Acta Univ. Agric. Silvic. Mendelianae Brun. 2020, 68(2), 407-418 | DOI: 10.11118/actaun202068020407

Consumers' Preferences for Locally Produced Honey in Hungary

Titanilla Oravecz1, Laszlo Mucha2, Robert Magda3, Gedeon Totth1, Csaba Bálint Illés4
1 Marketing Department, Faculty of International Management and Business, Budapest Business School, H-1165, Budapest, Diósy Lajos u. 22-24., Hungary
2 Doctoral School of Management and Business, Szent István University, H-2100, Gödöllő, Páter Károly utca 1., Hungary
3 Department of Microeconomics, Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences, Szent István University, H-2100, Gödöllő, Páter Károly utca 1., Hungary
4 Institute of Business Economics, Leadership and Management, Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences, Szent István University, H-2100, Gödöllő, Páter Károly utca 1., Hungary

Sustainability is considered in relation to the consumption of local food. Consumers have recently become more concerned about food safety, including potential impurities in Asian honey. Some consumers believe that eating local honey products might be a way to avoid food safety risks. Food security is also guaranteed by certification marks that create confidence in consumers, and help their decisions in buying.
The aim of the paper is to identify the main characteristics of Hungarian consumer preferences when buying honey. In this article we analyse the consumer behaviour of Hungarian hive products. This study was supported by the data from a nationwide consumer survey carried out in 2016. A total of 1584 subjects participated in this survey, the sample is representative for gender, age and highest level of education in Hungary. The results of our study show the actual potential consumers of the Hungarian honey products. Based on the results, the consumers we interviewed consider the consumption of honey of Hungarian origin very important, and they prefer to purchase these products directly or indirectly from the beekeepers. Well-informed consumers in terms of honey certification marks consider some features of honey (Hungarian origin; region of origin; brand, producer name; certification marks) significantly more important than uninformed consumers. Awareness of the certification marks helps consumer decisions which are confirmed by the fact that consumers who are informed about honey certification marks were not affected by honey counterfeits.

Keywords: consumer, consumer behaviour, certification marks, honey consumption, local food, retail, sustainability
Grants and funding:

Supported by the ÚNKP-19-3-III-SZIE-6 New National Excellence Program of the Ministry for Innovation and Technology.

Received: February 16, 2020; Accepted: March 10, 2020; Published: April 29, 2020  Show citation

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Oravecz, T., Mucha, L., Magda, R., Totth, G., & Illés, C.B. (2020). Consumers' Preferences for Locally Produced Honey in Hungary. Acta Universitatis Agriculturae et Silviculturae Mendelianae Brunensis, 68(2), 407-418. doi: 10.11118/actaun202068020407
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