New Communication Approachesinthe Digitalized World

New Communication
Approaches in the
Digitalized World
New Communication
Approaches in the
Digitalized World
Edited by
Mehmet Serdar Erciş

and Enes Emre Başar
New Communication Approaches in the Digitalized World
Edited by Mehmet Serdar Erciş and Enes Emre Başar
This book first published 2020
Cambridge Scholars Publishing
Lady Stephenson Library, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 2PA, UK
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Copyright © 2020 by Mehmet Serdar Erciş, Enes Emre Başar

and contributors
All rights for this book reserved. No part of this book may be
reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or
by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or
otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner.
ISBN (10): 1-5275-5050-8

ISBN (13): 978-1-5275-5050-6
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Preface ....................................................................................................... ix
Digital Addiction
Fatma Geçikli ............................................................................................. 1
Creating Experience in the Digital World: A Conceptual Study on

Gamification as a Medium to Reach the New Generation Consumer
Sinem Yeygel Çakır and Işıl Aktuğlu ....................................................... 13
Cultural Slavery in the Digital Age

Necla Mora ............................................................................................... 36
Managing Big Data Turbulence in the Industry World

Derya Öcal ................................................................................................ 49
Artificial Intelligence in Communication Technologies

Uğur Yavuz .............................................................................................. 60
Gender Differences in the Perception of Advertisements

Bahadır Erciş and Oğuz Köprücü ............................................................. 72
Artificial Intelligence-Assisted Programmatic Advertising

Özen Okat and Kemal Kadirhan ............................................................... 87
Digital Marketing
Bahadır Erciş and Hatice Nur Yıldız ...................................................... 107
Conspicuous Consumption and Postmodern Identity in the Global Show

Era
Arzu Kalafat Çat ..................................................................................... 122
The Use of Financial Reports in Terms of Communication and the Digital

Communications Aspect
Nilgün Sanalan Bilici.............................................................................. 132
vi Table of Contents
Global Gender Construction of Social Media

Ülhak Çimen ........................................................................................... 144
The Importance of Marketing Public Relations for “New” Consumers

Gülseli Aygül Ernek Alan ...................................................................... 157
Discourse of Communication in the Digitalized World

Merve Geçikli ......................................................................................... 173
A New Game Area in Competition of Brands by means of Digital

Transformation: The Approach of E-Sport and Its Importance from the
Point of Marketing Communication
Gonca Köse ............................................................................................ 189
Melodrama and News

İrfan Hıdıroğlu ........................................................................................ 199
Use of Digital Materials in Education

Asiye Ata ................................................................................................ 217
Digital Diplomacy
Meryem Okumuş .................................................................................... 229
Digital Media Literacy and Content Production in Social Media

Sait Sinan Atilgan ................................................................................... 243
Comparison of Feedback Given to Social Media Accounts of News

Agencies in Turkey
İbrahim Sena Arvas ................................................................................ 256
The Digitalization of Politics: The New Communication Devices and the

Issue of Political Participation
Fatih Değirmenci .................................................................................... 273
The Collective Intelligence and Its Use in the New Media

Ayşe Bilginer Kucur ............................................................................... 289
Excellent Public Relations Criteria

Ayhan Doğan .......................................................................................... 300
New Communication Approaches in the Digitalized World vii
Transformation of the Relationship between Women and Technology

Muhsine Sekmen .................................................................................... 315
The New Rising Trend of Social Media: Micro Fame

Rengim Sine Nazlı .................................................................................. 326
Distance Education Applications in the Digitalized World

Melike Aydemir Arslan .......................................................................... 339
Communication Skills for Jobs in the Digital Era

Olcay Besnili Memiş .............................................................................. 347
Social Customer Relationship Management

Haydar Özaydın ...................................................................................... 361
The Role of E-Commerce in Green Marketing

Hasan Ağdemir ....................................................................................... 377
Digital Destiny: Perception Management in New Media

Elifnur Terzioğlu .................................................................................... 391
New Advertisement Tools in the Digital Age

Hatice Nur Yıldız ................................................................................... 405
Crisis Communications
Ayhan Doğan .......................................................................................... 421
Modern Brand Ambassadors: From Opinion Leaders to Influencers

Oğuz Köprücü ........................................................................................ 440
New Approaches to Corporate Communication in the Context of

Technological Developments
Mehmet Sinan Başar ............................................................................... 455
Understanding New Consumers through the Lens of a Promising Market

Segment: LOHAS
Miray Baybars and Keti Ventura ............................................................ 468
viii Table of Contents
Perspective on Consumer Attitudes and Importance of Attitudes in Mobile

Marketing Strategies
Pınar Bacaksız ........................................................................................ 490
Future of Customer Complaint Behaviour: A Multi-agent Perspective

within e-Retailing Industry
Cansu Yildirim and Gül Denktaş Şakar .................................................. 508
Information Technologies and Their Effects on Using Leisure Times

Mehmet Sinan Başar ............................................................................... 539
How Can Digitalization Enhance Customer Experience? The Role of

Emerging Technologies
Keti Ventura ........................................................................................... 551
Measuring Customer Preferences with Conjoint Analysis

Tutku Tuncalı Yaman ............................................................................. 575
The Use of Internet Marketing in Health Services by Hospitals and

Medical Doctors
Ayda Gök ............................................................................................... 592
Contributors ............................................................................................ 613

PREFACE
Terminologically, ‘the digitalized world’ refers to an electronic environment

which visually mimics physical spaces where people can interact with
digital actors and objects. The digitalized world is a kind of digital reality,
i.e., a way of using technology to create environments designed expressly
for human communication. The realities of the digitalized world can be
designed precisely for human interaction, for very specific reasons, to create
experiences not otherwise possible. Then it can be said that the digitalized
world can do, and deliver, everything that is impossible in the real world.
This book’s main scope is to get a deep insight into the digitalized world
and communication association, or synergy. Digitalization is the center of
all kinds of communication. Here, the thirty two chapters are presented to
capture a different view of the digitalized world and its relationship with
communication.
The aim of this collection is to provide a readable, non-technical
publication which provides a comprehensive presentation of communication
issues, trends, and data.
The Editors
DIGITAL ADDICTION
FATMA GEÇİKLİ
Introduction
Digital devices, such as social media, the internet, and smartphones, are
interactive and fast, with no borders, making geographical distances no
obstacle, accelerating and corroborating communication. In addition, they
are considered as a medium used by individuals for socializing. They are
popular, due to making communication and coordination easier,
interrelating people with their environment, helping them to socialize and
spread the effects easily. While they do not create problems under controlled
usage, they lead to various problems when they become an addiction.
Digital addiction, considered to be among the most important current
addictions, has become a big danger, and is especially a problem for
teenagers, in addition to children, the middle-aged, and adults. According
to the results of surveys related to this issue, digitally-addicted individuals,
whose number is ever increasing, have become the fastest spreading addict
group in the world. Youngsters and adults feel themselves incomplete
during the hours they aren’t using their phones, looking at their mail, or
sharing something on social media.
Psychology Professor Larry Rosen from California University (2009,
cited in Taylan and Işık 2015), indicated in his research that every individual
in his 100-person sample group, independent of age, looked at their
smartphone every 15 minutes, or more frequently, and if this was not
allowed, they felt themselves in trouble, and worried that they couldn’t be
reached, or thought that they had lost the opportunity to hear from
acquaintances.
Lee and Chae (2007) evaluate digital addiction in the following context:
“If you take a photograph of a meal, and share it on the internet every
day, want to share everything you do via social media, and believe that you
have the opportunity to learn more about people you scarcely know, thanks
to social media, then you are digitally addicted. Furthermore, if holidays,
gifts, or surprises, shared on social media, lead to feelings of jealousy
without your being aware of it, then it means that your digital addiction has
reached serious levels.”
2 Digital Addiction
Laura and Richard (2004) aimed to investigate the internet addiction

levels of adolescents and adults, within the context of different demographic
variables. In line with the research, they determined that not only
adolescents, but also adults, felt themselves incomplete when they didn’t
share on social media.
Kuss and Griffiths, known for their surveys related to social media
addiction in 2012, suggested that individuals use social media intensively
because they want to make use of the professional and academic
opportunities offered by social networking applications. They also claimed
that another reason for individuals to use social media excessively might be
that, as well as social networking, relationships started face-to-face could
continue despite distance, or the fast pace of life. In contrast to these
reasons, it was indicated in the research that individuals using social media
as ‘addicts’ instead of ‘users’, come across with negative results, such as
lessening of involvement in groups which already exist, worsening of
academic performance, and relationship problems (Kruss & Griffiths 2012).
Facebook, because it was the first social media means, and has the most
users in the world, has been investigated intensively in research carried out
to define social media addiction. The research has attempted to define social
media-addicted individuals. In one piece of research, it was put forward that
narcissistic individuals (having too great love for the self) might have a
tendency towards being Facebook-addicted (Buffardi & Campbell 2008,
Mehdizadeh 2010).
Digital addiction makes the cyber world a current issue which causes the
user to lose track of time, instead of living a biological life determined
according to a 24-hour basis. Digital devices users may share on Twitter at
midnight, send SMS even when in the toilet, or control their smartphones
squinty-eyed, while chatting to another friend. Digital addiction is shown in
literature as the internet, social media, smartphones, digital games, and
television addiction.
It is a known reality that using digital media devices in unreasonable
ratios, and outside safe usage conditions, leads to lots of problems, mainly
physical ones, especially in childhood and youth, and causes lack of
communication and socializing. Restricting the use of digital media devices,
and making reasonable use a discipline of life, are considered to be within
a safe usage context. Safe use entails keeping children and youngsters away
from the problems caused by dangerous users, preventing abuse, and
informing and raising awareness in children and youngsters about the need
to maintain the right of privacy.
It is seen that digital devices, tools, and applications, with various types,
scopes, and efficacies are produced and used day-by-day. Uncontrolled use
Fatma Geçikli 3
of digital devices leads to digital addiction. Within this context, the concepts
of digital media, digital media devices, addiction, the concept of digital
addiction, and, within the concepts of digital, internet, social media, smart
phone, digital game, and television addiction, will be dwelt on.
Digital media and digital media devices

