Attitudes and purchasing behavior of consumers in domestic and foreign food retailers in Croatia

This paper aims to examine the differences in consumers’ attitudes towards domestic and foreign retailers in Croatia. It segments the consumers based on their attitudes, and examines the differences among the attitude segments relative to their retail patronage behaviour, consumer spending and consumer attitudes towards buying Croatian-made products. The empirical analysis is based on data obtained from consumer survey. The data were analyzed using t-test, chi-square test and ANOVA. The results show that consumers perceive domestic retailers as being similar to foreign retailers on three out of four store attribute factors. Cluster analysis produced three consumer segments: (1) consumers who prefer domestic retailers (28%); (2) consumers who prefer foreign retailers (17%); and (3) indifferent consumers (55%). The significant differences across segments exist in retail patronage, but not in consumer spending behaviour and the attitudes towards buying Croatian-made products. It may be concluded that consumers’ attitudes towards domestic and foreign retailers might predict retail patronage behaviour. When designing retail strategy, managers should take into consideration both consumer attitudes and consumer segments.