MARKET SEGMENTATION IN THE REPUBLIC OF CROATIA ACCORDING TO FOOD-RELATED LIFESTYLE

The main objective of this paper is to investigate the specifi cities of food-related lifestyle segmentation in Croatia. Specifi cally our purposes are: 1. To see what segments can be distinguished on the basis of food-related lifestyles; 2.To compare the attributes of the distinguished segments; and 3.To identify the specifi c socio-demographic features of the subtracted segments. A survey was conducted in 2006 on a sample of 902 consumers. Households were se-lected using random zone sampling in the fi ve largest cities in Croatia. In this study, use was made of the cross-culturally validated instrument developed by Brunsø and Grunert (FRL; Brunsø and Grunert, 1995; 1998) with 69 ques-tions on ways of shopping, cooking methods, quality aspects, consumption situations, and purchasing motives. Segmentation was done by using cluster analysis (joining-tree clustering procedure). Five distinct food-related lifestyle segments were identified: Relaxed, Traditionalists, Modern, Concerned Nutritionists, and Experimentalists. The socio-demographic features of the distinguished segments are described in the paper.