Digital media involves texts, videos, photographs, advertisements,
newspapers, magazines, books, recorded music, computer games, programs,
films, images, websites, etc., which are transferable and transmittable via
various communication forms. Since all this multitasking has become a part
of our lives, using digital media is taking all the free time of children and
youngsters, and has gone further for evaluating their free time. However,
some researchers indicate that the use of digital media has taken the place
of family and school, and is accepted by today’s societies to be the means
of basic socializing. As a result, digital media has started to assume a more
complicated architecture, with a nest-integrated context which should be
given importance in the context of its negative and positive effects. Though
digital media use brings with it many positive advances, it causes equally
negative experiences, and these affect children and teens the most. In this
sense, the context of digital media broadens day-by-day, in line with
developments both in the means of social media, and the transformation of
them in general and specific senses. In this process, the contents of media
devices and their usage, user habits and consumption, also show a change,
in an age called the ‘transformation age of digital media’.
Using digital media frequently may lead to changes in the psychological
mood of individuals, and they may feel anxious more frequently, due to the
labile affect. For example, digital natives in particular, may experience
short-time relief thanks to digital media, although this condition gives way,
contrarily, to anxiousness.
The negativity caused by the uncontrolled use of digital media can be
outlined as follows:
1. The information and documents obtained through digital media
may not be always true, and thus, users may access
misinformation, or may be misdirected.
2. Overuse of digital media, and spending long hours using digital
media, may cause users to have difficulty keeping away from it.
3. Frequent use of digital media may cause individuals to become
sociopaths, and, especially in the case of digital natives using these
media more than digital immigrants, become people who cannot
express themselves correctly.
4 Digital Addiction
4. Overuse and spending long hours on digital media may lead users
to see other users as a means of oppression.
5. Since digital media involves ever-changing stimuli, frequent
digital media users may experience impulse control disorders, such
as controlling behaviour, avoiding establishing social relations,
poor anger management, negative behaviours, and feeling guilty
(Young & Rogers 1998).
6. Overuse and spending long hours on digital media may cause users
to lose control of time.
The concept of addiction

Addiction can be defined as an unavoidable desire for an object, person, or
entity, and/or being under the domination of another will. It is a condition
of people to feel an unavoidable desire to repeat and continue a certain
obsession, even though it is affecting their psychological and physical
health or sociological lives.
Three main elements of addiction are:
1. Existence of an unavoidable desire or wish to obtain the substance,
whatever the situation or condition is;
2. As days pass, there is a necessity to increase the dose used, due to
the inadequacy of the dose taken;
3. There is an increasing need for the substance the person uses
psychologically and physiologically, or the effects it creates
increase.
As a result of a review of literature about addiction types, it can be seen that
addiction is generally studied under two main headings; substance
addiction, and behavioural addiction. Addiction to tea, coffee, smoking,
narcotics, and alcohol, are generally handled under the title of substance
addiction. Behavioural addiction, on the other hand, is defined where a
certain behaviour is displayed in an abnormal and continuous manner, in
which a person cannot achieve a balance in physical, psychological, or
social environment and relations, or get organized, and may struggle to
adjust to social surroundings. In order to observe whether a person is
addicted to a substance or behaviour, some criteria, as DSM-IV (1994),
acclaimed worldwide, should be taken as reference.
Griffiths (1999) suggested the diagnosis criteria for behavioural
addiction as follows:
1. Salience appears in cases in which an action the person wants to
realize becomes the only action that matters. The individual’s
thoughts, emotions, and behaviours, are dominated by the action in
Fatma Geçikli 5
such a case, for example, the wish to deal with technological

devices by the people using these devices frequently, even when
there is no need.
2. Mood modification. Emotional state change is related to personal
experiences declared by the individual as a result of involvement
in an activity, and which can be seen as a coping strategy.
3. Tolerance is the time passed for increasing the quantity of a certain
activity in order to create effects similar to previous ones. For
example, an individual using a smartphone frequently, may feel the
necessity to lengthen the time spent on technological devices in
order to reach the level of satisfaction experienced formerly over a
shorter time.
4. Withdrawal symptoms are undesirable effects or bad feelings
emerging when a desired behaviour can’t be maintained, or when
a substance desired can’t be obtained, or is stopped abruptly. For
example, shivering, moodiness, and irritability, which sets in when
a computer gamer is prevented from playing.
5. A conflicting state involves conflicts related to work life, social
life, and hobbies, which occur between addicted people and the
individuals in their social environment.
6. Relapse is the recurrence of a certain activity as a result of
experience, and addiction reaching a peak after long years of
avoidance or control.
Griffiths (1997) established ten articles in his research intended for
diagnosing internet and computer addiction:
1. If you notice that you spend hours on the computer, although your
intention is to spend a few minutes;
2. If you feel yourself obligated to tell lies to your spouse, private
friends, and workmates about the time you spend on the computer
and the internet;
3. If you think that you experience psychological problems resulting
from spending long hours at the computer or on the internet;
4. If you are always making plans, thinking about the time you are
going to spend on the internet, and you cannot help doing this;
5. If it takes a long time to reach the information you want, and if you
always have an excuse to put an end to your work;
6. If you conceal your real name and character in the cyber world, if
it excites you to be a wholly different person, and if you would
rather speak in a cyber world than speak face-to-face with people,
and feel more comfortable this way;
6 Digital Addiction
7. If you feel an unavoidable desire to look at your personal accounts

and control your e-mail every minute;
8. If you break your eating and drinking habits, do not fulfil your
duties and responsibilities; or cannot keep your word, for the sake
of staying on the computer or the internet for long hours;
9. If you feel guilty on the one hand, and get pleasure out of the
situation on the other, because you dabble in the computer and
internet for such long hours;
10. If you are in a hurry to reach your computer when you should keep
away from it.
The concept of digital addiction

Digital addiction can be defined as suffering from the negative effects of an
interaction as a result of being in a perpetual interaction with technology
(Arısoy 2009). Being familiar with digital media also affects the level of
addiction. Those who are familiar, or not, with these means are divided into
two groups; ‘digital natives’, and ‘digital immigrants’. According to
Prensky (2001), digital natives are the generation born after 1980. This
generation can also be described as the internet generation, cyber children,
the new generation, grasshopper-minded, and so on. On the other hand,
digital immigrants consist of the generation born before 1980. This
generation, besides being unfamiliar with cyber reality, appears to be the
generation trying to adapt itself to technology, later.
The factors affecting digital addiction are digital acculturation, digital
socialization, digital communication, digital citizenship, digital family, and
digital accession.
Digital acculturation refers to the use of digital media by people in every
aspect of their lives, getting benefit from the new technological values and
products, and to the process of synchronizing knowledge and skills to this
new cultural structure (Gülnar & Balcı 2011).
Digital socialization can be defined as the process of adjusting to the
digital period leading to the emergence of new cultural values, and starting
to be socialized through the use of digital media.
Within the concept of communication, digital communication is the
transfer of information or meaning to another person, or other people, via
new communication means, such as faxes, televisions, satellites, fiber optic
cables, computers, mobile phones, beepers, etc. (Sütçü 2012).
Digital citizenship refers to those who can adopt behaviour norms
regarding the use of technological or digital media. In addition, digital
citizenship involves displaying ethical and appropriate conduct, and having
Fatma Geçikli 7
a necessary level of knowledge on the subject. Therefore, the use of digital

technologies in many parts of the world makes it necessary to evaluate all
global citizens as digital citizens, having equal rights and freedoms.
The digital family can be described as a family having knowledge of
digital acculturation, socialization, communication, citizenship, and
accession, and directing their children correctly in this context.
Digital accession is defined as accessing digital technology from
everywhere, at high speed and with quality. Digital communication and
content sharing technologies, such as computer technologies, formation of
digital content, processing, reproduction, reading and translation tools, the
internet, Web 1.0, Web 2.0 and the semantic web (Web 3.0) have a
determining role in the digital accession process (Semiz 2015).
Types of digital addiction

Digital addiction is classified as internet, social media, smartphone, digital
gaming, and television, addiction.
Internet addiction
Internet addiction is a technological addiction type having the indicators of
being unable to place a restriction on the use of the internet, continuing to
use it despite social and academic harm, and feeling anxious when access is
restricted. Young (1999) also uses other terms such as ‘excessive internet
usage’, ‘inappropriate internet usage’, and ‘pathological internet usage’, to
refer to internet addiction. Internet addiction, considered to be a different
aspect of digital addiction, may result from spending long hours on the
internet, and may also be the result of wishing to spend long hours. The
studies on the subject suggest that people having an internet addiction spend
longer hours on the internet than other people, and have a desire to increase
this time day-by-day.
Young (2004) states the indicators of internet addiction as:
 The unavoidability of the desire to use the internet excessively;
 Increasing tolerance of the time spent on the internet and spending
more time day-by-day;
 Finding time not spent on the internet meaningless;
 The appearance of excessive irritability, stress, and restless moods;
 Worsening of business, social, academic, and family life.
Beard and Wolf (2001) found the criteria that Young (1999) developed for
the definition of internet addiction inadequate, and stated that the following
five states should be observed for the diagnosis of internet addiction:
8 Digital Addiction
1. Preoccupation with the internet;

