Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.33128/k.66.1.5
The impact of the outbreak of African swine fever on consumer habits in the Republic of Croatia
Danijela Samac
orcid.org/0000-0001-9277-3710
; Fakultet agrobiotehničkih znanosti Osijek, Sveučilište J. J. Strossmayera u Osijeku, Osijek, Hrvatska
*
Sanja Jelić Milković
orcid.org/0000-0003-0505-6970
; Fakultet agrobiotehničkih znanosti Osijek, Sveučilište J. J. Strossmayera u Osijeku, Osijek, Hrvatska
Zvonko Antunović
; Fakultet agrobiotehničkih znanosti Osijek, Sveučilište J. J. Strossmayera u Osijeku, Osijek, Hrvatska
Zvonimir Steiner
; Fakultet agrobiotehničkih znanosti Osijek, Sveučilište J. J. Strossmayera u Osijeku, Osijek, Hrvatska
Josip Novoselec
orcid.org/0000-0001-5536-087X
; Fakultet agrobiotehničkih znanosti Osijek, Sveučilište J. J. Strossmayera u Osijeku, Osijek, Hrvatska
Ivana Prakatur
; Fakultet agrobiotehničkih znanosti Osijek, Sveučilište J. J. Strossmayera u Osijeku, Osijek, Hrvatska
Željka Klir Šalavardić
orcid.org/0000-0003-4078-6864
; Fakultet agrobiotehničkih znanosti Osijek, Sveučilište J. J. Strossmayera u Osijeku, Osijek, Hrvatska
Mario Ronta
; Fakultet agrobiotehničkih znanosti Osijek, Sveučilište J. J. Strossmayera u Osijeku, Osijek, Hrvatska
Maja Novoselec
; Fakultet agrobiotehničkih znanosti Osijek, Sveučilište J. J. Strossmayera u Osijeku, Osijek, Hrvatska
Đurđica Kovačić
; Fakultet agrobiotehničkih znanosti Osijek, Sveučilište J. J. Strossmayera u Osijeku, Osijek, Hrvatska
* Corresponding author.
Abstract
In the Republic of Croatia, pork is widely consumed, and its consumption per inhabitant amounts to approximately 50 kg. Pork is eaten more than some other types of meat, which is particularly noticeable in the area of Pannonian Croatia. Due to the recent appearance of African swine fever (ASF) in the Republic of Croatia and the implementation of measures to prevent the spread of the disease, market disturbances and changes in consumer preferences have been noted. Precisely due to these facts, the paper aims to examine the impact of the occurrence of ASF on consumer preferences and respondents’ attitudes toward pork. A survey method was applied for data collection, and a survey questionnaire was used as an instrument. The research was conducted on a sample of n = 100 pork consumers from Pannonian Croatia. The research results prove that, in case of 19 variables (related to the feeling of safety and the quality of meat, consumer awareness, and attitudes when buying meat, and the ASF market impact), there were at least two groups of respondents that statistically significantly differ regarding the sociodemographic variables and knowledge about the term ASF, disease spread concern, public awareness, and disease spread control. In the conducted survey, more than half of the respondents (54%) consumed pork 2–3 times a week, 51% of respondents were fully familiar with the term ASF, 37% were somewhat familiar, and 12% were unfamiliar therewith, or had no information thereabout. As a source of information about ASF, a majority of respondents mentioned television and the Internet (94%). A part of the respondents (37%) believed that the competent institutions had adequately informed the public about the emergence of ASF, 25% agreed to some extent, and 22% of the respondents believed that the public was not adequately informed. The majority of respondents (72%) was aware that ASF did not pose a risk to humans, and 92% of respondents declared that they had not changed their habits of buying and consuming pork due to a fear of the disease.
Keywords
African swine fever (ASF); consumers; consumption
Hrčak ID:
318353
URI
Publication date:
25.6.2024.
Visits: 65 *