Consumers' experience as the basis for ecologically responsible trade in the region of former Yugoslavia

Devastating information about the pollution of the environment sounds the alarm, telling us that nowadays all market subjects are obliged to act in a socially responsible way more than ever. As consumers' experience is often a decisive factor of consumers' behaviour, and socially responsible behaviour as well, in this paper we analyse consumers' experience as a basis of ecologically responsible trade, keeping in mind that it is also a kind of ecological responsibility. The region of former Yugoslavia is analysed in this paper because we believe that there have been no cross-cultural studies in this region into consumers' experience as a basis for ecologically responsible trade. This cross-cultural research was conducted on a sample of 900 respondents through a questionnaire. The statistical data that were used were: descriptive statistics, ANOVA and Tukey HSD tests. The results of the research show that there are differences between countries from the region of former Yugoslavia when it comes to consumers' experience as a basis for ecologically responsible trade. The obtained results have a practical application, which is seen in the possibility that the market respondents who are engaged in ecologically responsible trade in the region of former Yugoslavia adequately define and position the consumers' experience in their strategies as a tool that can manage ecologically responsible trade. Theoretical application is seen in the possibility of using the results as a basis for future research.