Polarisation of the society: a possible outcome of the economic crisis? Hungarian citizens' purchases of food and household items in retail stores in the present economic crisis

Purpose - This paper aims to evaluate the results of an empirical research whose objective was the analysis of the impact of the actual economic crisis on the expectations, preferences and attitudes of the Hungarian people towards the purchase of food and household items in retail stores. Design/methodology/approach - A review of literature is followed by the description and evaluation of an empirical research. A sample of 1,000 people was randomly selected and data were collected by a pre-tested questionnaire. By main component analyses 12 main components were identified and a k-component cluster analysis was performed. Findings - The findings of the empirical research show that people of the same country react entirely differently to the crisis from a behavioural point of view and that in Hungary the economic crisis resulted in the social polarisation of the citizens. Research limitations/implications - The paper provides evidence for the social polarisation of the Hungarian people which has a serious impact on their purchases in retail stores and which makes the retail store managers rethink their actual strategy and positioning. As the crisis continues there is room for a longitudinal study in the country and for a comparative cross cultural study in the region. Originality/value - The paper shows an original approach of analysing how the Hungarian people's purchases of food and household items changed after the break-out of the economic crises by using behavioural and psychographic variables as the basis of evaluations.