THE MEANING OF PERCEIVED RISK IN PURCHASING DECISIONS OF THE POLISH CUSTOMERS

In the article, by means of qualitative and quantitive research methods, the following questions have been answered: What is risk for Polish consumer? Is the consumer aware of a risk of failed purchase? And if so, what types of risks do they perceive? Then finally, which risks are the most important for them? The achieved results show that a poor purchase risk, which accompanies consumers, if perceived, it constitutes an important determinant of the purchasing decision making. Polish consumers are aware of the failed purchase risk connected with their purchasing decisions and they perceive it both as a possibility of loss and as a chance for achieving a better result than expected. From among the researched groups of goods and services, consumers most often perceive the risk of a poor purchase in the situation of buying household appliances and tourist services – the situations of cautious and unusual decision making. Polish consumers perceive various types of risk,the importance of which changes depending on the kind of a purchased product.