Evaluation of the eating reasons and preferences of the consumers in the shopping centers

This research was planned and concluded so as to determine the nutritional status of the people in the shopping centres and examine comparatively the food habits there,according to age,gender,education level,economic condition and physical feature variances.1016 female and male consumers between the ages of 20 and 50, living in Ankara and going to the determinated shopping centres,constitute the sample of the research.SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) version 15 was used to evaluate the data obtained from the study and form the charts.Before the study Power analysis was done to determine the number of the consumers who will constitute the sample by using PASS 2008 software.Frequency and percent values were used to form the charts and present the information,concerning personal features,food habits and nutritional status of the consumers who go to the shopping centres and eator do not ea tin food anddrink sections in shopping centres.The relationships between the personal features,food habits of the consumers and nutritional status in the shopping centres were examined by x-square (x2) test.The value of p<0,05 was accepted as materiality level in all of the statistical analyses.Most of the participants stated that food establishments in the shopping centres are unhealtier than restaurants and food establishments in the shopping centres are not hygienic in comparison with restaurants.It was determined that more than half of the o participants think food and beverages are cheap in the shopping centres, do not decide what to eat before coming to the shopping centres and prefer certain cafes and restaurants in the shopping centres.It was determined that more than half of the people prefer food sections in the shopping centres.Most of the participants think that the hygiene of the food and beverages in the shopping centres is inadequate,but shopping centres are cheaper in comparison with alternative food and beverage places.It was determined that the frequency of going to the shopping centres of men and women is similar and most of the individuals in each gender group go to the shopping centres once a month .It was concluded that individuals from different levels of income have similar reasons for eating in the shopping centres and people from each income group eat in the shopping centres because they feel hungry mostly during shopping.Also,it was indicated that according to the situations of ordering food,individuals have similar reasons for eating in the shopping centres and most of the people ordering food and not ordering food eat in the shopping centres because they feel hungry during shopping.It was concluded that individuals do not prefer eating in the shopping centres when the age increases.