Consumer Priorities in Food Quality Characteristics: Empirical Findings from Turkey

Consumer decision-making processes during food shopping are influenced by individual priorities, food characteristics, eating habits, and local food culture. Understanding consumer preferences and their prioritization of food attributes provides insights into their perspectives on food quality. This study aims to examine the considerations and priorities of Turkish consumers regarding food quality characteristics in different geographic regions during the shopping process. The hypotheses of the paper focus on the higher priority of price and healthiness among food quality characteristics, the influence of regional differences and socioeconomic factors, and the varying importance assigned to external characteristics of food. A sample size of 1086 households was selected from representative cities in each of the seven geographical regions in Turkey. The findings of this study will help food producers and retailers develop effective strategies to attract consumers based on their prioritization of food quality characteristics.