The impact of gastronomy themed geographical marked products on consumers: The case of Gaziantep

It is thought that working on the gastronomic elements of Gaziantep province, which is the first and leading city in the field of Gastronomy from Turkey to be included in the UNESCO Creative Cities Network-UCCN (Unesco Creative Cities Network) program, will contribute to Gaziantep gastronomy tourism and literature. There is a need to develop geographically indicated gastronomy products in line with the effects, consumer attitudes and expectations of the gastronomic products registered with the geographical indication. It is aimed to provide information about products that have received geographical indications, to investigate consumer preferences and willingness to pay more. What does the concept of geographical indication mean? What does geographical indication and geographical indication product mean for consumers? How do geographically indicated products affect consumer attitudes? In this context, it is thought that the evaluation of the data to be obtained and the presentation of geographically indicated gastronomy products according to consumer perceptions and expectations will increase the interest in the products. In the study, questionnaire application was made from quantitative research methods. The population of the study consists of individuals living and living in Gaziantep. The data of the research were collected through face-to-face survey interviews and online form. Descriptive statistics on the data were obtained and reported through the SPSS package program. In order to evaluate the data obtained as a result of the research, frequency and percentage frequency tables and figures were created and interpretations were made. Kaiser Meyer Olkin (KMO) and Barlett's test, Cronbach Alpha internal consistency coefficient and item-total correlation coefficients were examined for reliability analysis. Two-sample t-tests and multiple-samples ANOVA tests were performed. It has been determined that consumers have sufficient knowledge about geographical indication. Geographically indicated products are generally consumed. It has been concluded that the products are mostly supplied from local businesses.