2. Increasing the time spent to get satisfaction;
3. Failure in controlling the time spent;
4. Feeling unrest, anger or moodiness in the attempts to control the
time spent;
5. Spending more time than allocated while supposedly avoiding use
of the internet.
According to the related literature, people experiencing internet addiction
are interested in the computer for about 40-80 hours a week, and access the
computer for up to 20 hours in one sitting, without a break. This immobility
leads to the emergence of physical problems. Moods, anxiety, psychosis,
obsessive-compulsive disorders, depression, and psychological problems
begin to appear. In addition, sleep disorders, excessive fatigue, deterioration
in family and friend relationships, and worsening of academic or business
performances, can also be experienced by people having internet addiction.
Social media addiction
Social media, in its simplest terms, can be defined as social networking sites
based on activities like content sharing and personal interpretations, which
give internet users the opportunity to communicate with each other online.
According to another definition, social media is a common term used for
the online means and websites which create mutual interaction, giving users
the opportunity to share information, interest, and knowledge.
“Social media addiction is a psychological disorder leading to problems
like preoccupation, mood regulation, iteration and conflict, in every aspect
of a person’s private, business/academic and social life, developing with
cognitive, emotional and behavioral processes” (Tutgun & Ünal 2015).
Social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Periscope,
LinkedIn, and Pinterest, are seen as popular and important, both in Turkey
and around the world, and thousands of new people become members of
these sites all the time. Related research reports the general characteristics
of millions of members with social media addiction throughout the world,
as failures at face-to-face communication, who spend less time with family,
friends, acquaintances, and/or their immediate vicinity, have communication
problems, and experience mood disorders, such as dissatisfaction, unrest,
restlessness, and stress.
Fatma Geçikli 9
Smartphone addiction
Smartphone addiction can be defined as a type of digital addiction which
shows itself in young people not wishing to be without a smartphone,
having phones with them at all times, never putting their phones down,
and/or using them at any moment. Smartphones, the use of which has
become a passion for the youth, are, of course, an indispensable means of
communication. However, they should also be seen as a problem which
needs to be solved, especially for students, since they always want to look
or glance at their phones, or direct attention to them. The use of smartphones
by students in this way affects their patterns of behaviour and training
activities negatively, and causes a decrease in their academic performance.
Digital Game addiction
Digital game addiction is specified in psychiatry literature as an impulse
control disorder showing symptoms such as ‘inability to control the amount
of time spent playing’, ‘loss of attention towards other activities’, ‘going on
playing despite negative effects’, and ‘feeling psychological withdrawal
when not playing’. In other words, it is a state which results in individuals’
playing for long hours without giving up, associating the game with the real
world, neglecting duties due to playing games, and preferring playing to
other activities.
Having such a broad impact area, digital game addiction may lead to
the appearance of problems such as attention deficit and hyperactivity
disorder (ADHD), depression, obesity, emotional loneliness, increase in
states of anxiety, social adaptation and social isolation problems, and
atrophy in communication skills (Şahin &Tuğrul 2012).
Television addiction
Television addiction is the type in which television takes a place in one’s
life beyond what is necessary, and beyond its functions of entertaining and
learning while having fun, when it makes people internalize the messages
transmitted in serials and films via television, or evaluate them as if true,
causes people to experience psychological problems when not having the
opportunity to watch, and to have physical and psychological disorders due
to long hours of watching (Koolstra et al. 1997).
Conclusion
Digital technologies were perceived as promising and revolutionary ideas.
In the beginning, they were thought to facilitate many activities, without
creating any negative effects and results. The world has been sharing
10 Digital Addiction
unprecedented, clear, and equal, information. The users have taken over the
content management. Digital identities have replaced real identities in this
process. However, when not used under control, this pleasure has brought
disadvantages together with advantages. Owing to using digital media with
impunity, people have come face-to-face with fear of missing out,
disinformation or information redundancy, cyber relation addiction,
computer and internet addiction; in short, digital addiction. Although these
means seem to support learning, entertaining, and personal development,
they have raised the need for families to protect their children from the
effects of pornography, violence, and cyber bullying. Therefore, the
problems that digital technologies contain in themselves are awaiting
immediate solutions.
Digital addiction is an important responsibility to be dwelt on. In order
to take precautions in this matter, research with broad participation and full
scale measurements by psychologists, sociologists, psychiatrists, and other
specialists should be carried out. Parents should be trained on the subject,
precautions should be taken for children when they are young, and
controlled use of digital tools should be ensured. Every section of society
should be made aware about the use and the applications of digital tools.
School managers and teachers must be informed, and their awareness about
the matter should be raised.
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CREATING EXPERIENCE
IN THE DIGITAL WORLD:
A CONCEPTUAL STUDY ON GAMIFICATION
AS A MEDIUM TO REACH THE NEW
GENERATION CONSUMER
SİNEM YEYGEL ÇAKIR AND IŞIL AKTUĞLU
Introduction
The basis of much innovation, change, and conversion, in the world was
established by means of the Industrial Revolution, which affected social and
economic structures. Industrial revolutions, causing socio-economic and
cultural changes in the world, have been experienced in particular periods
for a long time. Nevertheless, the new period in which we now live is
recognized as Industry 4.0, and has been experienced much more quickly,
and been more effective, than previous ones. Its effects on market
expectations have been felt in a much deeper way. The competition between
enterprises to reach consumers and fulfil their expectations and
requirements, in order to keep in step with accelerating life, has been
increasing, especially with the effect of technology. The global effects of
competition necessitate the development of new business models and
marketing strategies which can keep step with the digital era.
Products which are suitable for the digital world are released into
markets, and the harmonization process of consumers to such products is
restructured. Besides this, the buying decision processes of generations have
been affected due to changes in consumer groups from the point of view of
demography. New marketing strategies have been considered for
consumption habits which are differentiated with the new generation, after
2000. Experiential marketing applications, being developed in order to
comply with the products of digital world, have recently been quite effective
in reaching new generation consumers.
14 Creating Experience in the Digital World
New generation consumers in changing conceptions

of marketing
In the period from traditional marketing conception up until now, many
opinions and theories have been discussed to direct marketing applications
towards understanding consumers and fulfilling their expectations. By
virtue of the development of internet technology in the 2000s, we entered
into a period affecting consumer behaviours radically. Within this period,
not only marketing actions and implementations, but also consumer
segments, changed significantly. In addition, the world population
underwent distinct changes. While the numbers of baby-boomers were
decreasing, the ‘X’ generation came close to retirement from business life,
and the ‘Y’ generation started to take their place. Changes in the population,
and especially the ‘Z’ generation and following, stand for determinants of
consumer behaviour in the future. In this regard, the new digital era and the
new generation of consumers have taken their place as the focal point of
marketing world.
Millions of people around the world use internet-based technologies in
their daily lives, and convert these technologies into new experience fields.
Therefore these technologies reconstruct the behaviours of consumers.
Rapid transformation of information accelerates the development of new
trends, and directs change. The most exciting point of the new digital era is
that consumers can interact directly with each other, and with the producers
of the products which they use. Hence, the meaning of consumer society is
redefined in a radical way. Consumers not only interact with each other
about products, but also share their opinions (Solomon 2007).
The most outstanding factor of developments in the marketing world,
from the point of consumer behaviour, is the necessity to enable applications
providing interaction to become functional, because new generation
consumers, who have full knowledge of digital technologies based on
changes in demographic data around the world, have come in sight. In this
regard, the buying decision processes of new generation consumer groups
in the digital world, and understanding the patterns of consumption in this
process, have gained importance.
The decision process of new generation consumers

Today, the field of consumer behaviour examines not only the conditions
during purchasing, but also situations before and after the buying stage
experiences in relation to this situation, and various further factors. In the
past, scientists who were interested in consumption, focused only on the
Sinem Yeygel Çakır and Işıl Aktuğlu 15
buying bases. At that time, consumer behaviour was examined in a narrow-

scoped way, or rather, buyer behaviour was examined (Koç 2012). In
changing marketing conceptions, consumer behaviours have become more
complex, due to new technologies and the increased sub-consumer groups
having different consumption behaviour. It is necessary to act with a
systematic approach, by foreseeing changes in the market. Therefore, all
enterprises prepare new strategies in order to provide a competitive
advantage and develop brand performance. As is known, consumers do not
make rational decisions when buying, but they do make emotional
selections with various motivations. So, maybe the most significant factor
at this stage is understanding the new generation consumer, and the nature
of the decision process.
In traditional marketing, if consumers are open to it, the marketing
strategies search suitable fields for contact points. These suitable fields or
contact points are dealt with by means of a funnel metaphor in marketing
literature. So, consumers have some potential brands in their mind (the large
section of the funnel), and these brands decrease, and regular instructions
are realized in the mind (the funnel) so as to evoke consumers, and get goods
purchased by virtue of marketing applications. However, today, the funnel
concept is unsuccessful in capturing the key buying factors, due to the
increased number of digital channels, and product variety, together with the
many contact points which depend on consumers who are well-informed
and have strong instincts. At the present time, a less linear and more
complex approach than the traditional funnel is required, in order to enable
the marketing staff to manage this environment. This new approach has
been named the “consumer decision journey” (Court et al. 2009).
According to the consumer decision journey approach, the decision-
making process is a more cyclical route. There are four main stages,
representing the potential battlefields on which marketing staff can win or
lose: initial consideration; active evaluation (the process of researching
potential purchases); closure (when consumers buy brands); and post-
purchase (when consumers experience them). In the first stage of the
decision journey, in other words, in the first evaluation, the consumer
considers primarily the brand set, based on brand perceptions and exposure
to final contact points. Then, the consumer performs an active evaluation by
adding or removing brands while assessing what he/she wants. In the third
stage, called closure, the consumer makes a decision by selecting a brand at
the time of buying. After buying the product or service, the consumer
creates an expectation as per the experience, to use on the next decision
journey. However, the consumer tends towards the primary brand list, due
to a lot of brands, and related message diversity, in the market. The funnel
metaphor, for example, helps to understand the process by providing a way

to perceive the power of a brand in different stages compared with
competitors, or by emphasizing the obstacles hardening the acceptance of
the brand, or allowing focus on different aspects of marketing (Court et al.
2009).
The decision process of the consumer takes up the incentive to develop
new techniques in marketing strategies. Moreover, consumer pressures,
which require better product performance in the process, including feedback
at post-purchase evaluation, constantly cause enterprises to gain qualified
and sufficient experience. In this regard, enterprises are expected to develop
four skills: automation, proactive personalization, contextual interaction,
and journey innovation. In addition, competitive advantages can be obtained
by creating values attracting the consumer, and further activating the
decision process of the consumer (Edelman et al. 2015). Furthermore,
significant changes have occurred recently in the information gathering and
decision process of consumers, and accordingly, their reactions against the
marketing communication activities of enterprises. Consumers are affected
by sensory/emotional stimulus, rather than cognitive and rational stimulus
based on cognitive learning (Vogt & Fesenmair 1998, cited by Koç 2012).
As a result, consumers react more strongly against aesthetic-hedonistic-
emotional necessities, rather than pragmatist-functional necessities, and
against visual, rather than verbal, communication (Bilim 2010, cited by Koç
2012).
Being aware of changes in product preferences and buying behaviours
of consumers, marketing managers have perceived the significance of
market segmentation by determining the factors causing this change. In the
new conception, the daily habits and long-term lifestyles of consumers are
effective, as well as demographic data such as consumers’ age, gender, and
income, etc.
Lifestyles and new generation consumer groups

