Cultural differences in food consumption: The experiences of international students

There is a great variety of foods eaten. It is obvious that foods play a very important role in the daily lives of individual nations. Foods and meals, however, serve not only the living, but also fulfil other functions in the given society. For example, food expression may be part of a social class, reveal income conditions, and express identity.   The investigation was carried out on the topic by a qualitative method, in the form of an in-depth interview. The interviews were conducted by master students of the Szent István University in the framework of Multicultural Management subject, with non-Hungarian origin. A total of 65 in-depth interviews were conducted between 2017 and 2018.  Interviewees were members of 22 nationalities. During the investigations, the main questions were: What type of food do you consume the most? What factors do you take into consideration when choosing foods? What differences do you find in the habits of the different ethnic groups, especially with regard to their eating habits?  Most of the interviewees are interested in compare their diet and cultural traditions to other nations’ and prefer local foods. The study proved that eating habits in Hungary have an impact on the eating habits of foreign students, and they change them in several elements. The study found that dietary choices are a complex decision that has a significant environmental and social impact but need to say, thanks to the strong cultural background the students can keep their sustainable eating values in abroad.    Keywords: culture, food choice, consumption&nbsp

Factors influencing functional food and food supplement consumption

Functional foods and food supplements are two of the major classes of nutraceuticals or food-related products that have health benefits, such as improving health and prevention and treatment of disease. The aim of this present study is to introduce the main factors influencing functional food consumptions as well as food supplement consumption, searching for the answers to the following research questions: (1) What factors affect functional food and food supplement consumption and to what extent? (2) What is the most authentic source of information in customers’ decision making? Results of secondary and primary researches suggest that the most important factors in decision making are: experience in earlier consumption, nutrients, quality and price.  Food supplements are complex products and therefore, it is difficult for consumers to check the quality of these products at point of purchase; thus food-safety is a major issue for customers when buying food supplements. It can also be concluded that the availability and reliability of the source of information can greatly determine customer’s decision making. The most authentic source of information according to customers’ opinion were the following: health care professionals, sales staff and health-related articles. These variables should be taken into account for marketers and businesses when considering product development or improving communication on nutritional and health benefits of functional food and food supplements

Consumer Habits of Food Supplements from the Perspective of Food Safety

The topicality of the subject has been shown by the fact that the number of food supplements has been increasing. These products are different from the traditional food products and the risks associated with them may also differ from the traditional food risks. Meanwhile, in the market customers are given significant amounts of information about food supplements, but this information sometimes can be misleading and may influence consumer habits. The aim of my research therefore is to examine the consumption patterns of adult food supplements users, highlighting some of the determinants of food safety, such as quality, availability of information and risks. Within the framework of primary research, focus group interviews were conducted and a survey was also used. Based on both the focus group and the survey results, it can be seen that the uses of food supplements are judged differently by the respondents. In data processing, factor- and cluster analysis were used to segment consumers based upon how they consider the use of food supplements. Four homogenous groups were identified among the respondents and the research examined which consumer characteristics were applicable to each group

Consumer habits of food supplements from the perspective of food safety

The topicality of the subject has been shown by the fact that the number of food supplements has been increasing. These products are different from the traditional food products and the risks associated with them may also differ from the traditional food risks. Meanwhile, in the market customers are given significant amounts of information about food supplements, but this information sometimes can be misleading and may influence consumer habits. The aim of my research therefore is to examine the consumption patterns of adult food supplements users, highlighting some of the determinants of food safety, such as quality, availability of information and risks. Within the framework of primary research, focus group interviews were conducted and a survey was also used. Based on both the focus group and the survey results, it can be seen that the uses of food supplements are judged differently by the respondents. In data processing, factor- and cluster analysis were used to segment consumers based upon how they consider the use of food supplements. Four homogenous groups were identified among the respondents and the research examined which consumer characteristics were applicable to each group

Cultural differences in food consumption : the experiences of international students

There is a great variety of foods eaten. It is obvious that foods play a very important role in the daily lives of individual nations. Foods and meals, however, serve not only the living, but also fulfil other functions in the given society. For example, food expression may be part of a social class, reveal income conditions, and express identity. The investigation was carried out on the topic by a qualitative method, in the form of an in-depth interview. The interviews were conducted by master students of the Szent István University in the framework of Multicultural Management subject, with non-Hungarian origin. A total of 65 in-depth interviews were conducted between 2017 and 2018. Interviewees were members of 22 nationalities. During the investigations, the main questions were: What type of food do you consume the most? What factors do you take into consideration when choosing foods? What differences do you find in the habits of the different ethnic groups, especially with regard to their eating habits? Most of the interviewees are interested in compare their diet and cultural traditions to other nations’ and prefer local foods. The study proved that eating habits in Hungary have an impact on the eating habits of foreign students, and they change them in several elements. The study found that dietary choices are a complex decision that has a significant environmental and social impact but need to say, thanks to the strong cultural background the students can keep their sustainable eating values in abroad

Factors influencing functional food and food supplement consumption

Functional foods and food supplements are two of the major classes of nutraceuticals or food-related products that have health benefits, such as improving health and prevention and treatment of disease. The aim of this present study is to introduce the main factors influencing functional food consumptions as well as food supplement consumption, searching for the answers to the following research questions: (1) What factors affect functional food and food supplement consumption and to what extent? (2) What is the most authentic source of information in customers’ decision making? Results of secondary and primary researches suggest that the most important factors in decision making are: experience in earlier consumption, nutrients, quality and price. Food supplements are complex products and therefore, it is difficult for consumers to check the quality of these products at point of purchase; thus food-safety is a major issue for customers when buying food supplements. It can also be concluded that the availability and reliability of the source of information can greatly determine customer’s decision making. The most authentic source of information according to customers’ opinion were the following: health care professionals, sales staff and health-related articles. These variables should be taken into account for marketers and businesses when considering product development or improving communication on nutritional and health benefits of functional food and food supplements

Identifying the Best Innovation Behaviour Hotel in the Balaton Region of Hungary

The goal of the paper is to investigate the innovation behaviour of the hotels in the Balaton Region of Hungary and identify the best practice which is further analysed. The specific region has been chosen due to its popularity among Hungarian and foreign tourists, which is demonstrated by its second place in the number of guests and guest nights in the country. The research only considered those hotels which are members of the Hungarian Hotel and Restaurant Association and classified as three-, four- or five-star accommodation facilities. In the first stage the hotel general managers were asked to complete a questionnaire about the hotels’ innovation behaviour. Then the best practice was identified and followed by an interview with the managers. There were 28 questionnaires completed, which is 52% of the hotels fitting the criteria. The results show that the definition of innovation is hard for the hotel general managers and hotels are focused on technological innovation, they do not concentrate on the environmental innovations and the most important barrier is the cost. The identified best practice hotel is Hotel Európa Fit****superior, which emphasises human resource and organisational innovation and introduces so-called ‘innovation by inspiring’. This work is licensed under a&nbsp;Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.</p