GENERATION Y CONSUMERS' ATTITUDES TO FOOD QUALITY LABELS IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC AND THE SLOVAK REPUBLIC

Over the last decade, preference for higher-quality food is observed. Consumers have become more exacting in their food products choices and they show growing interest in product quality and its certification. The paper is devoted to the topic of branding food products with quality labels and explores the topic from generation Y consumers' perspective. Members of this generation are the most powerful consumer group, because they have more disposable income than that of any previous generation. The aim of the paper is to identify and compare generation Y consumers' attitudes toward food quality labels in the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic with focus at analysing (1) the role of quality labels as indicator of a food quality, (2) quality labels awareness, and (3) perceived benefits of the labels. A total of 379 respondents of generation Y, 221 of Czech and 158 of Slovak were interviewed in online survey. The statistical analysis procedures including descriptive statistics, Chi-square test, and Mann-Whitney U test were performed to discover relations between variables. Finally, the marketing implications of the topic are discussed.