Determination of Consumers' Attitudes and Behaviors on Imported Agricultural Products: A Case Study in Samsun Province, Turkey

The aim of the research is to determine the attitudes and behaviors of consumers on imported agricultural products in the urban area of Samsun city. The data were obtained through a questionnaire from 384 consumers who were effective in the decision to purchase food in the family. According to the research results, 55.99% of consumers surveyed consumed imported agricultural products at least once in the last year. The most consumed imported agricultural products were legumes (57.37%), fruits (37.82%), and meat and meat products (19.87%). While consumers who preferred domestic agricultural products showed the protection of domestic production and the domestic food industry as the main reasons, those who consumed imported agricultural products were considered the main reason as to be products produced with high technology. Of all consumers, 83.59% stated that they were more confident with imported agricultural products originating from developed countries, 14.85% from developing countries, and only 1.56% from less developed countries. While the consumers' trust in agricultural products imported from Muslim countries was 76.3%, this rate was 23.7% for products imported from non-Muslim countries. The research results showed that the reasons why consumers preferred domestic and imported agricultural products differed from each other. While consumers acted mostly with national feelings in their domestic agricultural product preferences, production technique and price came to the fore in imported agricultural products. Developing strategies that take into account consumer expectations regarding imported agricultural products will contribute to the increase in profits of companies within an intensive competition and their long-term survival in the sector.