Comparison of grocery shopping behaviour of Slovak residents on the Slovak-Austrian border: An empirical study – Hainburg an der Donau

Abstract

Food is a part of human life, forming its existential and cultural basis. It also has become the basis of trade and a measure of the level of one or another culture, the engine of economic development. All these themes resonate more and more in debates in Slovakia as well. There are several reasons why. Slovaks still pay relatively more for food in comparison to neighbouring Austrians, who benefit from a rich offer of food at an affordable price. This might be related to an organized agricultural landscape, which is the product of economically prosperous food production. Bratislava residents’ dissatisfaction with shopping experiences and products on offer in the current retail network in Bratislava forces them to travel to shop in the town of Hainburg an der Donau. The article states the types of Slovak consumers and their identities. An empirical study was conducted on a sample of 909 Slovak consumers shopping in Austrian grocery stores located in Hainburg an der Donau on the Slovak-Austrian border. The respondents rated their shopping experience and products on offer in the town. The study compares Slovak and Austrian stores based on the consumers’ reasoning behind purchasing food in Austria and consumer satisfaction with the stores in both countries. Multidimensional scaling was used to present the results of the study. The results of the study represent a comparison of shopping behaviour of Slovak residents when considering shopping in Austria. Constructed perception maps identify the main types of consumers indicating the largest discrepancy in purchasing groceries in Austrian and Slovak stores.