Brand awareness and brand loyalty are prioritized, and communication
types to direct the consumer are preferred in traditional marketing
perceptions. However, consumer groups in the post-2000s, which we can
define as the new generation, differ from previous generations. Being in the
right place at the right time, and the utilization of new marketing strategies
by providing required information, have gained importance in maintaining
the power of brand in the buying decisions of consumers. As mentioned
before, marketing applications, including many emotional messages and
visual items, enable us to reach the new generation consumer. Lifestyle is

also quite efficient in determining consumption preferences.
A person’s desired lifestyle affects his/her needs and attitudes, and
attitudes affect behaviour. When making a purchasing decision, a person
does not always consciously consider how this decision is suitable for
his/her lifestyle. Therefore, the reflection of lifestyle in purchasing
decisions is mostly covert, or indirect. By the way, the relationship between
lifestyle and the purchasing behaviour of the person should be carefully
discussed (İslamoğlu & Altunışık 2008). Lifestyles have wide usage, such
as market segmentation, new product launch, brand positioning, and brand
communication decisions.
Lifestyle is an important factor in the matter of a person’s spending of
time and money. Lifestyles are affected by previous experiences,
demographic features, beliefs and attitudes, and personality. Individuals
who have the same income and education level, and are raised in the same
culture, may have different lifestyles. For this reason, lifestyle helps to
determine group characteristics, because the attitudes, beliefs, lifestyles, life
views, needs, and wishes, of individuals in the same lifestyle group are
similar (Erciş et al. 2007).
Observing changes in the world is important in terms of foreseeing
trends that will dominate the market and affect consumer preferences.
Consumer trends show significant differences between regions and
countries. However, these trends, which affect marketing strategies, with
the rapid movement of technology which started with globalization, have
gained generalizable characteristics all over the world. Brands which
analyse trends as determining factors of consumer lifestyles, easily adopt
themselves to the change process. Thus, companies can develop innovative
production processes, and proactive competition strategies, by looking at
their sectors from the outside. For example, it is seen that some American
marketing directors reserve a great part of their applications for lifestyles of
health and sustainability (LOHAS). Individuals who prefer products that are
environmentally-friendly and aim at the principle of sustainability, and who
can spend money to increase their personal potential and development, are
included in this group. This consumer group represents a large market,
which includes products such as organic food, energy-saving electrical
appliances, hybrid cars, alternative medicine, yoga videos, and eco-tourism.
According to the research, this group, which constitutes 1/3 of the
population of the USA, spends about $230 million on consumption of these
products, and companies shape their marketing actions in line with these
figures (Solomon 2007, Başar 2018).
According to the Post-demographic Consumerism Report of the

TrendWatching research agency, which analyses trends in consumer
behaviour, the process of building their own identities, and their interactions
with individuals with other identities, completely change the behaviors of
consumers. As before, it is no longer possible to segment consumers based
on categories such as women/men, young/old, educated/uneducated and
then to determine the target group accordingly. Today, it is necessary to take
into account gained and personalized identities, such as environmentalist,
activist, feminist, conservative, and civil society volunteer, but without
ignoring the traditional categories, while doing marketing. In this process,
it is stated in the report that the points of view of consumers about adulthood
have changed, and age limits have become blurred. In addition, changing
social behaviours, increasing economic pressures, and unlimited options in
the world have caused millions of people to think about traditional
adulthood indicators and to abstain from these in such cases (Yalçın
http://www.readypens.com/2018-global-tuketici-egilimleri/).
New generation consumers expect brands to bring them life skills,
facilitate everyday work, and help them achieve their life goals.
Euromonitor International, a research institution that is prominent in the
research of new consumer trends, presents important data on the consumer
research carried out on a global scale every year, and understanding the
consumption patterns of the new generation. In this research, conducted
regularly since 2011, changes in consumer behavior have been observed. In
the research, global consumer trends are presented within the scope of some
criteria, such as personality, shopping preferences, technology usage,
environment, eating-drinking habits, and media usage decisions. There are
ten consumer groups, according to the report, which was prepared as an
answer to the question, “Which consumer trends will reign around the world
in 2018?” According to this report, these groups are: clean lifers; barrowers;
callout culture; ‘it’s in the DNA -I’m so special’; adaptive entrepreneurs;
‘view in my roomers’; sleuth shoppers; i-designers; co-living; and the
survivors. In addition, it is stated in the report that awareness of global issues
has increased, and consumers have begun to take more social responsibility.
It is specified that these young consumers, who are connected to new
generation consumer groups listed above, choose clean life, aim at
decreasing the damage to themselves, others, and the environment, and plan
to be aware of, and improve, it. In the last decade, not only technological
developments, but also financial crises and political issues in the world, as
well as many other factors, have restructured consumer behaviour. New
generation consumer groups have characteristics focused on realizing
themselves, such as being ‘in life’, pursuing strong beliefs, and ideals,
directing their desires and actions for a better world, and postponing
traditional life cycles, such as marriage and having children, due to the fact
that they do not demand nine-to-five work (Angus 2018). As specified
above, individuals of all ages in new generation consumer groups want less,
but their needs are increasing. New generation consumers care less about
materialistic concepts in many areas, such as clothing, home appliances,
cars, and real estate, and the minimalist life has become popular. These
groups desire genuineness, authenticity, and originality, bringing
personalization to the fore, and thus encouraging creativity. In this respect,
a new marketing approach has begun to develop, in which consumers start
to become involved in the design and production processes of the products,
and where brand-customer experience points, and hedonistic needs, become
important.
Experiential marketing: The effect of experience on

consumer-brand interaction
Experiences arise in response to stimuli, and they are usually based on direct
observation and/or participation in events, whether they are real or virtual
(Tsaur et al. 2006). When brands combine their products or services as a
fiction, to include and influence their customers individually, experience
exists. At this point, properties are efficient, goods are concrete, services are
abstract, and experiences are unforgettable (Pine & Gilmore 1998).
Experience can also be defined as an emotional experience that can lead to
emotional and personal change, or as emotional events that have a strong
impact on the person. Experience is a factor that affects the way of feeling,
acquiring knowledge, or exercising the skills of seeing, and experiential
marketing is much less interested in cognitive processes, focusing instead
on the consumer-brand relationship (Same & Larimo 2012). Experiential
marketing is about understanding the essence of a product, and creating
concrete, physical, and interactive, experiences that strengthen the
marketing offer (Williams 2006).
Experiences are personal by nature, and interact in the mental structure
of the person in emotional, physical, mental, and spiritual, aspects.
Experience is the interaction between the situation and the mental process
of the person in it, and has a personal qualification (Pine & Gilmore 1998).
Marketing experience should be within the personal interest area of the
customer, be new, offer a surprise, be informative, and attract the customer's
attention (Same & Larimo 2012).
In experiential marketing, an innovative and creative approach from
stimulant to response is accepted, contrary to the stimulus-response
approach of traditional marketing (Same & Larimo 2012, Grundey 2008).

While the competition advantage of a brand, through a traditional marketing
approach, comes from product innovation, pricing strategy, and a strong
marketing channel, the competition advantage of experiential marketing is
unforgettable experiences. Imitation and substitution of competition
advantages obtained from experiences are more difficult (Tsaur et al. 2006).
Experiential marketing is based on determining and meeting customer needs
and demands profitably, and it is a type of marketing that makes brand
personalities real, enables people to participate in brands, products, and
services in sensorial ways, and interacts with them (Same & Larimo 2012).
The power of customer participation causes experiential marketing to yield
results faster than traditional marketing methods, therefore customers may
tend toward positive purchase decisions, faster (Williams 2006). In this new
paradigm, companies continuously try to add experiential benefits to
traditional offers, and promise to provide joyful, unique, and unforgettable
customer experiences, instead of superior product/service features as a basis
(Shobeiri et al. 2013). In experiential marketing, brands tend towards
approaches which involve experience for customers by quitting the
‘features-and-benefits’ approach of traditional marketing. The basic reasons
for this tendency are availability of information communication technologies
everywhere, superiority of the brand, availability of communication, and
fun as a whole. At the present time, branding results in communication and
a ‘fun’ form of everything; facilitation of communication, and proliferation
of experiences based on fun (Schmitt 1999). The brand-target audience
interactions which were created by gamification strategy can be also
evaluated within this scope.
Aspects of experiential marketing

