A descriptive study on Turkish young consumers’ soft drink buying behaviors

Over the past years, beverages with excessive sugar, caffeine and sodium were consumed more. Today, consumers have been more educated, prefer healthier options, and growing trend of healthy lifestyle have led to an increase demand for natural and healthy products. The aim of the study was to analyze young consumers’ soft drink buying behaviors in threefold by explaining reasons of buying soft drinks, factors that affect soft drink buying decisions, and preferences about ingredients in soft drinks. The survey method was used, and the field study was conducted with university students in Izmir City, Turkiye by convenience sampling method. The results showed that young consumers buy soft drinks since they like its taste, they can use them as a substitution of water when they are thirsty, and they can find soft drinks easily at every point of sales. It was obtained that the most important factor affecting students’ soft drink buying decisions is the brand name of the soft drink. Besides, it was found out that packaging, aroma diversity, and having healthy ingredients also affect their buying decisions. It was revealed that young generation’s main concern regarding the ingredients in soft drinks was sugar level. The study contributes to literature by investigating young consumers’ soft drinks buying behaviors and showing how health-conscious behaviors may change buying behaviors.