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Essay / Effect of Social Media on Millennials’ Purchasing Decisions
Generations are basically referred to as a group of human beings who were born around the same year, grew up in the socio-economic and political conditions of the same period, and have similar characteristics. The experiences, lifestyles, values and beliefs that each generation possesses separate them from each other. In general perspective according to the classification generated; The Silent Generation (Traditionalists), Baby Boomers, Generation X, Millennials, and Generation Z are separated from each other. Millennials in the mobile age are the most active users of social media as they are known for their technological and growing connection with technology. This generation emerges as a generation that leads social trends and generates trends. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get Original Essay Although it is termed as overconsumption by consumer Y as a consumer he tries to get detailed information about this product or service before purchasing a product or service. Millennials, known for being influenced by their environment in purchasing decisions, do a lot of research on smartphones before a purchasing decision, checking out the products and services of people they interact with through social media. It also single-handedly examines content created by other consumers through social media platforms. Millennials are also aware that social media can make purchasing decisions by reviewing reviews from family and friends before purchasing, sharing a reference group, and expressing dissatisfaction with social media channels. social media after purchase. This sample research proposal was designed to clarify the connection between social media and understanding customer purchases based on their generations. The primary objective of the present study is to track trends in Internet adoption and purchasing behavior of millennials over the decade 2003-2012 and to identify sociodemographic characteristics that facilitate access to the Internet and the effect of social media on different generations using survey research methods. Literature Review Social Media Significant changes have occurred in social media, such as pre-, post-, and post-purchase behaviors. Consumer ideas, suggestions and experiences that can be easily shared on these platforms have become an important source of information for both consumers and organizations and also occupy an important place in marketing communication. Today, social media marketing is starting to be used as a new form of marketing for businesses. In other words, institutions now widely use social media to promote their products and services and get their messages across. For a brief look back at the past of social media, we must first look at the history of the Internet. » The Internet is primarily considered a military project in the United States. This project, Arpanet, developed by the US Department of Defense, was abandoned in 1970. It began as a simple network in which 15 computers were connected and closed to private users. Initiated as a military project, the Eastern Bloc became a threat in the early 1990s and, with the participation of universities, it became a rapid network. The use of the Internet has become more common with the establishment of standards related to e-mail communication in order tofacilitate communication between computers. However, the rapid development of the Internet has been accompanied by its participation in the commercial Internet. In the early 1990s, with the development of the "Word Wide Web" protocol, the most important breakthrough in the development of the Internet, the Internet began to spread rapidly. With the participation of commercial enterprises in the network system, the Internet began its activities as a new commercial channel with the participation of commercial sites, banks, service sector companies, etc.'' (Kircova veEnginkaya, 2015: 4) Michael Fruchter, an active name on social media, describes social media with 5Cs. Social media means, according to Fruchter; consistency of conversation, community, feedback, collaboration and contribution. Social media includes platforms that enable interaction and provide an active channel for sharing. Social media users create and share content through social media tools with other global users. Social media refers to building communities and networks that promote participation and connectivity. Generation; The concept of generation of Turkish language institutions; who came into the world at approximately the same time and shared the conditions of the same period, and therefore shared similar conditions, as well as people who were obliged to perform the same duties. (www.tdk.gov.tr) In social sciences, there is no common opinion among researchers on the definition of generation. The word "generation" is defined in the Encyclopedia of Social Sciences as follows: "Demography is called a generation for the set of individuals who have lived together and completed a period of their life." By a similar definition, generation refers to age groups composed of individuals born in approximately the same years, the period between one generation and the next, as well as the difference in age and culture between parents and children. The new generations are classified into generations X, Y and Z in the categories of consumption or purchase. These generations, along with concepts such as technology, Internet, online shopping, digital generation, modern marketing and e-commerce industry, are also in the center of attention based on their qualities, attitudes and purchasing habits. Generation X includes people born between 1965 and 1979. Technological devices during their birth and childhood; roller washing machine, black and white television, cassette player and transistor radio. Years later, blue sinks are replaced by automatic washing machines, dishwashers are washed by dishwashers, the sound of a piece of iron comes from plasma-LCD televisions. Then, Generation X encountered the computer and the Internet, a technological transformation that they witnessed and which led to some problems in understanding and adapting processes. Interpreting any purchasing behavior without understanding this transition and taking action leads to undesirable consequences. Researchers have reported that Generation X is very sophisticated in their purchasing behavior and is put off by slick, sweeping promotions. Generation X still makes purchases based on traditional research and decision-making methods. “They want to know the features of the product as well as an explanation of why those features are necessary (Himmel, 2008). They have a risk-avoidant attitude and low risk-taking ability. As