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The main aim of the article is to understand the influence of factors biasing purchase decisions connected with measurement of consumers’ involvement. Consumption expenditures are purposefully subdivided according to the classification made by the Statistical Office of the European Communities. The performed survey showed that the most important factors biasing purchases of all commodity groups are products’ characteristics and the perceived quality. Together with these goes the factor price, nevertheless for example for the commodity group health price did not appear in the scale of the perceived importance at all. Factor necessity of need proved to be significant for decision making about the purchase of all commodities with the exception of alcoholic drinks and tobacco and recreation. Former experience compared to that is not crucial for clothing and footwear and housing equipment and contents. For alcoholic drinks and tobacco, there has notably approved also the factor brand. These analyses enable disclosure of rules of consumer decision making and thereby definition which factors for individual commodities should be targeted by the help of the marketing doyens or where the gradual changes should be achieved.

The article deals with consumer behavior in terms of food and its wastage. The main aim is to identify consumer behavior in relation to food consumption and food waste in the households in the Czech Republic as an effect of healthy competitive environment. Food consumption and its wastage is analyzed in terms of quantity and food expenditure in general as well as with the use of primary data from the Household Budget Survey. According to a household diary survey, the highest wastage is of cereal and dairy products, with the lowest being meat. The consumption and quantity of wasted food are significant in relation to price. The data obtained during daily monitoring of wasted food in September 2018 are used to test the impact of the household identification characteristics on the quantity of wasted food along with the types. A logit regression is used to estimate the anticipated quantity of wasted food according to individual kinds of food and in relation to household identification characteristics. The age, education and economic activity of consumers have a significant effect on the quantity of wasted food. In addition, the results show that the people who waste the most are over 65 years of age, with the lowest wastage connected with university graduates.

In the past, the vendors used to know their customers knew consumers and their needs much better, namely due to the fact that the owners of small corner shops were daily in a direct contact with their customers. The growth in the size of companies and markets, which took place in the recent decades, has significantly disturbed, complicated and impersonalized these direct contacts between sellers and their clients. At present, changes in the size and structure of firms and markets force marketing managers to organise and carry out surveys enabling them to obtain the necessary data about the general situation in the market on the one hand and about the requirements, expectations and opinions of their customers on the other.In this context, it is also necessary to remember that each consumer has a different personality and that also their buying decisions are different (Foret 2005). His or her decisions are influenced above all by the concrete situations and concrete offers. However, in spite of the fact that the consumer behaviour represents only a part of the complex human behaviour, for marketing managers this component is a cardinal one.The consumer behaviour of people is very often much more complex than it could seem (Smith 2000). It is not easy to predict the behaviour of individuals but, in general, the behaviour of the groups of customers (i.e. their percentages in individual markets) can be estimated more easily. Key words: consumer behaviour, consumer units, marketing research, factor analysis, chi-quadrate Abstrakt: Článek analyzuje chování českých domácností na trhu potravin. Autoři prezentují faktory, které mohou toto chování ovlivňovat významně, např. cenu, značku, kvalitu, vlastnosti zboží, zvyklosti, snižování ceny, reklamu, inovaci a doporučení přátel a příbuzných. Výsledky byly získány šetřením souboru 1 074 českých domácností v rámci výzkumu prováděného ústavem marketingu a obchodu Mendlovy zemědělské a lesnické univerzity v Brně. Domácnosti byly tříděny za základě ročních příjmů, bydliště, sociální skupiny, věku a vzdělání. Factors influencing the consumer behaviour when buying foodKlíčová slova: chování spotřebitele, domácnost, marketingový výzkum, faktorová analýza, chí-kvadrát Supported by the Ministry of Education, Youth, and Sports of the Czech Republic (Grant No. ID 6215648904 "Czech Republic in the processes of integration and globalization and development of agricultural sector and sector of services under new conditions of European integrated market", thematic circle 03 "Development of business sphere relations related to changes of lifestyle and consumer behaviour of Czech inhabitants and changes in corporate environment in the processes of integration and globalization").

This paper deals with an analysis of rural households' perception of their standards of living in context of SME in which they work. The results are based on a primary questionnaire survey conducted by authors among Czech rural households at the end of 2014. Household's subjective opinion on satisfaction with standards of living and SME's contribution to the positive development of its environment are analysed among households divided into groups according to the characteristics of SME in which the head of the household works. The paper points to correlation between SME's legal form and the distance from household's residence and SME's contribution to the development of its environment and also between SME's distance from household's residence and household's satisfaction with standards of living. Findings of the paper help to deeper our knowledge about the connection between SMEs and rural standards of living. They would also help to understand which factors rural development policy should focus on in order to increase interest of population in rural areas or to avoid urbanization. Correlations between variables were analyzed using the method of Pearson's Chi-squared test and Cramer's contingency coefficient using STATA software.

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The yolk cholesterol content in eggs of White Hisex laying hybrid from 3 specialized commercial farms averaged 1230, 1330 and 1230 mg/100 g of yolk over an 11-months laying period, i.e. 303, 304 and 309 mg cholesterol/100 g of consumable egg portions. In testing Babcock B-380, Moravia SSL, Shaver Starcross 288, and Hisex HX-1, the av. cholesterol content varied from 1200 to 1360 mg/100 g of yolk or from 372 to 444 mg/100 g of consumable egg portions. Throughout the egg-laying period, the yolk cholesterol content fluctuated rather irregularly and showed great variability (variation coefficient 9.7-18.2%). The values recorded failed to follow any of the common functions of the trend. Intensive market egg production was found to be associated with decreases in yolk cholesterol content.

The paper deals with Czech households’ subjective views on food waste. It examines households’ attitudes to food waste, including the causes of food waste. The primary data were obtained via a questionnaire survey with 1 582 respondents. The analyses allowed the identification of three categories of Czech households with different attitudes to food waste and its causes. These findings provide a basis for a proper selection of corrective measures aimed at amending or even completely transforming the current behaviour.<br />