima products.
This is because the relationship is not simple as “the WTP decreases as the distancebecomes physically longer”. Rather, “the value” or “special feeling,” which comes fromthe long distance, is implied. It suggests that other influences are controlled andattention is paid only to the effect of distance, “WTP can increase as the distancelengthens.” On top of that, other factors shown in table 6 such as the awareness of- 26 -Consumers’ Evaluation of “Ise-Shima” and “Ama” through a Focus on Distance fromConsumption Area

Table 6WTP
AgeHousehold income
Hijiki experience
Hijiki preference
Ads awareness
Shopping frequency
Japanese food frequency
Distance

Average by prefecture

Aichi
125.6
45.0
3.47
0.01
2.88
2.52
1.54
1.78
92.3

Mie
129.1
45.7
3.27
0.00
2.99
3.33
1.54
1.87
39.8

Kyoto
126.7
44.8
2.990.00
2.97
2.43
1.53
1.81
109.2

Nara
127.4
45.8
3.20
0.01
2.06
2.96
1.53
1.89
86.5

Osaka
124.3
45.1
3.16
0.01
2.89
2.18
1.50
1.79
111.6

Note: Willingness to pay was answered in yen, age in years, distance in km
and others shown in Table 4.
advertisements on the localities affect on WTP. As a result, there is a relationship that“the WTP becomes higher if the distance shortens”(9).
4-2. Conclusion and further research
Using choice experiments, this study clarified how high a WTP consumers have for
Ise-Shima products and Ama hand-picked products relative to ordinary marine
products. In addition, the regression analysis revealed the consumer traits associatedwith a high WTP for Ise-Shima products.
From the results of the choice experiments, the WTP for 15 g of Ise-Shima dried

Hijiki is 44.4 yen higher than the domestic one, and Ama hand-picked products have a38.3 yen higher WTP than that for ordinary products. In addition, the results of theregression analysis found that the WTP for Ise-Shima products (Hijiki) is related tofactors such as age, household income, preference, advertisement awareness, shopping
frequency, Japanese food frequency, and distance to Ise-Shima.
Regarding distance, our study suggests that although a short distance has anegative influence on WTP, it has a positive influence on other factors such as
advertisement awareness that increase the WTP. Consequently, people living nearby
have a high WTP.
Finally, further study is needed because this study surveyed only five prefectures
around Ise-Shima (Aichi, Mie, Kyoto, Nara, and Osaka). Expanding the target to theentire country can help to more generally clarify the areas in which it is highlyevaluated and the reasons for such an evaluation. In particular, regarding the- 27 -Takahiro MATSUI, Mami HIROSE and Fukuji YAMADA

influence of distance, the relationship conceivably changes over a certain distance,
possibly requiring further analysis. In addition, because this survey was conducted
before the decision was made to hold the Ise-Shima Summit, the influence of theSummit could be analyzed by carrying out the survey again.
Notes(1) As subsequently described, the marginal willingness to pay is measured by Matsui etal. (2015) through choice experiments conducted with students. However, our present
study conducts these experiments using general consumers.
(2) We thought that additional analyses for each prefecture would be conducted. Therefore,
we considered that the same number of samples in each prefecture should be usedrather than allocating samples by the population ratio of each prefecture. Even in thesubsequent estimation, priority is given to securing the total number of samples, andsamples are not extracted based on the population ratio.
(3) For details on the methods and others of choice experiments, please refer to Matsui(2015).
(4) Matsui et al. (2015) distributed the questionnaires twice; however, the second
distribution was after the decision was made to hold the Ise-Shima Summit. Thus,
considering its impact, this research refers only to the first result, which was achieved
before the decision was made to hold the Ise-Shima Summit. The second result was11.79 yen and 11.39 yen, respectively, indicating a small difference from the first
distribution in the meaning that the WTP in both studies was much lower than theresult obtained in this study.
(5) We focus on geographical factors, such as place of residence in relation to the point ofview of production and the locality marketing, which is subsequently described.
Therefore, an analysis is carried out on Ise-Shima products, which are regarded aslargely influenced by these factors.
(6) The minimum was set to “100 yen or less,” the maximum was set to “160 yen or more,”and the interval was set from 102 yen to 158 yen in two-yen increments.
(7) The explained variables were the value answered by the above CVM form, and theanswer of “100 yen or less” or “160 yen or more” existed. Thus, a Tobit model was used.
(8) Estimations without the explanatory variables (18)-(21) have almost the same result.
Therefore, we considered that no influence of multicollinearity exists between
residence and distance.
(9) However, further analysis may be necessary for this because distance affects the- 28 -Consumers’ Evaluation of “Ise-Shima” and “Ama” through a Focus on Distance fromConsumption Area
awareness of advertisements.

References[1] Oura Y. (2007) Consumer Behavior and marketing Strategies on Fresh Fruits andVegetables, Norin Tokei Kyokai. (In Japanese)[2] Matsui T. (2015) “Large-scale Aquaculture and Local Community－an Example ofKamisaki-ura in Minamiise-cho－,” Journal of regional fisheries , 55(2,3), 19-35. (InJapanese with English abstract)[3] Matsui T., Hirose M., Tanaka H., Ando K. and Yamada F. (2015) “Possibility of utilizing
the various regional resources: Paying attention to the seaweed of Ise-Shima district,”

kokusai gyogyo kenkyu, 14, 1-10. (In Japanese with English abstract)[Supplementary Information] The contents of this paper result from the research by theChubu Electric Power contracting project, “Study of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
Promotion Measures in Mie Prefecture.”- 29 -