Lifestyle of consumers and food neophobia tendency

The food and beverage industry has been changing day by day. Finding various services that are not previously applied and offering them to consumers enable food and beverage industry businesses to stand out in the market. Although this is welcomed by individuals seeking variety in food, there are also consumers concerned about novel and unfamiliar food. Consumption habits of people are shaped by their lifestyle. Lifestyles are behavioral patterns that distinguish individuals from each other. These lifestyles help to understand what individuals do, why they do it, and what it means to take these actions. From this point of view, the main purpose of this study is to examine the effects of lifestyles of consumers on their neophobic tendencies. Thus, by determining the neophobia tendencies of individuals in line with their lifestyle; it will be possible to predict which market is more attractive to the new type of food producers. A quantitative study was carried out in line with the purpose of the research, and the survey technique (online survey) was used as the data collection tool. The online questionnaire used in the study was applied to 450 participants. 435 validated questionnaires were analyzed. The "Food Neophobia Scale" and "Values and Lifestyle (VALS 2) Scale", whose validity and reliability were checked, were used to collect the research data. Factor analysis, t-test, one-way analysis of variance and simple linear regression analysis were applied to the obtained data. As a result of the research, it was determined that the sub-dimensions of the lifestyle, believer and survivor lifestyles, had a positive effect on the food neophobia tendency, while the experiencers lifestyle had a negative effect. In addition, the positive effect of the survivor and believer lifestyle on food neophilia showed that these lifestyles seek variety with food neophobia tendency. Futhermore, there is a significant relationship between gender, age, marital status and educational status demographics and food neophobia, and the fact that health concerns are effective in food consumption are among the other results of the study.