Ľudmila Nagyova

Poverty, as a multispectral phenomenon caused by severe material depriving of the population, is now becoming one of the most watched socio-economic phenomena. Its scale and severity continue to increase in social consequences. The aim of the paper is to quantify and visualize the extent and level of poverty risk in the selected districts in Slovakia based on selected indicators and to compare their rates in 2015, 2019, and 2021.
The methodology of the pilot case study is based on a multi-criteria assessment of the poverty rate in a statistically unprocessed territorial unit (district) through 19 objective indicators in three domains: socio-demographic, economic performance, and infrastructure. Metfessel allocation, Fuller, and Saaty methods were used for its evaluation.
It is gratifying that the at-risk-of-poverty rate expressed by the synthesis of 19 indicators has decreased in all districts. In 2019, the poverty level decreased by 2.61 points (21.17%) compared to 2015 (23.78%). In 2021, the problem worsened again, and the poverty rate increased by 2.03 points to 23.2%. The Banská Bystrica region is characterized by low economic activity, reflected in the second lowest employment and the second highest unemployment rates, where up to 48.5% of the unemployed are under 35. The paper contributes to the growing debates on the inequality in living conditions, poverty, and marginalization, the scale and severity of which continue to increase in social consequences.

Acknowledgments
The article is supported by financial resources within the framework of Project no. 033SPU-4/2022 entitled “Functional, innovative and digital education of the subject Tourism Marketing.”

The paper aims to investigate and assess the decision-making process of young Slovak consumers – generation Z – in the purchase of tomatoes.
The respondents participatet in a questionnaire survey and blind testing of four tomato samples (two samples were Slovak and another two were foreign tomatoes). For a deeper analysis of the collected data, five scientific hypotheses were formulated. The accuracy of provided hypotheses was verified using the following mathematical-statistical methods: Chi-Square test of independence, Mann-Whitney U-test, and as Chi test for equality of proportions between two samples. The research results show that generation Z buys tomatoes once a week or several times a month. Moreover, it was found out that most young consumers are mostly influenced by freshness, taste, quality of tomatoes, and general appearance, the least by packaging, brand/specific tomato grower, information on the packaging and references. According to all observed attributes within the blind testing of tomato by the respondents, the best-evaluated sample was the Slovak sample of tomatoes – the sample B. Subsequently, all respondents were provided with information about the tested tomatoes, and it can be stated that they would also actually buy Slovak sample B in the store. Finally, one can state that the higher price of this sample has no significant impact on the respondents of generation Z.