Gender differences in consumer preferences when buying dairy products in Slovakia and Russia

Abstract

In spite of geographical and culture differences between examined countries, there can be found similarities in consumer behavior of men and woman and also the similar tendencies on the dairy product market. In the last decade different fields of science concerns with the topic of gender differences more frequently. The article is based on a research of consumers' overall attitude to dairy products in Slovakia and Russia. The important role of gender differences underlines the outcomes of the questionnaire survey. Kruskal-Wallis test and Bonferroni correction was applied to verify the hypothesis whether there is a dependency between gender of the respondents and their attitude while choosing the dairy products in both countries. Analysis showed that in both countries women tend to buy dairy products more often than men. Also consumers prefer more domestic products, but Russian not as significantly as Slovakian. In both countries consumers consider the price of dairy products as high, but they don't outline the price as the most important factor when choosing dairy products. At the same time, both genders consider quality as the most important factor. These results indicate the existence of a niche at the Russian market, which could be used by Slovak dairy producers who can possibly penetrate Russian market. In addition, the similar marketing strategy for both, Slovak and Russian market can be used if the advertisement will be sensitively focused on the gender.