Tüketicilerin Fast Food Tüketim Sıklığını Etkileyen Faktörlerin Analizi

Abstract

Worldwide and in Turkey, there is an increasing demand for fast food products and the sector is growing rapidly. Population growth, urbanization, increase in education and income levels of individuals, change in family structure, travel obligation, intensive working time, and especially the increase in the participation of women in the workforce are the important factors affecting fast food consumption. Today there are more than 700 fast food outlets in Turkey. This study investigates the relationship between consumers' fast food frequency and their socioeconomic characteristics. In this context, the material of the study was obtained from 346 consumers by face to face questionnaire in Central Anatolia in 2016. Ordered Logistic Regression model was employed to determine the relationship between the socio-economic characteristics of consumers and the frequency of fast food consumption.According to the results, 47% of the consumers are in the range of 26-40 years, 48% are undergraduate and above education level and 39% are in the middle-income group. When the fast food consumption frequency of consumers is examined, it is determined that 37.9% of them do not consume fast food, 17.6% of them sometimes consume fast food and 44.5% of them frequently consume fast food. In addition, the body mass index of the consumers was calculated as 25.10 on average. According to the Ordered Logistic Regression, there is a positive relationship between frequency of fast food consumption and consumers' education, income, and frequency of going to the mall while negative relationships between consumers' age and body mass index (p<0.05). Due to the results, consumers in higher education and income groups go to the mall more often and consume fast food more often than other consumers. Besides, it has been determined that young people consume fast food more frequently than elder ones. In the light of the findings obtained from the research, decision-makers and sector stakeholders should evaluate the factors influencing the frequency of fast food consumption of consumers and develop and implement policies and marketing strategies for healthier nutrition of individuals.