Examination of the consumers’ ethnocentrism and products’ origin in the case of Hungarian foodstuffs

‘Consumer ethnocentrism’ is defined as consumers’ beliefs about the appropriateness or morality of purchasing domestic and foreign-made products. As a consequence of the influx of foodstuffs of dubious origin into Hungary and the increasing number of food scandals, demand for Hungarian foodstuffs of reliable origin has increased. Consumers, however, do not necessarily acquire information from the most reliable sources in the course of purchasing and most of them are not fully aware of what the trademarks featured on the various products mean. Our questionnaire survey sought answers to the questions of how respondents regard Hungarian products and what segments can be distinguished from the aspect of their attitudes concerning Hungarian products. We distinguished four consumer groups – with the aid of cluster analysis – in terms of the factors affecting their choices between Hungarian and imported products when buying foodstuffs, and in terms of their overall attitudes to Hungarian products which appears also in the knowledge of origin labelling.