The Effect of Social Media on Prepared Food Consumption of Generation X and Y Consumers: A Case Study for Turkey

Abstract

In line with consumers' ever-increasing workload and time constraints worldwide, prepared food products have started to play an even more prominent role in human life. Thanks to the developing technology, Internet and social media use has increased. Social media has become influential in consumption decisions and growing in popularity and importance among consumers. This study aimed to determine and evaluate the level of prepared food consumption and social media use in Generation X and Generation Y consumers and examine the effect of social media use on prepared food consumption. In this study, Generation Y was chosen because it is the generation that develops with technology and actively uses social media. On the other hand, Generation X is the generation that follows technology behind. The primary material of the research consists of the data collected by the survey conducted on 687 consumers who purchased prepared food products and used social media in Kocaeli, Turkey. The study demonstrated their socio-demographic structure with frequency distributions in the data obtained. In addition, statistical analysis methods (factor analysis, ANOVA test, t-test) were used for data evaluation. A 5-point Likert scale was employed to determine the attitudes of consumers. It was found that prepared food consumption generally increases with the time spent on social media. Generation Y consumers consumed prepared food products more often than Generation X consumers.

Keywords

• Prepared food
• Generation X
• Generation Y
• Social media
• Consumption

X ve Y Kuşağı Tüketicilerinin Hazır Gıda Tüketiminde Sosyal Medyanın Etkisi: Türkiye’den Örnek Bir Araştırma

Abstract

Tüm dünyada artan yoğun iş temposu ve tüketicilerin günlük hayattaki zaman kısıtları ile birlikte hazır gıda ürünleri hayatımızda önemli yer almaktadır. Gelişen teknoloji sayesinde internet ve sosyal medya kullanımı da artış göstermiştir. Tüketiciler tarafından popülerliği ve önemi artan sosyal medya, tüketim kararlarında da etkili olmaya başlamıştır. Çalışmanın amacı, X Kuşağı ve Y Kuşağı tüketicilerde hazır gıda tüketimi ve sosyal medya kullanım düzeyinin değerlendirilmesini ve sosyal medya kullanımının hazır gıda tüketiminde etkisinin olup olmadığını incelemektir. Bu çalışmada Y Kuşağı teknoloji ile gelişen ve sosyal medyayı aktif şekilde kullanan kuşak olduğu için, X Kuşağı da teknolojiyi geriden takip eden kuşak olduğu için tercih edilmiştir. Araştırmanın ana materyalini, Türkiye’nin Kocaeli ilinde hazır gıda satın alan ve sosyal medya kullanan 687 tüketici üzerinde yüz yüze anket yöntemi ile toplanan veriler oluşturmuştur. Elde edilen verilerde tüketicilerin sosyo-demografik yapısı frekans dağılımlarıyla ortaya konulmuştur. Ayrıca verilerin değerlendirilmesinde istatistik analiz yöntemlerinden( faktör analizi, anova testi, t-testi) yararlanılmıştır. Araştırmada X ve Y kuşaklarındaki tüketicilerin tutumlarını belirlemek amacıyla 5’li likert ölçeğinden yararlanılmıştır. Araştırma sonucunda, hazır gıda tüketiminin genel olarak sosyal medyada geçirilen zamana paralel olarak arttığı tespit edilmiştir. Y kuşağı tüketicileri, hazır gıda ürünlerini X kuşağı tüketicilere göre daha sık tüketmektedir.

Keywords

• Hazır gıda
• X kuşağı
• Y kuşağı
• Sosyal medya
• Tüketim

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