Experiential marketing provides attractive, interactive and entertaining
brand experiences. Subjective internal consumer responses (emotions,
senses, and cognitions) include brand experience and behavioral responses
aroused by brand-related stimuli, which are part of the brand's identity,
communication, and environments (Same & Larimo 2012), and contribute
positively to the perceived quality of products/services, brand identity, and
brand loyalty (Shobeiri et al. 2013). Experience permits customers to
participate in the consumption of products or services which actualize
interaction with the brand, physically or mentally, emotionally, socially, and
psychologically (Grundey 2008). According to Pine & Gilmore (1998), one
level is customer participation (in the experience process, customers play a
key role in active participation - the audience in the experience process of
customers, i.e., the passive attendants, do not affect the experience), the
other level is the level of connection or environmental relationship, which
brings customers together with activity or performance. The level of
connection is comprised of absorption and all immersion sub-levels.
Experiential marketing is based on the consumer’s direct personal
participation, or her/his observation (Same & Larimo 2012) and the 21st
century consumer also expects to be entertained, encouraged, and
questioned, emotionally and in a creative way, while asking for educational
and valuable experience in the process of consumption (Leighton 2007).
In the decision process of purchasing, although consumers are still
seeking functional features, advantages, product quality, and a positive
brand image, they are mostly affected by the products, communication, and
marketing campaigns which affect their senses, influence them deeply and
prompt their minds (Tsaur et al. 2006). Within this framework, Schmitt
(1999) claims that experiential marketing has four characteristic elements.
The first of these characteristic elements is experiential marketing’s focus
on consumer experience (sensual, emotional, cognitive, behavioral,
relational), the second element is the focus on consumption as a whole
experience (the conformity of the product with a consumption situation,
how packaging, advertising, etc., will affect the consumption process), the
third is customers’ being both rational and emotional beings (consumption
experience is formed with fantasies, emotions, and entertainment), and the
fourth is the methods and tools used in experiential marketing, which are
eclectic (the combination of qualitative, quantitative and verbal methods).
The experiential view in the consumer decision process describes where
less concrete, hedonistic, variables may be significant behavior determinants
(Leighton 2007). Experiential marketing gives more objective meaning to
the experience, and it confirms that the experience can definitely be an
important and unforgettable thing for the consumer (Grundey 2008). The
typology of consumer values in experiential marketing can be classified as
extrinsic vs. intrinsic value, self-oriented vs. other-oriented value, and
active vs. reactive value (Österler et al. 2018). Pine & Gilmore (1998) also
classify the concept of experience into four categories; entertainment,
educational, aesthetic, and escapist.
The answer to the question of what the most effective and specific
experience a brand can offer its target audience is, is crucial, and needs to
be answered strategically. Experiences such as goods and services must
meet customers’ needs, and they must also be offerable. As the goods and
services appear, the consequence of the processes of research, design, and
development, have continuance, and the experiences, which are also
developed by finding a source from the processes of discovery, coding, and
presentation, also have continuance. In this context, the five key principles
which need to be considered in experience design, are: theming the
experience; harmonizing impressions with positive cues; eliminating
negative cues; mixing in memorabilia; and engaging all five senses (Pine &
Gilmore 1998). In addition to the experience design principles that Petkus
Jr. (2004) Pine and Gilmore revealed, the principle of soliciting feedback
has been added in at the last stage, where the result of the experiential
marketing process is measured with the feedback obtained from the
audience included in the process. Audience surveys, and evaluation of
feedback in the experience process, are within this scope.
Besides the consequence of interaction between the brand, the
experience provider, and the customer, the value of experience consists of
jointly formed experiences which may be described as relationships with all
companies’ networks, employees, brands, specialists, or opinion leaders
(Österle et al. 2018). The application tools of experiential marketing are
communication, visual and verbal identity, product presence, co-branding,
environment, and electronic media and people (Schmitt 1999). Within this
framework, the brand lands, brand museums, and customer experience
centers are described by Österler et al. (2018) as the summit of branding,
and as experiential marketing tools, defined within the main concept of
brand worlds. Brand worlds are directly based on high interactive
consumer-brand encounters, and experiential marketing techniques, and
they offer much more powerful brand experiences than normal advertising.
New technologies such as interactive games, internet chat rooms,
multiple player-games, gesture-based simulators, and virtual reality, which
may be evaluated as experiential marketing tools, promote brand new
experience types. As far as new technologies disseminate information, they
also offer real interactive experiences (Pine & Gilmore 1998). In order to
provide a good experience, marketing is continuously required to use
application tools consistently, in other words integratedly, in time, at the
highest performance level, by paying attention to the details of each tool
(Schmitt 1999).
Gamification as a way to provide experience

The concept of gaming in providing customer experiences is a new
paradigm used in marketing. With gamification strategy, a game involving
internal and external motives, such as fun, fantasy, and escape from reality,
curiosity, achievement, and recognition, is included in the marketing
process. As McLean et al. (2018) have revealed, while customers are using
online media, they cannot be satisfied without the hedonic aspects of fun. It
is observed in the research that if customers do not take pleasure in activities

within the processes of online marketing, they cannot have the best
experience. These kinds of experiences in the formation of brand-consumer
interaction, are clearly seen in examples within the scope of gamification.
The concepts of engagement (cognitive and emotional), brand loyalty
(attitudinal and behavioural), and brand awareness, which are included in
three basic concepts of relational marketing, are concepts associated with
the purposes and output of gamification efforts (Hsu & Chen 2018,
Lucassen & Jansen 2014). Hence, as well as the fact that games are useful
tools which motivate preferred behaviours of consumers, they can also
make advertisements more interesting by adding motivational incentives to
increase the pleasure of consumers (Bittner & Schipper 2014). Hamari
(2013) stated that the gaming experience can be related to internal
motivation for usage of information systems and services, as well as hedonic
usage types and consumption. Gamification does not solely provide
economic benefits for users, however, it is believed that it adds value to the
product/service of the brand through converting usage motivations and
intentions.
The definition and scope of the gamification concept

The term ‘gamification’ was first used in an article in a blog written by Brett
Terrill, in 2008. He defines the word as using a game mechanism, and
applying it to other web possessions in order to increase interaction. While
the application began to be used in in the area of marketing, the concept
started to be used in the academy extensively in 2010 (Huotari Hamari
2017). Developing gamification means that game mechanisms are applied
in daily applications and situations to increase interaction, fun, and good
behavior (Llagostera 2012).
Today, gamification is applied in different contexts, such as the
promotion of healthy life, exercise, and general welfare, sustainable
consumption, and various consumer behaviors in the purchase process.
Gamification is a socio-technological phenomenon which has the potential
to gain social rights, and to provide social benefit through communities and
social interaction (Hamari & Koivisto 2015). Xu et al. (2016) describe the
game, or electronic games, as structures ensuring a fast-moving and
interactive, fun experience for players, in the contexts of local
organizations, and dynamic and real-time interactions with other players.
The concept of gaming as an experience field for a new customer is
defined as a system where the players engage in an artificial combat with
the rules, and a measurable result is concluded. The fun is included at the
heart of the behavior of the people playing the games, and the game causes
them to reveal behavior, such as interaction with a situation, group, fact, etc.
(Kankanhalli et al. 2012). When considering this in terms of experiential
marketing, playing a game has the potential to form an interaction with the
others in a target audience group, in other words, to develop experience
fields and to support dynamic interactions (Xu et al. 2016).
It is seen that, in an experience which is designed via entertainment or
through works of art, and games, films, books, or television programs, the
consumer acts subjectively, and interacts with the product design in
concrete, symbolic, or aesthetic ways (Addis & Holbrook 2001). According
to Verhagen et al. (2011), the value of the four experimental systems may
be related to the virtual world's areas of experience, such as virtual reality
spaces and games, while escapism and entertainment value are included in
intrinsic value sources, and economic value and ease of use are included in
extrinsic value sources. The intrinsic value of escapism is flight from reality,
with virtual objects/avatars, in a cognitive and emotional way, and a
person’s re-building herself/himself, using avatars. Entertainment value,
another intrinsic source, involves living in an attractive situation, and being
fascinated, or being appreciated, via information communication technologies.
An extrinsic source of economic value is about the performance expected
from commercial activities and products/services. Another extrinsic value
is ease of use, which can also be defined as the user’s convenience of
strolling about in the system without bearing down on it.
As is seen, gamification focuses on psychological situations, so the focal
spot is on psychological results, rather than the qualifications of the design.
These psychological results also work as mediation tasks in creating value
on behavioral results and gamification (Huotari & Hamari 2017).
Game-based marketing, which creates client experiment points,
provides much more enjoyable and personal experiences of marketing, via
virtual experience, in that games are about satisfaction, and satisfaction is a
new element which is a highly strong aspect of marketing. Therefore, games
can lead an entertaining, useful, new, and strong interaction, between brand
and consumer (Xu, et al. 2016). Gaming is an activity leading the consumer,
who is in a struggle to meet one of her/his needs in the consumption process,
to solve problems, make decisions, and solve problems, in an entertaining
manner, using the mechanics of the game. Gamification is applied in
applications and processes to improve user participation, the feedback of
the investment, the quality of data, through full-time learning (Costa et al.
2017). Therefore, creating clues which evoke constant positives is needed
to create efficient experiences in experimental marketing and for companies
to make customers happy and interested (Shobeiri et al. 2014). At this point,
as a strategic point of view which will ensure brand interaction with all the
internal and external target audiences in marketing communication, the
curiosity created by gamification, the desire to reach the result, the desire to
succeed, and the fun, are stimulated by the clues presented in the experience,
and the participation of the target groups in the process is ensured.
According to Kankanhalli et al. (2012), gamification can be considered as a
new paradigm in marketing to enhance brand awareness and loyalty,
innovativeness, and online user participation. In fact, it is claimed that it
leads to positive gamification results, such as high user participation,
increasing effect, loyalty, creative content, and increasing income.
According to Johnson et al. (2016), gamification is at the point where
compelling technology crosses serious games and personal informatics. In
the most general sense, gamification is using game elements and
technicalities in a non-game context (Deterding et al. 2011).When this
definition is analyzed, it is seen that gamification has three components. The
first component of game elements and technicalities consists of game
designing principles, game dynamics, the journey of the player, story-
telling, and other aspects of games. The second component is non-game
contexts, such as business, innovation, marketing, education, health and
vitality, and participation in the environment and society. The third
component consists of player attitudes, such as competition, interaction,
cooperation, learning, addiction, and participation (Kankanhalli et al. 2012).
Sides partaking in the gamification experience (consumer, employer), can
be lined up as players, designers, spectators, or observers (Robson et al.
2016).
Huotari & Hamari (2012) defined gamification as an affordable service
development process for users’ game experience which will create holistic
value. Hsu & Chen (2018) define gamification marketing activities as
creating game experiences, and the use of innovative gamification
mechanisms in entertainment, trends, interaction, sincerity, and marketing
activities to affect customers’ value, satisfaction, brand love, and attitude
sense. Gamification plays a vital role in exciting value, satisfaction, and
brand love, which helps to reveal customers’ consumer attitudes.
With the advancement of internet technology, online games have
become important parts of free-time activity for many people, and advances
in this aspect have led global companies to produce new games which please
their customers, and to use games effectively in the experiential process
between consumer and brand. Online games present a virtual reality for their
participants. Each player can have a role, to make an expedition, to fight, or
to make a common connection with other players, via interaction or dialog
(Sheu et al. 2009). With the use of multimedia, gamification can lead to
increase in interaction between users, and deeper perception of the

