The impact of information and communication technologies in fish consumption in Portugal: building a support for the coming generations

Abstract

Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are powerful tools in an extremely unstable and turbulent world, being a vital weapon in an era of electronic communication, full of unpredictability and entropy. Portugal is Europe's leader in consumption of fish and ranks third in the world. It is with this historical, economic and food galaxy interpretation of the world that we have decided to study the fish consumption supply chain in Portugal, distributing and analyzing 2 different surveys on purchase and consumption behaviors. 1393 respondents participated in surveys, one survey being for the general of the population and another one specifically for generations Y and Z. Being ICTs so vital to young people and being generation Y and Z the future in consumption, we have focused our study on how to build a support for the coming generations. To do that we have design communication strategies for fishing sector, including point-of-sale communication, underlining the issue of shopping experience, which in the case of young consumers is, very closely linked to ICT, based on creating sustained value for society underpinned by a relation of cooperation and proximity. Following Toffler's permanent adaptation survival rule, it is vital to the food supply chain (in our case, fish) to rapidly understand that the future of consumption is in the hands of the "Z/Post-Millennials" generation, meaning that product, place, price and promotion have been replaced by Ettenson's Solutions, Access, Value and Education.