The effect of smoked foods on consumer preferences

The aim of this study is to elaborate and quantify the factors affecting consumers' preferences for smoked foods. The first objective is to investigate the consumption status of smoked foods in terms of likability. The second objective is to determine consumers' attitudes towards the regular version and the smoked version of a food item in their preferences. The unique value of this study is that it examines the effect of smoked foods on consumer intention in the light of variables such as experiential value theory and health perception. The relationships between flavor perception, health perception and consumption intention of smoked foods are examined along with the mediating effects of seeking variety. By contributing to the literature, this study aims to analyze the effects of smoked foods on consumer behavior in more depth. The use of a quantitative research design and structural equation modeling enables the study to effectively test the interactions between variables based on a strong analytical framework. This approach aims to reliably reveal the relationships between flavor perception and health perception of smoked foods and consumer intention. This research is a quantitative study that aims to examine the effects of smoked foods on consumer intention. Data were collected through an online survey and a structured questionnaire was used. The questionnaire includes 11 questions for the Intention to Consume Smoked Food Scale, 6 questions for the Health Perception Scale in the third section, 8 questions for the Variety Seeking Scale in the fourth section, and 7 questions for the Attitude Towards Smoked Food Scale in the fifth section. Demographic information was analyzed using frequency and percentage from descriptive statistical approaches with the help of SPSS 27.0 software. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and then structural equation modeling (SEM) were used for data analysis. AMOS program was used for CFA and SEM. The findings revealed that flavor perception of smoked foods does not statistically significantly affect consumers' health perceptions. Taste perception of smoked foods has a statistically significant effect on consumers' intention to consume smoked foods. Consumers' perception of health has a statistically significant direct positive effect on their intention to consume smoked foods. Seeking variety has a partial mediating effect on the effect of smoked food flavor perception on consumers' intention to consume smoked foods. There is no mediating effect of variety seeking on the effect of health perception on consumers' intention to consume smoked foods.