PERCEIVED PRICE AND QUALITY OF FOOD OF EUROPEAN UNION COUNTRIES OF ORIGIN BY YOUNG SLOVAKS: THE INFLUENCE OF ETHNOCENTRIC TENDENCIES

Perceived price and perceived quality are two generic factors influencing purchasing decisions. Their importance is also connected with the effect of the country of origin. The main aim of the article is to examine the perception of price and quality in the context of individual countries of origin of the European Union and influence of the consumer ethnocentrism on this perception. From the point of view of methodology, we use general philosophical-scientific methods (analysis, synthesis, scientific abstraction etc.) and, to a large extent, also methods of descriptive and inductive statistics. Specifically, we use correlation analysis to examine the direction and intensity of relationships, cluster analysis to examine the similarities of individual countries of the European Union in terms of perceived price and quality, as well as a one-way ANOVA test to verify hypotheses. Scale tools for measuring perceived quality, perceived price, and the degree of consumer ethnocentrism achieve a high degree of estimation of validity and reliability (estimated using McDonald's omega and Cronbach's alpha). The results indicate differences in the perception of price and quality of individual countries of origin of food. It can be assumed that the level of consumer ethnocentrism is below average in the conditions of Slovakia, and it has an impact on food evaluation only in the home country. The results can be used both for marketing and in the conditions of international trade, tourism, and in many other fields of theory and praxis. Implications for Central European audience: Knowledge of the perception of price and quality of individual countries is important for international trade and marketing. Knowledge of the perception of these two factors helps to create strategies for both domestic and foreign companies operating in Slovakia. In this article, we examine the perception of all countries in the European Union, which allows for comparison. Foods from certain countries perceived better quality and cheaper will be more in demand. Demonstrating the effectiveness of consumer ethnocentrism has an impact on the development of strategies by domestic companies and the government to create support for the purchase of domestic production.