IMPACT OF ECONOMIC CRISIS ON CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR TOWARDS MEAT

The economic crisis with its origin in 2008 has influenced many areas of consumer life. It also determines their behaviour related to purchasing and consuming products, including food products. An example of an important product in the human diet is meat consumed by the Poles at the level of more than 75 kg per person per year, which on one hand has adequate nutritional value and is consumed by the consumers because of the reasons related to a tradition, habits and pleasure, but on the other hand, it is an expensive product and therefore, in the time of the crisis, its consumption level is decreased and consumers look for cheaper alternatives. The aim of the research carried out within the framework of a NCN in Kraków research project "Determinants of selection and consumption of meat in Poland - diagnosis and forecasts" was to assess the impact of the economic crisis on consumers' behaviour towards meat. The statistical analysis led to the conclusion that for 18.1% of the respondents it was the economic crisis that contributed to the changes in the consumption of meat. As calculated based on the 7-point scale (where 1 rating - the lack of any changes, and evaluation of 7 - changes with high intensity) in the past few years, consumers have noticed reduce the level of total meat consumption (5.02), an increase in the level of consumption of cheaper types of meat (4.85), reducing consumption of more expensive meats (4.48), buying a one-off smaller portions of meat than it was 2-5 years ago (4.23). They also began to pay more attention to the price of buying.