Improving quality and safety of aquatic products: A case study of self-inspection behavior from export-oriented aquatic enterprises in Zhejiang Province, China

The goal of the current study was to examine factors that influence aquatic enterprises' conduction of routine self-inspections, and explore difficulties that arise during and after the adoption of this system. A survey using a systematic random sampling for 64 export-oriented aquatic enterprises through personal interviews and mailed questionnaires in four offshore cities of Zhejiang Province, i.e., Ningbo, Zhoushan, Wenzhou, and Taizhou, China, was conducted. Results from the logistic regression model demonstrated that variables such as improvement of product quality, enhanced customer satisfaction, higher profit, firm scale, quality system certification, and export approach had significant positive relationships with self-inspection behavior, while export market uncertainty and peer competition had negative relationships with self-inspection behavior. From the data obtained, managerial implications and implications for policy makers on self-inspection for other areas of China, or other developing countries could be derived.