experience in a sensual way. For this reason, the gamified experience is
much more lively and close than other mediums for the target group (Yang
et al. 2017). Today, especially with the effect of smart technologies, as the
number of contact points between brand and customer increases, the
importance of this experience created in these contact points is revealed.
This experience has an important role in affecting the preferences of
consumers, and this affects their buying decisions (Foroudi et al. 2018). For
gamification to ensure client retention and have an effect on customer
loyalty, customers must have experience of playing games. Within this
scope, gamification simply stands for adding game mechanisms to a service,
and this automatically means interaction between brand and consumer,
where customers’ loyalty is retained (Hamari 2013). Gamification can be
defined as a tool to support branding initiatives through the application of
game elements and mechanics (Seaborn & Fels 2015).
In early marketing literature on game theory, Herbig (1991) presented a
comprehensive point of view on game theory, and claimed that he had
presented a practical and proper tool to describe and clarify the problems of
game marketing. McAfee and McMillan (1996) tackled business
competition and game theory, and concluded that playing games may be
valuable for marketing (Conaway & Garay 2014).
Gamification is a rule-based service system which provides feedback
and interaction mechanisms to the user in order to facilitate and support the
general attitude, or change in the players’ manner (Yang et al. 2017).
Gamification clarifies a series of design principles, process, and systems
used to affect, occupy, and motivate individuals, groups, and communities,
in order to lead behaviors and to produce requested results (Rodrigues et al.
2014). In particular, different sectors such as the health sector, government
agencies, insurance companies, etc., are the focus of gamification activities.
And as a result of these gamification activities, it is possible to reach some
results, such as minimizing health costs for preventable conditions, by
encouraging people to move towards lifestyle changes which improve their
health, using gamification (Freudmann & Bakamitsos 2014). SuperBetter4,
a health gamification app, is a web platform which helps participants to
achieve their health aims in small accessible processes, with psychological
flexibility, and combining this process with narration and social support
(Johnson et al. 2016). In another way, tourists in tourism marketing can
learn something about places they go to, by solving mini games relating to
their experiences, following advice given by a mobile game (Xu et al. 2016).
An example used with gamification strategy, where new technologies
are used in the introduction of historical heritage within the scope of
experimental marketing, is an app in the Jorvik Centre, in York, where

visitors can ‘travel in time’ to experience the views, smells, and voices of
Viking life. Interactive multimedia, such as guided tours where visitors can
watch re-enactments by touching buttons on a screen, access information
panels, use electro-voice guides, and experience theatre, are tools which
present a surrealistic experience. Recently, live commentary showed up as
a key experience, creating ways in which gamers can interact with visitors,
from historical revitalisation to theatre, storytelling, and role playing
(Leighton 2007). LiveOps, a call center company, and another example of
gamification, used game items, such as virtual rosettes and points, to
motivate its representatives, resulting in an 8-12% increase in sales, and a
15% decrease in call duration. As seen in this example, gamification
performance has a potentially positive influence on productivity, and the
participation of employees, users, or clients (Kankanhalli et al. 2012).
Gamification applications conducted on digital media, just as mobile
platforms, also have the potential to affect the results of retail, entertain
clients, expedite re-uptake, keep clients in reserve, and contribute to in-mall
interaction (Hofacker et al. 2016). In its simplest form, games taking place
within the websites of brands reflect as value-added services to brands, and
have become efficient, while teaching brands and their products to
consumers. In addition to these, loyalty programs also have similar
qualifications to game mechanisms, and are applied to provide economic
benefits for clients in return for loyalty (Hsu & Chen 2018). According to
Atwal & Williams (2009), one of the beautiful examples related to this
situation is Coca-Cola’s experiential marketing practice, which took place
in India in 2007. Their experiential areas, called ‘Coke’s Red Saloons’ were
designed as open air youth places with comfortable sofas, iPod stations, and
game options. As Hamari (2013) indicated, following the success of social
network services (such as Facebook), games (such as Angry Birds) and
location-based services (like Foursquare), marketing people have started to
apply these innovations within the scope of gamification in non-game
contexts.
Three different types of gamification which can enrich are listed as
follows (Salcu & Acatrinei 2013):
 External gamification involves activities which are applied with the
aim of marketing, sales, and client participation, targeting clients as an
external group of the brand.
 Internal gamification expresses the application of gamification to the
employees or people in the company. Gamification can provide motivation
for human resources, productivity growth, or crowdsourcing.
 Behaviour change gamification is applied when someone needs

motivation to do something, and a person appreciates the value. In that way,
motivation can have a social effect via gamification, because it is something
that people want to do.
Starbucks’ awards program, called My Starbucks Awards, is an example
of brands’ using gamification practices and creating an experience area in
their marketing. Via this gamification application, clients are provided with
a star on their Starbucks card every time they buy something, and clients
who reach a high level are awarded with free products. Another example is
the application called Nike Plus, by Nike. Whoever uses the app can follow
their performance by wearing shoes with a small accelerometer, and when
a pc is linked with this system, clients can start competing with their friends
on their sports performance. Foursquare, which is a social media platform,
leads users to ‘check-in’ to nearby places, using gamification methods
(Kankanhalli et al. 2012, Kasurinene & Knutas 2018).
In view of all these definitions and examples, according to Hamari &
Koivisto (2013), it is possible to gather the characteristics of gamification
which differ from concepts such as persuasive technologies and serious
games, in two main ways:
1. Gamification tries to present and create experiences which
recall games, and consist of flow sense, mastership, and autonomy, instead
of providing hedonistic experiences, like audio-visual aids. The content or
economic incentives seen in loyalty marketing, exemplify this situation.
2. Gamification tries to directly affect motivations rather than
attitude and/or behaviour, similar to persuasive technologies.
Gamification means adding new game lovers to present systems, instead of
totally setting up a new game, just as in serious games.
Keys facts of gamification

In gamification, when key facts of design and content size, involving
mechanics, dynamics and aesthetics, are evaluated, this is described as the
MDA Model (Deterding et al. 2011). Aesthetics, and the view of the game,
attribute a target, and they strengthen the progress of the story. For many
games, visuality and focus on presentation are important for creating an
immersive experience (Hofacker et al. 2016). From a different viewpoint,
this model has been transformed with the use of the term ‘emotional’ instead
of ‘aesthetics’ and has become the MDE Model. According to Robson et
al. (2015) the term ‘aesthetics’ in game design describes the desired
emotional responses of the players when they interact with the game (e.g.,
fantasy, presentation, friendship, and discovery). Since aesthetics reactions
are largely intrinsic to computer games, it is thought that the terms

‘emotions’ or ‘emotional’ are better connected to the business results of
participation they can obtain from employees and customers.
According to Poncin et al. (2017), the term ‘mechanics’ in the basic
figure of gamification consists of aims, rules, and settings, types of
interaction, and situations. The term ‘dynamics’ refers to the attitudes and
interactions reached by clients’ gamification experience. It covers both the
desired behavior (collaboration between users, better contributions, etc.), as
well as undesirable behavior (tricks, etc.), and exploration, collection,
competition, acquisition of status, collaboration, challenge, and
development/organization (Seaborn & Fels 2015). Finally, the terms
‘emotions/emotional’ refer to positive and negative emotional reactions
caused by the game. For this reason, the MDE Model is a model which
involves both points of view, because it consists not only of the design
created by the actions of designers, but also design which is impacted by the
reactions of users.
One model which describes the size of gamification applications is the
Gamification Model Canvas, developed by Alex Osterwalder. This model
consists of key facts such as dynamics (themes of the game), aesthetics
(discovery, fantasy, sensation), behavior (watch video, read content,
participate in forums) players, revenues (economic or social returns),
mechanics (the rules of the game), components (points, badges,
leaderboard, progression, achievement), platforms, and costs (the cost of
project development) (Costa et al. 2017).
In the framework of experiential marketing, these can be listed as
follows (Kankanhalli et al. 2012, Yang et al. 2017, Johnson et al. 2016):
 Sample of gamification: Work enhancement, training, innovation,
marketing, education, fitness, and environment.
 Design elements for gamification: Points, virtual reality, badges,
leaderboard, progression.
 Reward categories: Monetary, status, achievement, learning, self-
development, wellness, social and community impact, digital rewards (e.g.,
virtual roses, coins, digital in-app equipment).
In addition to these points, in-gamification applications are designed to
encourage users, using key facts such as levels, story/theme, clear goals,
feedback, challenge (Hamari et al. 2014), avatars, and social interaction
(Johnson et al. 2016), and challenges, narratives, social connections, visual
design, mystery, surprise, discovery, and technology (Hofacker et al. 2016).
One of the significant factors in the gamification process is the
commencement of application on the best channel. Providers who initiate
and maintain gamification can be listed as: the core service provider (the
brand on its own); a third party service provider (social networks, location-
based services); the customer him/herself; or another customer. The
improved service in terms of the effectiveness of gamification can be
provided by one of these four parties, or a combination of them (Huotari &
Hamari 2012).
For apps in the gamification process to be designed in such a manner
that they deliver efficiently, some steps must be followed. The six steps of
gamification are also called The D6 Framework (Salcu & Acatrinei 2013),
and these steps can be lined up as follows (Costa et al. 2017):
1. Define business objectives,
2. Delineate target behaviour,
3. Describe players,
4. Devise activity loops,
5. Do not forget the fun,
6. Deploy the appropriate tools.
By creating gamification, consumer-brand interaction in experiential
marketing is used as an effective strategy in the development of brand
awareness and loyalty, with the satisfaction of internal and external
motivation elements. Nowadays, hedonic consumption is more important
than a purely pragmatic approach for the new generation consumer, and in
the consumption process, the enjoyment of fun, happiness, achievement and
affirmation, can be achieved through effective design elements in
gamification.
Conclusion
With the transition to digital marketing, it is much easier for consumers to
reach brands via interactive channels, and the balance of power in marketing
has changed in the direction of the consumer. Situations where the consumer
uses the information which works for her/him, and s/he tests the products
using contact points, show that the consumer can control the process. For
this reason, brand loyalty has become an important factor in the face of the
consumer going from strength to strength. It is known that a sense of
experience and satisfaction, per purchase, after using the product, builds
opinion for the next decision. In addition to this, opportunities like digital
channels, consumers’ search after the purchase, and consumers’ learning
about other consumers’ satisfaction, can also affect consumers’ loyalty
levels.
By getting into intimate and meaningful contact with brands and
emotional commitment, consumers use brands to express their characters
and social-identity ego. In addition to brand experiences, such as subjective
internal consumer responses (senses, emotions, and cognitions), consumers