consumers, Generation X seeks customer convenience, customer relationshipscommunity and brand image. They have a reputation for being incredibly disloyal to brands and companies (Williams, 2005). One of the characteristics of Generation X is that they care about the opinions of others. They may be unsure of themselves and often need reassurance that their choices are wise. They tend to ignore advertising aimed at them and reject all forms of segmentation and marketing techniques. Additionally, because they have many needs and greater financial constraints, they often shop at value-oriented retailers. Generation X likes to do research when shopping online. They read more reviews and visit more opinion sites than any other generation. , supported by internationalization and the strong influences of popular culture. Millennials are a confident and optimistic group who feel empowered to take positive action when things go wrong and possess multitasking abilities due to their high speed and energy. Its members are overall optimistic, technologically competent, laid back and fun. Social media participation is a significant part of millennials. To be more specific on this point, “millennials have the highest average among generations of friends who are friends of each generation on Facebook. And here are brief points on millennials and social media; • 87% of Generation Y, also called Millennials, use Facebook. It can be said that millennials who are active on all social media platforms are actually used by such a high percentage because they first entered the Facebook life and continue to exist. • 43% of millennials like brands that contact them via email. • Millennials find content produced by Internet users 50% safer than other generations. » (Baycan, 2016) Generation Y, believed to shape the consumer society and called the first generation of global customers, has become the first generation to transform its basic identity into the identity of consumer and voluntary consumption. Generation Y, who considered shopping as a passion with the contribution of the Internet, made their own decisions and considered consumption as a fun game, has established itself as a symbol of consumption as an object of consumption. Significant parts of their lives and daily activities are mediated by digital technologies: social interactions, friendships, civic activities and leisure activities. “They are digital natives who have never known any other way of life. » Caring about other people's opinions divides generations from each other. However, this also makes us wonder how and in what ways social media affects generations. Generation X likes to search and read product reviews, as mentioned earlier. On the other hand, millennials do not prefer to spend as much time reading comments. Companies that are aware of understanding Generation Y are playing their visual cards and offering short but effective advertisements for their products on social networks. This “mind-blowing” show aims to reach millennials on popular social networks. Like YouTube, Twitter, Instagram or www.eksisozluk.com (for Turkish social media market). Although the consumption habits of millennials are high, they want to have maximum knowledge about this product before purchasing a product. The Internet for Generation Y is essential and this generation which considers the Internet as a tool of expression for them is confronted with the Internet as the type of media to which they doconfidence and that she uses the most in her life. (Caplan, 2015) point out that millennials want products that fit their personality and lifestyle, paying little attention to brands. They see themselves as rational consumers, for whom price and product features are more important than brand names, which is a social marketing decision. On the other hand, millennial loyalty is considered fickle, changing quickly based on fashion, trends and brand popularity, and focusing on style and quality rather than price. It is fundamentally difficult to retain their customers, because their attitude is clearly based on their experience, which is decisive in knowing who will benefit from their purchasing power. “Additionally, marketers perceive millennial consumers as having a high level of purchasing power. » (Martin and Turley, 2014) Considering personality and individual preferences come first for millennials in general can also help understand social media priorities. marketing to millennials. It predicts that by 2025, this generation will represent 70% of the global workforce. It is also expected that by 2018, it will have more purchasing power than its predecessor, Generation X. Another important point about Generation Y is that they have the power to lead its own purchasing power as well as that of consumer families and this power is increasing regularly. As mentioned earlier, millennials are interesting with their families. Alongside Generation X, Generation Y places family on their list of priorities and wants to share their experiences with them. This millennial habit undoubtedly leads to differences in the purchasing decisions of their family members. In summary, the history of each generation bears witness to a turning point during which different values, norms and conditions are experienced. Each generation has unique experiences under historical conditions that dominate its own history, and these experiences cause them to differentiate themselves from other generations. According to the contemporary marketing situation, companies focus more on the “generation effect”. At the beginning of this study, the purchasing decision process relied on social media, so there is no doubt about it. However, the generational effect on social media ads is also mentioned at this point. The world we live in is getting smaller and smaller by the day and this circle is spanning generations thanks to technology. Methodology The most important characteristic is Generation Y, which is manifested by their technological loyalty. Social media are also the most active producers and consumers today. Today, millennials are known to have created and influenced social media trends. When we look at the Y line from a media perspective, we see that it truly represents social media. This generation spends the majority of their time with media and communication technologies and also actively uses social media circles. Millennials view communication technologies and social media as part of life and a natural process. Social media are both producers and consumers because they develop in the age of communication. In this study, the survey method was used as a data collection method and the survey questions were to be applied by a face-to-face survey method among 150 people born between 1980 and 1999 by random selection. According to,,2016)