The characteristics of marketing activity of the Hungarian SME's working in the dairy and meat processing industry

Abstract

The article is about the characteristics of the Hungarian SME’s working in the dairy and meat processing industry based on the results of a nationwide survey. The research was done during the summer of 2008 in personal visits to 98 separate enterprises. The composition of the sample can be regarded as representative in the percentage division of the industries. The questionnaire used contained 61 questions and 44 statements concerning the following: information collecting habits, the presence of corporate planning, the structure of leadership and development strategy, and the willingness to cooperate. General market information-collection is wide-spread, but only a few enterprises have particular consumer information about the company’s product. Therefore, the presence of marketing planning is low in the sample, and it usually is not connected to budget and control of results. In the long run, most of the enterprises in question want to improve mass-market products, but many companies would also like to establish a presence in markets for niche products. Yet only 8.3% of them have the marketing abilities necessary to design such products in a consumer-oriented way. Their product policy mainly focuses on mass-producing products that will be sold at low prices. Their communication is so poor that many products have, besides their price, no real indication of their quality. 53.1% of the companies visited have no brand and 60.4% have no web page. Keywords: food processing, SME, marketing, logical frame of marketing activity