THE AIM OF THE PAPER This study explores how winery tours and tasting experiences enhance the marketing strategies of family-owned wineries in the Lake Neusiedl region, Austria. It examines how experiential elements contribute to customer loyalty, repeat purchases, and brand image. METHODOLOGY Using a netnographic approach, 1,895 customer reviews from Vivino were analyzed to assess visitor experiences. The study focuses on three key experiential dimensions: knowledge acquisition, entertainment, and aesthetic engagement. KEY FINDINGS The results highlight that educational aspects, particularly guided tours and wine tastings, significantly enhance visitor satisfaction. The scenic winescape and entertainment offerings also play a crucial role in shaping positive experiences. However, wineries face challenges such as market differentiation and staffing shortages. The findings suggest that strategic use of storytelling, edutainment, and personalized engagement can improve the effectiveness of winery visits as a marketing tool. The study acknowledges limitations, including the focus on German-speaking visitors and the lack of demographic data. RECOMMENDATIONS Future research should explore post-visit behaviors, social interactions during winery visits, and the long-term impact of experiential marketing on repurchase behavior. These insights can help wineries refine their customer engagement strategies and strengthen their competitive positioning. This research provides actionable recommendations for wineries to optimize experiential marketing and enhance customer relationships.

BackgroundEvaluating opaque stimuli under a broken linguistic anchor presents a layered cognitive-affective process, wherein individuals shift to visual heuristics and crossmodal correspondences to compensate for semantic decoding. Traditional unimodal research creates methodological blind spots within these complex transitional stages.ObjectiveThis exploratory research aims to map the continuous transition from visual capture to implicit affect and conscious appraisal, specifically examining the descriptive fluency paradox between initial oculomotor friction and subsequent subconscious hedonic reward.MethodsA multimodal biometric methodology integrating eye-tracking, Facial Action Coding Systems (FACS), and explicit surveys was implemented. A focused sample of non-German-speaking Gen Z participants (N = 22) evaluated opaque Austrian wine labels, providing a methodological baseline devoid of semantic and cultural priors to isolate visually driven cognitive processing.ResultsThe descriptive findings illustrated a dissociation across cognitive layers and revealed a paradox in classical fluency processing. A high-density structural exemplar attracted visual attention but failed to map onto premium and gustatory crossmodal expectations of intrinsic valuation. Conversely, a minimalistic exemplar induced initial cognitive friction and delayed recognition but paradoxically created a more intense subconscious hedonic reward and higher crossmodal valuation.ConclusionThese observations align with the “Aesthetic Aha” paradigm, indicating that initial perceptual friction can function as a precondition for increased emotional payoff. Moreover, the study emphasises the necessity of biometric triangulation in the completeness sense, highlighting the essentiality of multimodal mapping to decipher cross-cultural heuristics without the blind spots of unimodal approaches. Critically, visual salience, implicit affect, and conscious crossmodal appraisal were found to capture fundamentally distinct psychological stages, each contributing uniquely to consumer valuation of opaque stimuli. These findings underscore the urgent need for experimental models that account for decoupled cognitive pathways, illustrating that judgment and decision-making in ambiguous cross-cultural contexts are not a linear extraction of visual salience, but a complex interplay of aesthetic heuristics and implicit hedonic affective misattribution.

Food waste is one of the most pressing environmental, economic, and social challenges of our time. In Hungary, a significant portion of food waste originates at the household level, which is why this study aims to explore some of the correlations related to food waste through quantitative research. The primary goal was to examine how respondents perceive sustainability, their food consumption, and waste. The research was conducted using a non-random sampling method, with a sample size of 798, which is not representative, but the authors aimed to approximate a random sampling approach as closely as possible. The results of the study indicated that the extent of food waste is strongly correlated with demographic factors, attitudes, and habits. It was found that education and environmental awareness play a crucial role in reducing waste. The findings of this research can contribute to the development of targeted policy measures and social campaigns aimed at reducing food waste and promoting more sustainable lifestyles in Hungary.

