Consumers’ Health Consciousness in Perception of Food Values during Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic in Turkey

Öz

Purpose: The study aims to determine consumers’ food values and health consciousness in Turkey and examine the level of health consciousness according to the perception of food values. Design/methodology/approach: The data were obtained from 1050 consumers via computer-assisted web interviewing (CAWI) across Turkey. Gender, age and socio-economic status (SES) were taken into account in order to represent Turkey while determining the consumers. The Health Consciousness Scale was used to measure the health consciousness and the List of Values was used to determine the food value system. Factor analysis was conducted to identify the underlying dimensions of consumers' food values and consumers were segmented according to whether the factor score of the food value dimension was negative or positive. Findings: The results showed that approximately 50% of consumers are below the average health consciousness level. The analysis produced one dimension including commonly held eight food values. 54.3% of consumers were apathetic to food values. It shows that those who do not care about food values have low health consciousness. Originality: It is expected that results of the study will provide necessary scientific findings for more effective policy tools and practices aimed at changing consumer behavior to increase health consciousness.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Health consciousness
• Food values
• COVID-19
• consumer segmentation

Türkiye’de Koronavirüs (COVID-19) Salgınında Tüketicilerin Gıda Değeri Algısına Göre Sağlık Bilinci

Öz

Amaç: Türkiye’de tüketicilerin gıda değerlerini ve sağlık bilincini düzeyini belirlemek, gıda değerleri algısına göre sağlık bilinci düzeyini incelemek amaçlanmıştır. Tasarım/Metodoloji/Yaklaşım: Araştırmanın ana materyalini, Türkiye genelinde 1050 tüketici ile bilgisayar destekli web görüşmesi (CAWI) yöntemiyle elde edilmiş veriler oluşturmaktadır. Tüketiciler belirlenirken, Türkiye temsili olacak şekilde cinsiyet, yaş ve Sosyo-ekonomik Statü (SES) kriterleri dikkate alınmıştır. Tüketicinin sağlık bilinci düzeyini ölçmek için Sağlık Bilinci Ölçeği, gıda değer sistemini belirlemede ise Gıda Değerleri Listesi kullanılmıştır. Tüketicilerin gıda değerlerinin temelinde yatan boyutları belirlemek amacıyla faktör analizi uygulanmış ve gıda değeri boyutuna ait faktör skorunun negatif ve pozitif olma durumuna göre tüketiciler segmetlere ayrılmıştır. Bulgular: Araştırma sonuçları, tüketicilerin yaklaşık %50’sinin ortalama sağlık bilinci düzeyinin altında olduğu belirlenmiştir. Türkiye’de, toplum tarafından genel kabul gören sekiz gıda değerinin olduğu tespit edilmiştir. Tüketicilerin %54.3’ü gıda değerlerine ilgisizdir. Gıda değerlerine önem vermeyenlerin sağlık bilincinin düşük olduğunu göstermektedir. Özgünlük/değer: Araştırma sonuçlarının, sağlık bilincini arttırmaya yönelik tüketici davranışı değişikliği hedefleyen politika araçlarının ve uygulamalarının daha etkili olması için gerekli olan bilimsel bulguları sağlaması beklenmektedir.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Sağlık bilinci
• gıda değeri
• COVID-19
• tüketici segmenti

Kaynakça

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