Associations of Food Neophobia and Food Choice Motives with Organic Food Consumption Orientation Among Adults in Türkiye: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Organic food consumption has gained increasing attention in the context of healthy and sustainable dietary behaviours. However, the roles of food neophobia and food choice motives remain insufficiently understood. Whether food neophobia and food choice motives were related to organic food consumption orientation, defined by the Organic Food Consumption Scale (OFCS), was evaluated in 506 adults aged 18-64 years from K & imath;rklareli, T & uuml;rkiye. Participants completed the OFCS, the Food Neophobia Scale and the Food Choice Questionnaire in a single session using a paper-based self-administered questionnaire. Associations were estimated with Spearman coefficients and multivariable linear models adjusted for age and gender. Overall, 73.5% reported consuming foods they considered organic. The total food choice motive score was positively associated with organic food consumption orientation, whereas the total food neophobia score was not. At the subdimension level, health, natural content (the strongest association) and weight control motives were positively associated with orientation. Within food neophobia, greater willingness to try new foods and lower trust in new foods were associated with a stronger orientation. Orientation was thus associated not with overall food neophobia but with its specific dimensions and with food choice motives. These findings may inform research on consumer orientations towards organic food.