The Effect of Eating Behaviors of Generations Y and Z on Food Purchasing Decisions

This research was planned in order to determine the eating and food buying behaviors of generations Y and Z. The research was carried out using descriptive/cross-sectional research model. The population of the study consists of individuals born between 1980 and 1999 living in a province of Turkey (generation Y) and individuals born in the year 2000 and later (generation Z). A total of 382 individuals were determined as a sample from among the individuals in the population by stratified sampling method. The study was completed with a total of 569 participants, including 241 from generation Y and 328 from generation Z. The data were collected with the “Information Form” and the “Adult Eating Behavior Questionnaire”. Data analysis SPSS v26 (IBM Inc., Chicago, IL, USA) were made with the statistical package program. In the analysis of the data, descriptive statistics, independent t-test was used for binary group comparisons and One-Way ANOVA was used for multi-group comparisons. In the study a statistically significant difference was found between the scale scores of Y and Z generation participants and the gender variable (p=0.005, p=0.001, respectively). In the study, a statistically significant difference was found between the scale scores of generation Z participants and the “State of paying attention to whether the food is organic when buying”, “State of paying attention to the content of the food to be bought” and “State of social media influencing food purchasing decisions” (p<0.05). A significant difference was found between the scale scores of the Y generation participants and the “Paying attention to the TSE stamp when buying food” (p<0.05). There was no statistically significant difference between the total scale scores of generation Y and generation Z in the study (p>0.05). As a result, it was found that the eating behaviors of generation Y and Z were similar. However, it has been determined that food buying behaviors can show differences.