Examining the factors influencing habits of consuming drinking milk and brand preference: A case of Izmir

This study aimed to identify the factors influencing the milk-drinking habits and brand preferences of consumers who live in various districts of Izmir. A total of 407 individuals with different demographic characteristics participated in this study. Chi-square, normality tests, Mann-Whitney U, Kruskal-Wallis test and validity test were used in this research. First of all, the findings of this study revealed that 74.9% of all participants consumed the drinking milk, and the milk-drinking habits of the female participants were higher than that of the male participants. Furthermore, the rate of milk-drinking habits of the participants having bachelor's degree was higher than that of the others. Additionally, while 87.9% of the consumers preferred the plain milk, 12.1% of them chose the flavored milk. Moreover, 46.9% of the participants preferred consuming the pasteurized milk whereas 43.3% of them preferred UHT and 8.8% of them chose raw milk, respectively. Although the majority of the consumers bought the drinking milk from markets and supermarkets, 6.5% of the participants purchased the drinking milk from local dairy farmers. The reasons for consuming or non-consuming the drinking milk were measured through the multiple choice questions. 81.9% of the drinking milk consumers stated that they consumed milk for their health care whereas 75.53% of the participants who do not drink milk expressed that they did not like to drink milk. 81.9% of the drinking milk consumers indicated that the quality and nutrition of milk was the most important factor influencing their milk-drinking habits. Other essential factors affecting milk-drinking habits were the taste of milk and self-research. On the other hand, all participants considered the price of milk with the lowest importance. It was also found that 61.6% of the participants gained their milk-drinking habits in their early childhood years. Additionally, while participants of this study consumed approximately 55 liters of milk in a year, the expiry date was stated as criteria for buying drinking milk. The study indicates that 70.5% of the participants preferred a certain milk brand. According to them, the brand represents the quality of the milk, warranty, reputation of the company. The reliability (health-quality), taste of the milk and costumer care were stated as the most crucial factors for choosing a certain milk brand among other factors. It was also found that milk consumers preferred changing the brand when the quality of the current brand was lowered and the company was known as producing defective products. Moreover, participants of this research found their favorite brand satisfactory. The relevant institutions and organizations should collaborate with the universities to take action for increasing individuals' milk-drinking habits and the level of milk consumption, because milk is required to be consumed at the each stage of the life cycle including the childhood in terms of both nutrition and health. Keywords: Drinking milk, Milk consumption, Brand Preference, Effective Factor.