The role of country of origin in the milk purchase

Country of origin is becoming one of the critical elements in making decisions among consumers when purchasing products due to the increasing influence of globalisation, internationalisation and market saturation. The milk industry faces several problems, including a decrease in milk businesses, an increase in milk imports and deepening losses of primary milk producers. Country of origin is considered one of the effective competitive sources of differentiation. The main aim of this study is to identify the role of country of origin in the purchase of milk by consumers from the regions of Central Slovakia using finding preferences of Slovak and foreign brands of milk, knowing brands of purchased milk, and finally examining dependencies between the country of origin and selected demographic variables. The survey results showed a high preference for purchasing Slovak milk brands, and more than half of consumers considered the country of origin an important or very important criterion for purchasing milk. From the point of view of dependencies, age showed to be correlated to the factor of the country of origin, income was found to be statistically significant in determining preferences of Slovak, and foreign brands of milk, and gender, age, education, income and place of living were detected to be good predictors of the demand for individual brands of milk. These findings act as a valuable basis for the creation of value and marketing communication strategies by Slovak milk producers.