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Chocolate Consumption Habits of Hungarian Women and Their Consumer Behaviour Regarding Sugar-free Chocolate
3-20Views:243In line with the global trend of health and wellness, there is now an increased demand for products that have a positive effect on health (or that are at least less unhealthy), such as sugar-free or reduced-calorie chocolate, especially among female consumers. Therefore, in our research, we set out to explore the chocolate consumption habits of Hungarian women, with particular regard to consumer acceptance of sugar-free chocolate. In the course of our primary research, we conducted an online questionnaire survey with the participation of 370 female respondents, during which we explored some elements of their consumer behaviour related to conventional and sugar-free/reduced-calorie chocolates; moreover, possible differences in the willingness to pay for sugar-free and conventional chocolates were also examined by using the packaging of two real, 100 g Stühmer milk chocolate bars and their modified versions as well. According to our results, the vast majority of women interviewed like chocolate, with milk chocolate being the most popular. Most of them eat chocolate a few times a week, but consumption of sugar-free/reduced-calorie chocolate is much less common. When buying chocolate, the respondents are clearly most influenced by the taste, which is followed far behind by the price, and then the healthiness of the chocolate. Most of the women asked are interested in sugar-free and reduced-calorie chocolates, the majority of them consume such products because of health awareness. The respondents’ willingness to pay for sugar-free chocolates is not lower compared to the versions sweetened with sugar, but the willingness to pay reaches the market price only in the case of a gift purchase; in the case of a purchase for one’s own consumption, it mostly falls short of it.
JEL-Code: M31 -
Purchasing Patterns of Prescription (Rx), over the Counter (OTC) Medicines and Food Supplements among Hungarian Consumers
23-34Views:114Over-the-Counter (OTC) medicines and food supplements plays an important role in healthcare. It is generally accepted that, when used properly, OTC medicines save consumers time and money. In this paper we looked into the purchasing behavior of the Hungarian population regarding OTC drugs and food supplements, highlighting the significance of self-medication. Using a quantitative online survey in March 2022 with a national representative sample, the research aimed to measure the out-of-pocket health expenditures, focusing on OTC drugs and food supplements. The analysis showed that the population spends more money on OTC drugs and food supplements than the co-payment of prescription (Rx) drugs, and the combined expenditures on OTC drugs and food supplements significantly contribute to the household's total healthcare costs, representing 45% of this budget. Three hypotheses were formulated to investigate the relationships between the spending on Rx medications, OTC drugs, food supplements, and various demographic factors. The analysis showed significant correlations, indicating that as expenditures on Rx medications increase, so do the purchases of OTC drugs and food supplements. Demographic analysis indicated that the younger demographic age group (18-35 years) tends to spend the least on both Rx, OTC drugs and food supplements, while the 36-50 age group exhibits the highest expenditure on food supplements. However, no significant difference in OTC drug purchases was found among those older than 36 years. The study raises further questions regarding the purchasing behavior of chronic patients, the differentiation between OTC drugs and food supplements by consumers, the influence of minors in the household on purchasing decisions, and whether the primary target demographic for these products should be expanded beyond the 35-50 aged women as it is defined nowadays.
JEL Codes: I11, I12, M31 -
Investigating the Coffee Consumption Habits
59-70Views:1851Coffee consumption is a widespread activity nowadays all around the world. It is a very popular beverage, with many variants as are known. Caffeine can cause many effects in our bodies. These include health benefits and adverse effects. According to 2018 data, the annual per capita coffee consumption in Hungary was 3.1 kilograms, making it the 24th largest coffee consumption country in the world. The aim of the research was to reveal the coffee consumption habits at the domestic level, based on the results of a questionnaire survey based on secondary data collection. In our research, we have also placed great emphasis on examining the beneficial and harmful health effects of coffee consumption. Our further goal is to explore whether domestic consumers are aware of the health effects of coffee consumption. Our hypothesis, defined in connection with our research, was, “Those people who frequently consume coffee are unaware of the health effects of coffee”. As a first step in our research we made a secondary data collection and our second step was the primary data collection. The basis of our primary research was the questionnaire we prepared, which was shared online. The size of the examined sample is 1 664 people. The sample population does not statistically represent the population of Hungary, therefore we do not consider the survey to be representative, the results are only exploratory. Based on our research, we found out that although most of the people who consume coffee often are aware of the beneficial and harmful health effects of coffee, this is mainly true for women, but less so for men. Men are more likely to know only the harmful effects. Our results have shown that those who are aware of all the health-affecting properties of coffee are not more conscious of the amount of coffee consumed than those who are unaware of only the good, bad, or both of the properties.
JEL Codes: A13, P56
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Adaptation Possibilities of the Three Factor Eating Questionnaire in the Field of Marketing Research – Differences Based on Gender and Generation
3-20Views:191Overweight and obesity is an endemic that appears in the developed countries of the world. Overweight and obesity means a serious expenditure for the consumers, for the employers and for the national states both in the prevention and in the treatment phases. In the national and international literature more authors deal with the research of the dimensions of healthy lifestyle either in a complex way or focusing on a special area (e. g. smoking, alcohol consumption, physical activity or eating behavior). There are more tests investigating food consumption, but the most widely used one is the Three Factor Eating Questionnaire (TFEQ). The revised TFEQ (TFEQ 21 and TFEQ 18) scales were validated in Hungary on the population with normal weight and overweight obese individuals and three types of eating behavior were identified, namely (1) emotional eating (EE), (2) cognitive control eating (CR) and (3) uncontrolled eating (UE). The aim of this study is on the one hand to introduce the Hungarian adaptation possibilities of the revised scale (TFEQ 16) measuring eating habits and on the second hand to explore the connections with demographics. In an empirical research 919 adult people were interviewed: 45.2% males and 54.8% females. Based on age the authors defined three generations, the “Baby boomers”, the X and the Y generations. Their ratio in the sample is the following: 14.7, 42.5 and 42.8%. Relying on the results of the empirical research it can be said that the adaptation of TFEQ 16 is possible in Hungary. The former explored factor structure is valid among Hungarian population that is adults can be characterized by emotional, uncontrolled and cognitive control eating. The EE and CR are typical eating styles among women and CR is typical for people belonging to Y generation. In the future the authors plan to extend the research to segment the population based on their eating styles in order to develop an effective marketing program for them.
JEL codes: I12, M30, M39
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Opportunities and Obstacles in the Healthy Food Consumption Area
65-76Views:288The issue of healthy food consumption is an extremely hot topic in today’s fast-paced world. One of today’s ruler trends are the health awareness and health market expansion. The role of the health of consumers is appreciated. People spend more and more to preserve their health. The consequence of conscious consumption is that individuals can keep their physical and mental activity for a longer time remaining their life and accordingly they can be involved in the economic growth. Our central hypotheses were that the financial situation, the level of consciousness and „identity” have a decisive influence on women who assume a healthy eating habit in Hungary. We also presumed a link between health consciousness and financial attitudes, as well as a positive relationship between health consciousness and behavioral intent and normative beliefs. Our results confirm: the income status and the degree of awareness mostly influence the existence of a healthy diet.
JEL codes: E21, H31, H51