Mária Holotová

Center for Research and Educational Projects, Slovak University of Agriculture,

Nitra, Slovakia

E-mail: maria.holotova@uniag.sk

ORCID 0000-0002-2350-1284

The impact of environmental responsibility on changing consumer behaviour – sustainable market in Slovakia

Ľudmila Nagyová

Department of Marketing and Trade, Slovak University of Agriculture,

Nitra, Slovakia

E-mail: ludmila.nagyova@uniag.sk

ORCID 0000-0002-5220-2857

Tomáš Holota

Department of Building Equipment and Technology Safety, Slovak University of Agriculture,

Nitra, Slovakia

E-mail: tomas.holota@uniag.sk

ORCID 0000-0002-3086-7030

Abstract. Our planet is faced with numerous social and ecological challenges that we have to resolve as soon as possible through a combination of innovative ideas implemented under local conditions. One of the biggest challenges for many startups, retail chains and consumers themselves is packaging waste reduction that involves activities mainly aimed at waste prevention. The targeted impact of sustainability information on consumers’ purchase intentions plays a key role in shaping their future decision-making, and Slovak market is no exception in this regard. A relatively new concept of “zero waste” in relation to packaging waste prevention directly during shopping has been given the green light thanks to behavioural changes among many Slovak eco-conscious consumers. The main aim of presented paper is to determine the level of environmental awareness among Slovak consumers basing on the results of marketing research on their shopping habits. The present paper also focuses on the current situation with zero-waste stores as a newly developing concept for Slovak market. In order to meet the objectives of this paper, own marketing research has been conducted (covering 783 respondents from Slovak Republic). For statistical processing of the results, we have used Levene´s test, Bartlett´s test, Kolmogorov-Smirnov test and Chi-Square test of independence. The research findings confirm that consumers' experiences, awareness and sustainable shopping habits are at a good level but there are significant differences in attitudes across generations, genders and places of living.

Received: October, 2019

1st Revision: March, 2020

Accepted: September, 2020

DOI: 10.14254/2071-789X.2020/13-3/6

JEL Classification: Q01, Q13, Q18, M13

Keywords: environmental responsibility, questionnaire survey, Slovak Republic, sustainability, zerowaste, shopping habits