Examination of consumers' purchasing approaches towards functional grains and grain-like products within the scope of planned behavior theory: the case of Konya province

The purpose of this study is to determine the knowledge, attitudes, and consumption patterns of consumers living in Konya province toward functional cereals and cereal-like products within the framework of the theory of planned behavior. Given the health effects of dietary fiber found in cereals and cereal-like products, the health consciousness variable was incorporated into the dimensions of the theory of planned behavior: attitude toward behavior, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control, and purchase intention. The main material of the study consisted of survey data collected from 266 consumers using the non-clustered single-stage random probability sampling method based on population proportions. The relationships between participants' demographic characteristics, their knowledge of the concept of functional foods, and their consumption of functional cereals and cereal-like products were examined using chi-square analysis. The differences between consumers' demographic characteristics and their purchase intentions for functional cereals and cereal-like products were examined using independent samples t-tests and one-way analysis of variance. Confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to assess the construct validity of the scales used in the study, and the relationships between the variables were evaluated using structural equation modeling. According to the research results, 48.87 % of the participants consume cereals and grain-like products. A significant difference was found between the participants' gender, average monthly household income, employment status, and nutrition program implementation status, as well as their knowledge of the concept of functional foods at the 5 % level of significance, and a significant difference was found between the participants' gender, nutrition program implementation status, and their consumption of cereals and grain-like products at the 5 % level of significance, and a significant difference was found between the participants' gender, nutrition program implementation status, and their consumption status at the 10 % level of significance. A significant difference was found between the participants' intention to purchase cereals and grain-like foods and their gender, average household income level, nutrition program implementation, and employment status at the 5 % level of significance. According to the structural equation model results, the attitude toward behavior and perceived behavioral control dimensions were found to have a significant positive effect on purchase intention. The health awareness and subjective norm dimensions had no significant effect on purchase intention. The perceived behavioral control dimension had no significant effect on purchase behavior. Purchase intention was found to have a significant positive effect on purchase behavior.