Investigation of purchasing intention and willingness to pay for geographically indicated food products

The concept of geographical indication is defined as a quality sign that indicates the unique characteristics of the product in question, the region where it is produced, the properties of this product and its relationship with the region where the product is produced. Thanks to the registration of products with geographical indications, the quality, sustainability, tradition and impact of the product on regional development are protected and guaranteed. Food products that receive geographical indication protection not only provide national and international recognition to the region in question, but also contribute economically. For this purpose, in order to increase consumer awareness of geographically indicated products, to protect them and to ensure sustainability, necessary studies must be carried out both in terms of legal legislation and by public institutions or organizations to reach more people. The aim of this study is to determine which factors affect consumers' purchasing intention and willingness to pay for geographically indicated products and to make appropriate recommendations to manufacturers and relevant institutions and organizations. In the preliminary research and pilot study conducted before the final research, it was concluded that the awareness and purchase of Alanya Banana, one of the geographically indicated products specific to Antalya, was higher by participants than other geographically indicated products specific to Antalya. For the purpose of the research, data was collected from 628 participants via an online survey via Google Forms between September and October 2023. While 234 of the 628 participants ended the survey because they had not purchased geographically indicated products before, 86 of the remaining 394 participants answered the demographic questions by stating that they had not purchased Alanya Banana before. The data obtained from 308 participants who stated that they purchased Alanya Banana were analyzed with binary logistic regression. As a result of the analysis, the factors that answer the research questions, affecting the purchase intention for geographically indicated food products in the future and causing the willingness to pay for geographically indicated food products, were determined. It is seen that the factors affecting the increase in the purchasing situation for Alanya Banana in the future include the person's age, profession, number of people in his/her household, how he/she defines himself/herself, food shopping place, geographically indicated product information source and geographically indicated product perception. Factors that cause willingness to pay for Alanya Banana include profession, food selection criteria, food shopping place, time to learn about the geographically indicated product, reasons for purchasing Alanya Banana and perception of the geographically indicated product. Through the findings obtained, in the conclusion of the research, the importance of providing necessary information to consumers about what the concept of geographical indication is and what it includes is mentioned, and various suggestions regarding the formation of purchasing intention and willingness to pay for Alanya Banana and recommendations for future studies are included. Keywords: Geographical Indication, Geographical Indication Product, Geographical Indications Product Perception, Purchasing Intention, Willingness to Pay.