Determinants of intent to purchase semi-finished and finished food products

Polugotovi i gotovi prehrambeni proizvodi definiraju se kao hrana koja je već prošla određene termičke procese. Samim time su potrebno vrijeme i potrebna energija za pripremu svedeni na minimum, što uvelike olakšava njihovu pripremu. Također, ovakva vrsta proizvoda prikladna je za potrošače koji ne mogu odvojiti puno vremena za pripremu hrane ili za one sa skromnijim kulinarskim vještinama. Potražnja za polugotovim i gotovim prehrambenim proizvodima, tj. praktičnom hranom, iz dana u dan raste zbog porasta urbanizacije, razbijanja zajedničkih obitelji u nuklearne obitelji, želje za provođenjem kvalitetnog vremena, povećanja broja zaposlenih žena i promjene prehrambenih navika ljudi. Sve te promjene utjecale su način razmišljanja potrošača o njihovim prehrambenim navikama. Njihovo se ponašanje također promijenilo s dolaskom užurbanog načina života. Praktična hrana znači jednostavna, brza i lako pripremljiva hrana, a nove tehnologije koje dolaze umanjile su napore ljudi dajući dobar proizvod za kraće vrijeme i manje troškove proizvodnje. Na namjeru kupnje polugotovih i gotovih prehrambenih proizvoda utječu mnogi čimbenici, a u ovom radu istražuje se utjecaj percepcije, okusa/izgleda hrane, vremena, cijene te oglašavanja. Cilj rada je spoznati koja je uloga navedenih čimbenici u namjeri kupnje ovakve vrste proizvoda. Rezultati provedenog anketnog istraživanja pokazuju da najveću ulogu u namjeri kupnje polugotovih i gotovih prehrambenih proizvoda ima okus/izgled hrane. Ušteda vremena, koju donosi ovakva vrsta proizvoda, također je potrošačima jako bitan čimbenik prilikom kupnje istih. Potrošači žele ostvariti što bolji omjer plaćene cijene i dobivene kvalitete, što ukazuje da su cjenovno osjetljivi prilikom kupnje polugotovih i gotovih prehrambenih proizvoda. Uloga oglašavanja i percepcije o prehrambenim proizvodima imaju nije jasno izražena.Semi-finished and finished food products are defined as food that has already undergone certain thermal processes. This alone reduces the time and energy required for preparation to a minimum, which greatly facilitates preparation. Also, this type of product is suitable for consumers who cannot spend a lot of time preparing food or for those with reduced culinary skills. The demand for semi-finished and finished food products, i.e., practical food, is growing day by day due to the increase in urbanization, the breaking up of joint families into nuclear families, the desire to spend quality time, the increase in the number of working women and the change in people's eating habits. All these changes have amended the way consumers think about food and their eating habits. Their behavior has also changed with the advent of a busy lifestyle. Practical food means simple, quick and easy-to-prepare food, and the new technologies that are coming have reduced the needed efforts, giving consumers a good product with less preparation time and less production costs. The intention to buy semi-finished and finished food products is influenced by many factors, and this paper investigates the influence of perception, taste/appearance of food, time, prices and advertising. The aim of the paper is to find out the role of the mentioned factors in the intention to buy these types of products. The results of the conducted survey show that the biggest role in the intention to buy semi-finished and finished food products is the taste/appearance of the food. Saving time, which this type of product brings, is also an important factor for consumers when purchasing them. Consumers want to achieve the best possible ratio between the price they pay and the quality they receive, so they are price sensitive when buying semi-finished and finished food products. Advertising and the perception of food products have a neutral role, but it is clear that the role exists