Miért egyedi és különleges a mangalica?

The paper shows the results of a survey with questionnaires and consumer focus group interviews that was carried out by the Market & Fact Market Research and Marketing Advisor Institute on behalf of Wessling Hungary Ltd. and Olmos and Tóth Ltd. During the research characteristic features of the consumers’ behaviour were analysed by collecting primary information on the market for products made from mangalica. The nationwide survey was carried out in 2010 and involved 1200 consumers. It turned out that almost half of the respondents (44.7%) consume food products made from mangalica at a certain frequency. We think that this ratio is very favourable in the market of niche products. According to the results of the survey, mangalica products' main target group is people with higher education levels doing white-collar work and living in bigger towns. The main cause of consumers' rejection of mangalica food products is their lack of knowledge about the product; this suggests the possibility of widening the circle of possible mangalica consumers by disseminating more information. In the cases of some food products made from mangalica, lowering prices might be a successful marketing approach, since almost one-sixth of non-consumers (15.2%) mentioned high-price as a reason for not buying these products. Consumers mentioned healthiness, Hungarian origin, and lavour as important motivations for consuming mangalica. The research put special emphasis on the question of healthiness. Consumers regard these products as healthy because of they believe the products contain low cholesterol levels. Some are not aware of why they believe these products to be healthy, but remain convinced that it is so. Within the product circle, the most frequently eaten food products are mangalica bacon and lard, which are preferred by the older generation probably because they got used to them when they were young. Consumers opined that the most reliable shopping places for these products were producers, meat shops, and bio- and reform shops. This is important information for planning and organizing shopping promotions. Consumers, especially women with diplomas, decide whether to buy mangalica products in shops, which indicates the necessity of prominently displaying the choice of goods and of applying in-store marketing methods and nice packaging. In the promotion of mangalica products, these should be mostly taste trials, reduced prices, and intelligent displays of the products. The study indicates that, in the field of marketing communication, television can be an effective promotional tool, but that personal (face-to-face) discussions and presentations and participation at trade events can have an equally impressive positive impact on sales