Analysing consumer and buyer preferences for functional milk products in Hungarian Regions

Absztrakt

Nowadays consumers living in either developed or developing countries have a great choice of products, because very often the offers exceed the demands. Companies can only survive in the mass of brands if they are capable of applying adequate and authentic communication. The consumers’ and buyers’ preferences for functional food stuffs are introduced in three Hungarian Regions (South-Great Plain, South-Transdanubia and West-Transdanubia) with the help of primary data used by the authors. The method of quantitative analysis was applied in the form of a questionnaire as a part of the marketing research. The elaboration of this issue was based on a field that represents a very close segment in Hungary and a part of them is unknown to consumers. The authors aimed to get an overall picture of the judgment of the consumers about functional milk products and about the phrase „functional” among thos consumers. The research work covers the judgment of the consumers regarding functional milk products and it presents information about the factors that influence the purchase and consumption of those products. Effective and successful communication is essential for those products, because some misbeliefs and deliberately misleading commercials exist that negatively influence the market of functional milk products and may lead to serious problems. Beyond presenting consumer demand, the authors aim at creating consumer segments and highlighting how a successful marketing concept could be elaborated and applied in future. The authors were also looking for the factors that motivate consumers to decide about buying functional milk products. The study also compares the communication of the market actors and analyses their efficiency.