Investigation of the Effect of the Covid-19 Pandemic Process on Consumers' Behaviors in Purchasing Some Unpackaged Food Products

Abstract In a global scale, rapid population growth and lifestyle changes increase the tendency towards packaged foods in the production and consumption sectors. However, despite many advanced techniques used in the food industry, packaged foods can increase consumers' concerns about healthy eating. On the other hand, it is reported that there is no definite evidence that the new type of coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) which emerged in December 2019 in Wuhan-China, is transmitted by food, but infected people in the food chain can cause contamination. This study aimed to examine the effect of the Covid-19 Pandemic on consumers' view of unpackaged food products. 150 volunteers who shopped at various markets, bazaars and other sales stalls in Bitlis Province between November 2020 and January 2021, determined by simple random sampling, were included in the study. The questionnaires created by the researcher, were applied face to face to the participants by following the mask, social distance and cleaning rules. Statistical analysis of the data was performed with the SPSS 23 (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) package program, at a 95% confidence interval, at a significance level of p<0.05. The sample size was determined by the method of reaching 5-10 times the number of question in the survey in order to carry out multivariate analysis. In conclusion; after the Covid-19 Pandemic, it was observed that the participants decreased their purchasing of the unpackaged products they bought before the pandemic (p<0.001). When the food categories are examined separately, it is seen that the consumers reduce the purchase of bagel, pastry, cruller, cup corn (d-0.769) the most and the unpackaged bread (d-0.185) the least. In addition, it was observed that the purchasing behaviors of the participants for unpackaged food products differed significantly both before the pandemic (p<0.001) and after the pandemic (p<0.001), according to their income level. This study is the only study in the literature in which this relationship is specifically examined, and it is thought that it can contribute to future studies in this sense.