are defined as having behavioral responses which stimulate the brand
through experiential characteristics when interacting with brands, shopping,
and consuming. The power of brand experience affects consumers’ ability
to deduce brand personality, brand satisfaction and loyalty (Schmitt et al.
2015). Within this scope, experiential marketing can provide customer
satisfaction with emotional and functional value, provided by perception
and service quality within emotional and physical stimulus (Yuan & Wu
2008).
Experiential marketing is here, there, and everywhere (Schmitt 1999). If
it is considered that experience can be designed in many different ways, on
real and virtual platforms, the enrichment of this experience via
gamification, the increase in client participation, and refreshment of client-
brand interaction will follow.
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CULTURAL SLAVERY IN THE DIGITAL AGE
NECLA MORA
Introduction
The world is changing and transforming with every new invention.
Countries that make inventions and offer them to entrepreneurs, develop
and raise their level of prosperity. Countries that do not have the ability to
make these inventions, are dependent on the countries which are the source
of these inventions, and fall under their control. On the other hand, human
beings are changing and transforming themselves through changes in their
lives. Although this change and transformation is sometimes fast and easy,
sometimes it is difficult and painful. In addition, these changes and
transformations do not take place in society as a whole. Some members are
not aware of the situation, due to their social position, and are unable to
adapt. Others intertwine with the virtual environment, and, being affected
by this environment, they almost become humanoid robots as apathetic self-
seekers, lacking the ability to establish sympathy, having extremely silly
self-confidence, are hopeless, have a distorted perception of reality, are
beholders or recorders, think that they can intervene in life if necessary, and
deviate from moral values, being insensitive individuals.
In the digital age, cultural slavery, comfort, and an entertainment-
oriented lifestyle, which capitalism offers to man through the media, distorts
human beings and human relations, and isolates man, harms the culture and
ties of belonging, and negatively affects mental health. In this study, it will
be discussed, by taking into consideration the thesis developed by Herbert
Marcuse from the School of Frankfurt, that “the emancipating power of
technology-instrumentalization of things transforms into the chain of
liberation.” As a sample movie analysis, the screenwriter and director
Michael Haneke’s film, Benny’s Video, dated 1992, will be analyzed within
the framework of concepts of the digital age, according to the sociological
critical theorem, ‘lack of communication’, ‘insensitivity’, ‘perception of
reality’, ‘capitalism’, ‘cultural slavery’, ‘violence’, and ‘alienation’.
Necla Mora 37
A brief history of capitalism

The Industrial Revolution, which began in England with the invention of
the steam machine in the 18th century, also led to the start of capitalist
production. In the period from the 18th century until today, developments
in the understanding of industry and production have changed and
transformed political structures, social structures, lifestyles, and, therefore,
humanity. Each new development has its positive as well as negative
aspects. If we count some of these, smart robots, for example, have started
to replace people in many areas, from childcare to education. In smart
plants, robots work with people, and can work more effectively than
humans, through being able to participate in decision-making processes, and
machine-to-machine communication. Cars without drivers have come into
play. It is said that in the near future, planes without pilots will be used. But
the question to be asked here is this: what is the conclusion that awaits
humanity in all these developments? Because, although technological
advances make people’s life easier, enable them to save more time for
themselves, and increase communication, they also isolate people, and
alienate them from themselves and their social environment.
The first great transformation in the world started with the agricultural
revolution in the year 7000. Along with the agricultural revolution,
humanity moved towards a settled life, and started to establish large
organized communities. The second important revolution was the Industrial
Revolution in the 18th century (Yilmaz 2004, 9). With the Industrial
Revolution, landowners in rural areas transferred their power to industrial
enterprises in the city. Together with holding executives, bureaucrats, and
press kings, new elites emerged. In parallel, mass production, mass
distribution, mass education, mass communication, and mass democracy
practices were implemented. The industrial countries that captured these
changes obtained colonies by undertaking conquests. Therefore,
exploitation and domination power were established in countries that could
not keep up with these developments (Toffler 1992, 26). Such production
was important and valuable, and caused consumption to be stimulated, and
to be transformed into ostentatious consumption. By taking advantage of
this, the Western world gained great wealth, taking over the resources of
Asia and Africa for two hundred years (Adigüzel 2001, 18-30). In this way,
industrialization developed with advancing scientific and technological
inventions, and was reflected in political, social, education and health
services, thereby reducing everything to the state of a commodity which can
be bought and sold.
38 Cultural Slavery in the Digital Age
In the historical process, inventions that trigger the development and

lifestyle of humanity have been defined by different names. Some have
described them as the agricultural revolution, the Industrial Revolution, or
the Information Age. As for Toffler, he referred to the finding of agriculture
as the First Wave, the Industrial Revolution as the Second Wave, and the
Digital Age, which emerged with the developments that took place after the
Industrial Revolution, as the Third Wave (Toffler 1981, 27-29). The
mechanization period, starting with the invention of the steam machine in
the 18th century, is defined as Industry 1.0. It passes on to Industry 2.0, with
the shift of production which started in the workshops, to factories, and
Industry 3.0, with the use of electronic automation in industry in the 1970s.
With Industry 4.0, considered as the entrance into the digital era, smart
production, smart materials and smart objects, and the digital connections
between them, have come to prominence (Büyükuslu 2018). However,
economic differences between different layers of society have revealed
status differences, and these differences have provided a suitable structure
for the systematization of cultural hierarchy exploitation. People in this
structure who struggle with loneliness, poverty, weakness, and despair, have
needed irrational temporary solutions (Güneş 2001, 162). As with every
new development, important changes in social, political and cultural
structures have started to emerge with these developments. The accelerating
changes in technology, along with digitalization, besides conveying features
that facilitate and accelerate human life, develop democracy in a positive
way, hold characteristics that deepen the gaps between countries and people,
and make man more dependent on man, societies on societies. Today,
countries are divided into three groups: those who produce technology;
those who buy and use technology; and those who cannot access technology
(Yilmaz 2004, 11). The psychological disorder experienced by
domesticated, unresponsive, people, who accept everything as it is,
including the loneliness and unhappiness experienced in society, may try to
eradicate these feelings by chemical reinforcements. Tranquilizers have
become the most consumed and best-selling drugs in the world (Zerzan
2013, 173). Today, representation has replaced reality. Capitalism has
transformed humanity into a mass in which people become objects, and
meaning and meaningful words are destroyed (Bewes 2008, 14-15).
According to Castells, the capitalist process, along with digital
development, by restructuring the hard and competitive understanding,
increases inequality and social exclusion in the world. Even in the US, in
which the standard of living is seen as the highest in world history, the
wages of the sector outside the educated elite have either never increased,
or have even decreased. For this reason, digitalization has brought more
Necla Mora 39
inequality, polarization, poverty, and misery, to a certain segment of

society, as a result of the appropriation of collective wealth at different
levels (Castells 2007, 91-92). The social section that constitutes the majority
of society with limited purchasing power, is shown as if it doesn’t exist in
society, and people with low-wages and low-life standards are employed
like slaves in the service sector.
Human beings robotized through the media,

and humanoid robots
Capitalism, in concert with advertising, imposes on the individual demands
to rest, to have fun, to behave, and to consume its propaganda, which claims
that everyone likes what everyone else likes, and dislikes what they don’t.
The concept of capitalist production imposes these goods, the social content
and functions of which are defined by outside powers, on society, outside
of their personal preferences. Mass production and mass distribution, which
have already abandoned the borders of the factory, have surrounded
humanity. Brainwashing and consciousness-regulating goods replace
rational reasoning with wrong consciousness. Thus, one-dimensional
patterns of thought and behavior come into being (Marcuse 1997, 17-22).
Our ‘selves’ have become dependent on the media's orientations. Our
personal lives, economic, political, aesthetic, psychological, moral, and
ethical, are under the control of the media. It is now the media that shapes,
directs, and creates man (McLuhan & Fiore 2005, 26). As a result of these
developments in technology, today, by entering into the digital age, the need
for human power in production is decreasing. By developing robots that are
produced for repetitive and intelligence-free jobs, humanoid robots that
resemble humans in appearance, take decisions, and communicate, are
being developed. On the other hand, with the influence of culture flowing
through the media, in today's world, people's lifestyles, behaviour, and
images become uniform and standardized (Latouche 1993, 15). Capitalist
ideology, by serving the purpose of the powers, makes everything
homogeneous, molded, standardized, and, together with these commodities,
makes people uniform and object (Adorno & Horkheimer 2010, 314).
Today, political governments are realizing their power through the
organization and use of technological processes. In advanced industrial
societies, political power can maintain and secure itself only if it succeeds
in an organization by using the instruments involved in production, science
and the status quo (Marcuse 1997, 16). Capitalism maintains its existence
by transforming the entire human being, which includes the mind and
emotions of man, into an object of governance that will, in line with its own
goals, help to produce an ideological paradise, and enable it to be

reproduced. Capitalism, therefore, instead of eradicating the poverty of
people living in big cities, re-orients people towards the satisfaction of their
material needs (Marcuse 1991, 18). In this world, where the wealth is
gathered in the hands of certain segments with systematic propaganda
surrounded by entertainment through the media, great class conflicts of
interest are taking place (Herman v. Chomsky 1999, 21). With a high
standard of living, exploitation spreads to a large part of the population.
Continuously increasing and reproducing luxury goods and services makes
them accessible to the masses by expanding the consumer market, and
removing these commodities from their privileged position as only
accessible to the elite. This imposed technological consumption of
capitalism prompts people's feelings of frustration, unhappiness, and
spiritual oppression. This style of production for the masses is only achieved
by the minimal exploitation of a section that has been alienated from its
labour (Marcuse 1991, 19, 22). This created high standard of living, the
desire to consume continuously and consume again, makes man self-
focused, emotionally deprived, lonely, and mechanical. Therefore, people
are forced to continue their monotonous and programmed lives in the form
of robotic beings, behind the democratic, technological development and
comfort offered by capitalist production, between cultural slavery and
mechanical freedom, as domesticated, isolated, and transformed into a
commodity. With the prototypes presented by the media, especially in urban
life, it is common to see women and men alike; hair types similar to each
other, clothes similar to each other, behavior and conversations similar to
each other, similar ways of life, domesticated, calm, unresponsive, nerve-
free people, who continue their lives almost like humanoid robots. The
capitalist ideology, which turns man into the object of capitalism, has,
increasingly, started to replace man with humanoid robots.
Analysis of Benny’s Video - a film with a sociological,

