Convenience food consumption patterns and consumer groups

Abstract

In a constantly evolving, globalizing world, we are witnessing an ever-faster change in the way we live and consume today. Nowadays, the lifestyle of a wide range of society is creating an ever-increasing demand for food that can be consumed immediately or made with very little energy or time investment. The food industry already offers a lot of opportunities for this and a wide range of convenience food can be found on the shelves of shops. According to food manufacturers' forecasts, the importance of the category of convenience food will continue to grow in the coming years. 
In our research, with regard to the few domestic sources, we were looking for the answer what characterizes convenience food consumption in our country and what consumer groups can be distinguished. 500 people were interviewed using the consumer survey method, probability sampling. We analyzed the significant differences between different demographic groups and attitudes by means of variance analysis (p < 0.05).
Based on our results, it can be stated that the consumption of convenience food and ready-to-eat products is more characteristic of men and younger generations. Between the age of 50 and 69 consumers are less likely to consume convenience food and more often spend at least one hour with cooking at weekends, while those who consume more convenience food (18-29, 30-39) spend so much time in the kitchen less often. Furthermore, for those who have finished secondary education, the choice of convenience food is typical, while those with a lower level of education or with finished tertiary education, this is less common.
With cluster analysis, we have separated four consumer groups, namely the indifferent to convenience food cluster, the convenience food seekers, the convenience food avoiders, and the cooking avoiders groups.