The effect of healthy lifestyle on consumers' attitude and intention towards functional foods

Over time, the increase in fast and irregular lifestyles has led to the intense consumption of processed packaged foods that adapt to this lifestyle and can be ready instantly. These foods, which cause malnutrition because their nutritional values are damaged during production, have caused people to suffer from serious diseases such as blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, cancer and obesity. As a result of the efforts to get rid of these serious diseases, the forgotten healing properties of foods have been rediscovered and an increasing interest has begun to emerge in functional foods that provide additional benefits to the body beyond meeting basic nutritional needs. As a result of increasing health awareness and the adoption of healthy lifestyle behaviors, the close relationship between a healthy lifestyle and functional foods that support complete physical, mental and social well-being has become a noteworthy issue. For this reason, this thesis study was carried out, aiming to reveal the effect of a healthy lifestyle on consumers' attitudes and intentions towards functional foods. Research data was obtained from 421 participants with different socio-economic characteristics living in Adana province, using online and face-to-face survey methods. Descriptive analysis was used to analyze the data, and simple and multiple regression analysis was used to test the research model. According to the results obtained in the research, it was determined that the healthy lifestyle of the consumer positively affected the attitudes towards functional foods. In addition, it has been determined that attitudes towards functional foods affect the intention to consume these foods, and the healthy lifestyle of the consumer also positively affects the intention to consume these foods. Key Words: Healthy lifestyle, functional foods, attitudes, intentions, lifestyles.