Background and aims: Eating behaviour patterns are fundamental determinants of chronic disease risk and public health. Hungary faces among the highest rates of obesity, cardiovascular disease, and diet-related mortality in Europe. Despite this, population-level consumer profiling based on validated multi-scale instruments remains limited. This study aimed to conduct a simultaneous, nationally representative assessment of eating motivations, health and taste attitudes, and eating styles among Hungarian adults, and to derive actionable consumer segments for each dimension. Methods: Two independent nationally representative cross-sectional surveys were conducted: (1) eating attitudes (TFEQ-R21) and health/taste attitude scales (HTAS) were assessed in 2021 (n =1000); (2) eating motivations (TEMS) were assessed in 2020 (n = 1000). Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were applied to each instrument. Consumer segmentation was performed using hierarchical and K-means cluster analysis. Sociodemographic differences across segments were explored via chi-square tests and one-way ANOVA. The perceived palatability and healthiness of functional food categories were examined across TFEQ- R21 segments. Results: The TEMS yielded eight eating motivation factors and five consumer segments: Traditional Simplifiers (17.9%), Frugal Social and Emotional Eaters (19.9%), Balanced Self- Rewarders (27.5%), Health-Conscious (18.3%), and Indifferent (16.4%). The HTAS health subscale produced four clusters, with Health-Conscious Metropolitans (19.8%) as the primary functional food target. The HTAS taste subscale identified Taste-Oriented consumers (26.9%) alongside three further groups. The TFEQ-R21 confirmed a three-factor eating attitude structure (Emotional Eating, Uncontrolled Eating, Cognitive Restriction; explained variance 57.2%) and yielded five behavioural clusters. Controlled Dieters represented only 20.6% of the adult population; approximately 75–80% exhibited indifferent, uncontrolled, or emotionally driven eating patterns. Perceived palatability and healthiness of functional foods were significantly higher among Controlled Dieters than other segments (p < 0.05). Conclusions: The parallel application of three validated eating behaviour scales provides a comprehensive consumer landscape for Hungarian adults. The dominant eating patterns — habitual, taste-driven, and indifferent — along with the limited reach of health-conscious behaviour, underline the urgent need for differentiated public health and food marketing strategies tailored to each segment's psychological profile.

Cél – A tanulmány célja, hogy feltárja a fogyasztói kultúra elméletének (Consumer Culture Theory, CCT) szerepét és hozzáadott értékét a marketing tudományában, különös tekintettel a társadalmi-kulturális kontextusra. Az írás kiemelten vizsgálja, hogy a CCT miként szolgálhat a fogyasztói magatartás mezo szintű elemzésének egyik modelljeként, és hogyan kapcsolódik az üzleti antropológia kutatási területeihez. A szerző célja, hogy bemutassa a CCT lehetőségeit a marketingelméletben, valamint a csoportos fogyasztói viselkedés értelmezésében. Tervezés – A tanulmány az üzleti antropológia és a marketing közötti kapcsolatot elemzi, különös figyelmet fordítva a fogyasztói magatartás különböző szintjeire. A szerző a CCT-t a fogyasztói magatartás kutatásának szempontjából pozícionálja, bemutatva annak előnyeit és korlátait a marketing kontextusában. A vizsgálat során összehasonlító elemzést alkalmaz, és a nemzetközi szakirodalmat is figyelembe veszi. Eredmények – A kutatás eredményei szerint a CCT hatékonyan alkalmazható a fogyasztói csoportok viselkedésének és kulturális összefüggéseinek feltárására. A modell kiválóan alkalmas a társadalmi-történeti mintázatok és a piac kultúrájának értelmezésére, ezáltal értékes eszköz lehet a marketingstratégia számára. Ugyanakkor a tanulmány megállapítja, hogy a CCT önmagában nem képes a fogyasztói magatartás mikro (pszichológiai) és makro (közgazdasági) szintű elemzésére, így a marketingtudomány holisztikus megközelítéséhez más elméletekkel való integrációja szükséges. Eredetiség – A tanulmány hozzájárul a CCT és a marketing kapcsolatának tisztázásához, valamint új perspektívát kínál a fogyasztói magatartás kutatásában. A szerző rámutat arra, hogy a fogyasztói kultúra elmélete egyre fontosabb szerepet tölt be a marketingelmélet fejlődésében, különösen a társadalmi-kulturális összefüggések vizsgálata révén. A kutatás újdonsága, hogy a CCT-t nem csupán egy önálló modellként, hanem a marketing tudományterületébe szervesen illeszkedő, hiánypótló elemként értelmezi.

Food waste is an urgent global sustainability issue, and higher education institutions play a key role in developing and communicating effective reduction strategies. This paper presents best practices from four leading universities – Oxford, MIT, Stanford, and Harvard – highlighting their diverse yet complementary communication approaches to reducing food waste. Oxford emphasizes behavioural change through educational campaigns and narrativebased awareness programs that reframe food as a shared responsibility. MIT leverages technological innovation by introducing a food management app, supported by data-driven communication that engages students in realtime decision-making. Stanford’s student-led food donation initiative demonstrates how peer-to-peer communication and storytelling foster a culture of empathy and participation. Harvard combines institutional waste monitoring with behavioural experiments in consumer labeling, showing how subtle communication cues can shift dining behaviour. The findings suggest that communication is not only a tool but a catalyst – shaping perceptions, mobilizing communities, and transforming sustainability goals into tangible behavioural outcomes. The paper concludes with a framework for universities that integrates marketing communication principles, participatory storytelling, and multi-channel engagement to build a culture of conscious consumption and reduce food waste effectively across campus environments. By strategically aligning communication, technology, and community initiatives, universities can become influential platforms for promoting sustainable behaviours beyond their campuses.