Investigation of the Relationship between Pre-service Social Studies Teachers' Attitudes towards Purchasing Geographically Indicated Products and their Status as Conscious Consumers

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate whether there is a relationship between social studies teacher candidates' attitudes towards purchasing geographically indicated products and their status as conscious consumers. The study was carried out with a total of 211 teacher candidates studying at two different state universities in Turkey in the spring semester of 2022-2023 academic year. The relational survey model, one of the quantitative research types, was utilized in the study. The data in the study were collected through the Attitude Scale Towards Buying Geographically Indicated Products, developed by Yüce & Korucuk (2020), and the Conscious Consumer Scale developed by Buğday (2015). The SPSS 22nd statistical program was used in the analysis of the quantitative data obtained. As a result of the study, the following findings were attained. It was found that the attitudes of teacher candidates towards purchasing geographically indicated products and their state as conscious consumers did not demonstrate a statistically significant difference in terms of gender; similarly, it was observed that there was no significant difference in terms of the "parent average monthly income" variable. Nevertheless, it was revealed that there was a positive and significant relationship between the attitudes of pre-service teachers towards purchasing geographically indicated products and their status as conscious consumers.