CSR as a Marketing Tool and Influence on Consumer Behaviour in the Food Market

The submitted paper focuses on the application of CSR as a marketing tool in the practice of food companies in Slovakia. Currently, the concept of corporate social responsibility is very widespread. Making profit is no longer the only goal, companies are gradually starting to feel a certain obligation to be involved in the society in which they operate. Even the company on the Slovak food market is increasingly interested in building a good name and brand awareness through CSR activities. To achieve the given goal and obtain the required data, it was based on a questionnaire survey with a total of 946 respondents. To achieve this goal, two research questions and hypotheses were set, which we evaluated using various statistical methods. After evaluating the data obtained from the conducted questionnaire survey, it was found that the respondents do not prefer buying food from a socially responsible food companies based on advertising and that only the youngest generation Z is willing to invest more in socially responsible food products based on advertising. The survey focuses on CSR as an element of marketing communication and its influence on the formation of consumer preferences. At the threshold of the 3rd millennium, CSR is also associated with rationality and irrationality in the creation of preferences in the purchasing behavior of consumers.