Seafood purchase decisions may be more problematic than other categories due to competing messages related to health, safety, and sustainability. However, despite the considerable amount of money U.S. consumers spend on seafood every year, very little is known about seafood markets. Scholarly literature suggested that a grounded approach was necessary to uncover the underlying factors at play in seafood purchase decisions. Hence, this study sought to answer the research question of how consumers make seafood-purchasing decisions by employing the full suite of classic grounded theory methodology among a data set primarily comprised of 16 formal interviews. The research question of how seafood consumers describe the process of seafood purchase decisions was merely the start of the classic grounded theory journey. By examining the purchase decision of seafood consumers, the desire to satisfy their palate emerged as their main concern. The articulated script focused on the contextual factors well-known in consumer research. However, the unarticulated script brought to light the emergent core variable of willful ignorance. Rather than relying on the traditional quantitative measurement of known factors, the study's grounded theory of willful ignorance offers a new conceptual framework regarding seafood purchase decisions that will contribute to a deeper understanding of consumer.
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