Consumer behavior in selecting fairtrade products

Fair Trade ili politika pravedne trgovine nastala je nakon Drugog svjetskog rata kao odgovor na nepoštivanje radničkih prava te na nadnice koje su bile nedovoljne za normalan život. Proces se postupno širio, kako geografski tako i po pitanju vrsta proizvoda, a u međuvremenu su osnovane i razne organizacije od kojih je najjača Fair Trade International (FLO), a čiji je cilj bio okupiti sve proizvođače te certificirati te proizvode jedinstvenim znakom, prepoznatljivim na tržištu. Prvi proizvod koji je certificiran kao „Fair“ je bila kava, koja je i danas u svijetu među najprodavanijim proizvodima pravedne trgovine. Uz kavu su se u proteklih dvadesetak godina na tržištu pojavile i banane, čaj, kakao, kokos, a u posljednje vrijeme se asortiman proširio i na paletu kozmetičkih proizvoda te više na neprehrambene artikle poput odjeće, tekstila i ostalih prirodnih tkanina. Najveći dio proizvodnje odvija se u području subsaharske i tropskog dijela Afrike te dijelova Srednje i Južne Amerike dok su najznačajnija tržišta Velika Britanija, Nizozemska, Njemačka i Sjedinjene Američke Države. U radu je ispitivanjem navika kupaca na dva tržišta, hrvatskom kao slabo razvijenom tržištu i njemačkom kao razvijenom tržištu ovih proizvoda, analizirano ponašanje potrošača prilikom kupnje kao i njihove navike te stavovi prema društveno odgovornim učincima pravedne trgovine. Iako su stavovi ispitanika prema politici pravedne trgovine većinom slični, istraživanje je pokazalo kako se navike kupaca razlikuju i to većinom što se tiče učestalosti kupnje i načina informiranja o ovim proizvodima.Fair Trade policy dates its roots in the time after the end of World War II as an answer to not respected workers´ rights and discriminatory wages which were insufficient for the basic human needs. The process was slowly expanding, both geographically and to other products and cultures and in the meantime first international organizations were founded to make all manufacturers come under one umbrella and to certify products with a unique sign which would be recognized on the market. The first product certified as “Fair” was coffee which is one of the top selling products nowadays. Besides coffee, in the last couple of decades the market has seen also certified bananas, tea, cocoa, coconut and lately the supply also includes beauty products and other non-alimentary products such as clothing, textile and other natural cloth. Most of the production is based in Sub-Saharan and tropical Africa as well as parts of Central and South America. Meanwhile, the major markets for Fair Trade products are highly developed European countries as United Kingdom, The Netherlands and Germany as well as The United States. Furthermore, market research was made on two markets, Croatia as the less developed one and Germany as fairly developed for these products. Their customer behavior and habits were analyzed as well as their stance on socially and environmentally responsible issues that are tightly connected to the Fair Trade as a whole. Even though their opinions regarding Fair Trade policy showed very similar results, their habits differ when it comes to frequency of buying and ways of informing about these products