Consumers' Behavior in the Field of Organic Agriculture and Food Products during the COVID-19 Pandemic in the Czech Republic: Focus on a Comparison of Hyper-, Super- and Farmers' Markets and Direct Purchases from Producers

The aim of this paper is to assess Czech food consumers' behavior when buying organic products during the COVID-19 pandemic, with an emphasis on the place of purchase of organic agriculture and food products—especially those purchases with the shortest logistics value chain, i.e., purchase at farmers' markets, or directly from the producer—and a comparison with the current most common places of purchase of organic products in the Czech Republic, supermarkets and hypermarkets. Categorical data analysis methods were used to create a profile of the consumer according to the most frequent purchase locations. To create mathematical–statistical models and interpretations, the methods of logistic regression, correspondence analysis and contingency table analysis were chosen. According to the results of the survey, respondents under 25 years of age are the least likely to make purchases at farmers' markets or directly from the producer. Consumers aged 26–35 and with a university degree are the most likely to buy organic agriculture and food products at this location, followed closely by older respondents in the categories 36–45 and 46+ and with a secondary education. It is important for manufacturers to have an overview of where, in what quantities, and for what reasons consumers buy their products, especially for reasons of production optimization and planning, ecological concerns, rural development, and the impact on local areas and the value chain.

Factors Affecting the International Flight Delays and Their Impact on Airline Operation and Management and Passenger Compensations Fees in Air Transport Industry: Case Study of a Selected Airlines in Europe

This paper aims to analyze the causes of flight delays of a selected airline operating in Europe and identify potential risks and reasons for delays in air transport, which carry risk, especially in connection with passenger dissatisfaction and the resulting need to pay compensation for delayed flights, according to EU law, which brings significant financial costs for airlines. Data collected from the years 2013-2019 have been used for the purposes of this article, including data on the duration and causes of the delays and the characteristics of individual flights, such as the flight type, aircraft type, time of departure, aircraft capacity, and the load factor. Multidimensional statistics methods have been applied for data processing, namely tests of independence and correspondence analysis. Dependencies have been presented in graphical form using correspondence maps. The analysis shows that the total share of delayed flights of the company in question does not increase over the mentioned period of time. The analysis furthermore proved that higher capacity aircraft were rather prone to longer delays. The share of delayed charter flights declined slightly over the period under review, while the number of delays caused by airline operating reasons, aircraft clearance by supplier companies, technical maintenance and aircraft defects, operating procedures, and crew flight standards and airport restrictions is increasing. The analysis also shows that the delays propagated by the delays of the previous flights are becoming more frequent, with the exception of the year 2019. In the last pre-COVID year, air traffic control could boast about a positive trend regarding the number of produced delays over the years, contributing to greater air passenger satisfaction and airline service quality. Due to the gradual revival of air transport after the COVID pandemic lockdowns, the topic of flight delays, passenger customer satisfaction and financial costs for the resulting delays is once again an actual issue for air management and operation.

Czech Consumers' Preference for Organic Products in Online Grocery Stores during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

A major advantage of online organic produce shopping is the fact that it saves energy and reduces emissions otherwise generated by customers during their time spent on the road and while shopping. Organic products in general positively impact sustainability, the environment, and the regions of their origin along with the social changes in these regions and further rural development. Moreover, these products positively impact the perceived health benefits and quality of food labeled as organic. The Czech Republic has currently seen a rise in organic food purchasing and supply trends. This study maps the factors possibly influencing consumers' decision to go shopping for organic food online. Observed factors include the following demographic characteristics of consumers (respondents): gender, age, education, household income, number of children in the household and number of household members. A total of 757 respondents from the Czech Republic from September 2020 to December 2020 took part in the research. Logistic regression, used for data processing, identified the statistically significant effects of education, income and number of household members on online purchases. These conclusions were confirmed by a detailed contingency tables analysis, including the almost monotonous trend of the dependencies, with only minor deviations in a maximum of one category. The strongest influence of some categories on the emergence of partial dependencies was found by residue analysis. The research confirmed that the frequency of online grocery shopping increases significantly with increasing education and income of respondents and decreases with increasing the number of household members. Most respondents apparently shop for groceries online because of time savings, better product choice and more convenient and easier search.

Pre-COVID-19 Organic Market in the European Union—Focus on the Czech, German, and Slovak Markets

This article compares attitudes to buying organic food in selected countries in Central Europe. The current research was conducted in 2019 on a total sample of 2800 respondents in the Czech Republic, Slovakia (Central Europe, with a relatively new organic food market), and Germany (a traditional Western Europe country with a mature food market). The study results demonstrate significant differences between the three selected markets. The product quality is the most important for German consumers. Slovak consumers consider organic food to be the least recognizable and least promoted of all the regions surveyed, and they are also the least likely to encounter targeted advertising for organic products. Germany is the country where most respondents regularly or occasionally buy organic food. In Slovakia, an interesting finding is the highest proportion of respondents who do not buy organic food at all. Czech respondents often buy organic products in specialized shops and like to grow organic products themselves. The results also suggest that Slovak consumers slightly more often prefer foreign organic products to the local ones, whereas consumers in Germany select regional organic products more often and prefer to buy regional products at farmers’ markets.