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The purpose of this paper is to determine redesigned product profiles to maximize Erzurum Civil cheese consumption satisfaction of Turkish consumers under an ordinal utility approach.

Data were obtained from a survey conducted in Erzurum in 2014. A conjoint analysis was used to determine the utilities of each level along with the relative importance of Erzurum Civil cheese attributes for measuring the consumption satisfaction as an indicator of the purchase decision and priorities of Turkish consumers.

The results of the study clearly highlighted that Erzurum Civil cheese consumption satisfaction was maximized with the augmented and actual product images redesigned by a private-labelled and local-branded simple product with the highest and medium prices based on organic production techniques for heavy and light consumers, respectively. However, medium consumers appreciated the core benefit obtained from the credence quality attributes supported by the generic branded simple cheese with the lowest price purchased directly from the farmstead villages. Eventually, these marketing tactics and strategies could increase demand, maximizing the cheese consumption and satisfaction of Turkish consumers in each cluster. They could also provide greater consumption satisfaction to Turkish consumers as well as bigger marginal contributions to the market dynamics of the food supply chain.

This study was the first research conducted on Erzurum Civil cheese consumption satisfaction of Turkish consumers using innovative approaches and brand designations, such as Protected Designation of Origin, Protected Geographical Indication, and Traditional Specialty Guaranteed in Turkey using the conjoint and k-mean cluster analyses techniques.

The present paper seeks to determine the prevalence of Salmonella spp. and Listeria (L.) monocytogenes in several cheese varieties.

A total 280 cheese samples (105 white cheese, 70 processed cheese, 45 dil cheese and 60 kasar cheese) purchased from supermarkets in six provinces of Turkey were collected at intervals between March 2007 and February 2008.

The results showed that 1.9 percent of white cheese samples were contaminated with Salmonella spp, whereas the L. monocytogenes prevalence was 4.8 percent in this type of cheese sample. The prevalence of L. monocytogenes in processed cheese and kasar cheese were found to be 1.4 percent and 1.7 percent, respectively. No Salmonella spp. was isolated from these cheese varieties. Neither Salmonella spp. nor L. monocytogenes were found in dil cheese samples examined.

Cheese is a ready to eat product that with a low incidence of contamination may pose great public health concerns. Microbiological evaluation of different cheese samples produced with different manufacturing methods and the possible effects of manufacturing methods on the microbiological quality of these cheese samples are the originality criteria of the study. The cheeses were also sold in a very restricted area of Turkey. The results of this study indicate that white cheese has the highest rates of contamination due to the lack of standardized procedures of manufacturing and ripening.

This research aims to investigate intrinsic and extrinsic product attributes as well as the relationship between these features and customer satisfaction by confirming the moderating role of competitive intensity.

The study is conceptual and exploratory in nature, drawing on current literature and real-time experience with conceptual framework development. The information was gathered by the face-to-face survey conducted with a sample of products, specialists and customers of the Iranian food industry. A total of 19 Kalleh products and 17 industry experts were selected to identify intrinsic and extrinsic product attributes as well as competition intensity for every product. For investigating the relationship between product attributes and customer satisfaction, 342 customers' viewpoints were received and analyzed.

The results show that the nature of competition moderates the effects of interaction between product attributes and customer satisfaction. The major findings of this research include (1) when competitive intensity is low, appropriate focus on intrinsic attributes can create better customer satisfaction; (2) When a competitive level is low, better focus on appropriate external attributes can lead to customer satisfaction; and (3) When competitive intensity is high, offering proper external attributes would lead to customer satisfaction if intrinsic attributes are already offered with high quality; (4) When competitive intensity is high and a firm is focusing more on intrinsic attributes, the lack of proper intrinsic attributes can negatively affect repurchase intentions.

The findings of this study can be used as a reference for food companies developing new products in various competitive environments and making the decision whether to focus on intrinsic or extrinsic attributes.

Izmir, the third largest city of Turkey, is an important trade hub and port. Since its early years, the city has been the home of many civilisations, nations and cultures. The Romani people can be counted among these cultures. In the centre of Izmir city, there are around 500,000 Romani inhabitants. The increasing number of migrants to Izmir and the obligatory settlement options, usually in poorer neighbourhoods, aggravates the situation. Within this context, the focus of administrative authorities on poorer neighbourhoods with a significant Romani majority and its effects to and connections with the urban improvement programme must be re-evaluated considering the benefit of the city and social-institutional support, including non-governmental institutions, must be maintained.