Who is likely to have illegal eel products after the market regulations? A best-worst scaling approach

Wildlife overexploitation is a significant challenge in biodiversity conservation. Regulation can enforce consumer behavior change to be biodiversity-friendly but also cause unintended negative impacts. A quantitative investigation of consumer preference for alternative goods is needed before the regulation intervention. This study focused on the case of Japanese eels, whose population was declining due to commercial fishery and overfishing, and aimed to clarify potential alternative choices if ban regulations are issued. This study employed a best-worst scaling technique. Our analysis identified two consumer groups; approximately 30 % of consumers (the Potential Illegal group) preferred to select illegal eel consumption as their second-best preference. The Potential Illegal group tends to contain males, younger, and people who eat eels once or more annually, in comparison to the other group. Our findings can contribute to setting effective regulations as useful information about potential consumer choice changes.