Examining the factors shaping consumer attitude towards the popular alcoholic beverages in Hungary.

The study of consumer attitudes is particularly important for products related to tradition. Pálinka is Hungary's national beverage; the homemade distillate is primarily legally different from pálinka and it cannot be marketed. The main goal of the research is to analyse the role of the three attitude components (cognitive, affective and conative), consumer ethnocentrism and drinking motives in shaping the consumer attitude towards the Hungarian pálinka and the homemade distillate and a popular, but not Hungarian beverage, whisky. Data were collected by questionnaires using a quota sampling method, resulting in a sample of 626 respondents. In this paper we demonstrate the importance of the affective component using structural equation modelling, and the way consumer ethnocentrism influences the favorable consumer attitude to homemade distillate through emotions. The study has revealed the opposite effect of consumer ethnocentrism in the case of whisky, and the lack of effect in the case of pálinka. The social alcohol drinking motivation also shapes the favorable consumer attitudes towards the homemade distillate and whisky. The consumer preference is also supported by using the Multiattribute Attitude Model and the conjoint-analysis. The scientific value of the study lies in using different methods for understanding the factors that can shape the consumer attitude towards national beverages. Improving the consumer attitude towards pálinka requires a comprehensive marketing strategy covering all three attitudinal components, and from a consumer ethnocentrism perspective, the positioning of pálinka as a national drink needs to be strengthened by the producers. The study has ignored the role of brand, tradition, packaging and nostalgia. Future research can examine the role of these factors in consumer attitude towards national alcoholic beverages. By inserting the conceptual model of this study into the Theory of Planned Behaviour model, the effects of the subjective norms and perceived behavioral control can also be analysed.