scientific, critical approach
The analysis of a film with a sociological, scientific, and critical approach
requires an examination of the social conditions of the period in which the
subject of the film was originally discussed. The sociological, scientific
analysis examines how social values are reflected and embodied in films,
the effects of films on social values, the power to strengthen or change these
values, and changes in the social attitudes and behavioral patterns caused
by films. Critical sociological analysis suggests remarkable ideas in the
manifestation of social structure by addressing issues such as films, race,
Necla Mora 41
gender, national, or social class differences, and analyzing the relations

between the elements within the social structure and content of the films
(Özden 2004, 153-155). Therefore, film is regarded as a cultural product
that reveals values, norms, targets and goals, lifestyles, and world views of
society. Sociological critical theory is based on Marxist theory, because
Marxist concepts can offer more precise definitions for the subjects of social
class, economy, culture, and ideology, in the field of sociological analysis.
In this study, having discussed the above in accordance with the thesis
developed by Herbert Marcuse from the School of Frankfurt, that the
“emancipating power of technology-instrumentalization of things-
transforms into the chain of liberation, becomes instrumentalization of
humans”, the screenwriter and director Michael Haneke’s film, Benny’s
Video, dated 1992, will be analyzed within the framework of concepts of
‘the digital age’, ‘lack of communication’, ‘insensitivity’, ‘perception of
reality’, ‘capitalism’, ‘cultural slavery’, ‘violence’, and ‘alienation’.
Subject of the film Benny’s Video

Fourteen-year-old Benny, one of two children of a European urban
bourgeois family, is a lonely child who, thanks to fully equipped audio and
video technologies, and the blessings of the digital era, lives in his room,
recording all the images and sounds, 24 hours a day, inside and outside. He
watches them, winds them forward and back, revises them, gradually loses
the perception of reality, and falls into an obsession with the idea that he
controls life. He becomes insensitive, and experiences problems related to
communication with his parents and his social environment. Benny's sister,
Evi, lives in another house with her friends. His mother Anna, and his father
Georg, are working people. They only meet at dinner in the evenings, so
warm communication within the family is not established . When Benny
goes to bed, his mother comes to his room and makes small talk, while his
father only communicates with him to warn him about his behavior. The
family spends weekends on a pig farm, out of town. The movie begins with
Benny's video footage, and a hog killing scene on the farm. After the
animal's dismemberment by the workers , a party of young people
appears in the house. Benny watches this party, which he has videotaped,
with his mother, in his room. Benny has the delusion that he can monitor
and control the world, and people, with electronic tools and he perceives the
world through the eyes of these electronic tools. He sees a girl of his own
age, who is looking carefully at the window in front of the videographer, as
she constantly appears in, and leaves, the video. The next time he goes to
the videographer, he sees the same girl again, looking at the window/ screen,
in the same place, and invites her to his home. Since his mother and father
go to the pig farm at the weekend, he's alone at home. Benny shows his
room to the girl, who seems to be from a family with a lot of children, and
from a different social class. She looks at the electronic tools in his room
interestedly. They heat and eat pizza together, then he makes her watch the
gruesome footage of the pig being shot with a special pistol at the pig farm.
He loads the gun that was used to kill the pig, and that he stole from the
farm, and he gives it to the girl and tells her to shoot at him. She doesn't
shoot. Calling her a coward, he takes the gun and shoots at her. Being shot,
she starts moaning and crawls towards the door. He doesn't want to leave
the girl, and tells her to shut up. As the girl's voice gets louder, he puts a
bullet in the gun and shoots again. The girl starts screaming more. Once
again, he puts a bullet in the gun and shoots the girl in the head, as seen in
the scene of the pig's murder. And then, in a very calm manner, he eats
yogurt from the refrigerator. He goes to do his homework. Then he washes
the bloody sheets and hangs them up. He picks up a towel and removes the
blood from her head. He drags her out, and cleans the place completely. Just
then the phone rings. He sits naked in a chair and talks to his friend in a very
calm manner, making an appointment to meet him outside in the evening.
Benny, who is not aware of the murder he has committed, spreads the blood
on his hands, to his body. By the way, he videotapes the whole thing. Then
he watches these images in a very calm manner, never showing any sign of
feelings of sadness, regret, or fear. Then, from the images on the monitor, it
is seen that he dresses up and goes out. He meets his friends and goes to the
disco. He stays at his close friend Richie's house for the night. His friend
gives him a cigarette. For a while, he calls his friend ‘Richie’. Then he says
nothing and gives up talking. He leaves there in the morning, saying that his
mother and father will be returning from the farm. He rings the bell of the
building where his sister stayed with her friends. Her friends say his sister
isn't there. It's understood from his behavior that he needs to talk. He walks
around outside for a while and then he gets his hair shaved. When he gets
home, he sees his mother and father come back from the farm. Because he
is late, his family reproaches him. His father scolds him for shaving his hair,
and asks who he was reacting to. He asks, "is baldness, bandit baby gang
fashionable among your friends?" The director of the film, Michael Haneke,
here makes reference to ‘skinheads’ and to the middle class in Europe. By
saying ‘you do this because you think you're not loved? One must behave
in accordance with the rules’, he implies that Benny doesn't look human,
and humiliates him. Benny goes to his room and watches the video again.
He spends his life going to school, and watching videos.
Necla Mora 43
Benny only sees his parents at dinner. The teacher asks his classmate
Richie for his homework. Richie says he did his homework and gave his
notebook to Benny. When the teacher asks Benny about that, Benny replies
" I don't understand what he means." As the teacher turns around and goes
away, Benny punches his friend Richie's stomach. When his friend screams
and falls out of his chair, the teacher comes back and tells Benny to pack up
his belongings, go to administration, and come to school the next day with
one of his parents, and shouts from behind him, ‘Understood?’
Benny comes home, and meets two men in the hallway wearing labor
suits and carrying tool sets. He treats those who seem to be from a different
social class as if they don't exist. Haneke, here points out that in developed
European countries, not everyone lives in prosperity. At home, Benny takes
milk from the fridge and drinks it, cleaning up spilt milk with napkins,
sits down, and reads a comic book about Disneyland. It is seen here that
Haneke, the film director, references Walt Disney. While Benny, who acts
as a regular, clean, civilized entity, in accordance with rules and courtesy,
watches displays on TV in his room, his father comes and gets angry with
his watching TV, and tells him that they will take the TV back to the living
room. Meanwhile, his mother comes and focuses in horror on the image on
the monitor. Benny tells his family about the murder that he has committed.
He takes the gun that he stole from the pig farm out of the drawer and gives
it to his father. His father takes out his murder report. Benny says "I'm
hungry." When they eat, his father asks if she's in his class. He replies "No,
she's from another school." Haneke also points out the issue of social
discrimination. Then he tells what happened at school that day. His father
says, "don't go to school tomorrow." Benny says, “what happens now?" His
father asks, "are you afraid?” Benny goes to bed quite calmly as if what
happened had nothing to do with him, and tells his mother to leave the door
open. His mother and father talk about the situation in the dining room. His
father lists what happened and what Benny will encounter in a logical and
cool way. Although his father is very calm and cool, his mother is very
tense. She asks what to do with the body. His father says they can destroy
the body by taking it to the pig farm. She asks, “are you aware of what you
say?” His father responds, "do you see another alternative?" His father says
they need to cut the body into small pieces. His mother asks him, “what if
someone comes”, “if it is found out.” They decide to keep Benny away
from this situation. The next day Benny returns the videos he bought. The
videographer asks, “do you want another?” He says he doesn't, this time.
His father questions whether he has told anyone else about the murder. He
warns him "You mustn't lie." His father sends Benny to Egypt on vacation
with his mother. Here, the poverty of the people, and the fact that they are
different from the people in the civilized world, in Europe, is highlighted by

images. Haneke refers to cultural imperialism again, pointing to electronic
tools in the midst of poverty. Benny is indifferent and distressed.
His mother often makes phone calls to his father. But she never talks to
Benny about the event. His mother offers to go into the sea while he's having
breakfast. While his mother is swimming in the sea, Benny videotapes his
mother , saying that his mother is in the sea, and that he gets too burned in
the sea. H e shows his chest by lifting up his T-shirt, and then says “we've
been here for four days, there's no news in the papers yet, my mother doesn’t
tell me anything. We'll return tomorrow. A week is a long time. Goodbye
father,” and he ends the recording. His mother has a crying crisis in bed at
night. Benny asks “Mom, what has happened?.”
They fly back, and his father meets them at the airport. On the way
home, he says "your color is beautiful." His mother replies "the weather was
very beautiful.” They talk about what to do the next day. When they come
home, Benny brushes his teeth, and after he goes to bed, his mother comes
up and says, " T here's no TV tonight, goodnight." His father comes to him
and says "I'm glad that you're back. It's all right, you don't have to worry.
I'd like to ask you something. Why did you do it?” Benny responds, "I
wanted to see how it would be." Benny wakes up at night and checks the
locker where he put the body. He goes to school after having breakfast with
his mother in the morning. He pays for what Richie bought in his canteen.
His friend asks how his grandmother was.
At home in the evening, they all watch the video of Evi's party. They
make speeches appreciating the money Evi has collected in the ‘Piramit’
game. Benny's mother says he can have a party with his friends like that.
Haneke points out the corruption of the morality of the European urban
middle class by showing the spoiled youths with food brutally clogged in
their mouths. The next day, his parents go to school to watch a show in
which Benny sings with his friends.
The video recording of Benny's room, and his parents' speech about the
corpse, comes into view. The police wind forward the tape, and ask, “have
you taken these?” From the speeches, it is understood that Benny has
reported his parents to the police. The police ask, "when did they pick you
up from school?" Benny replies, “the next day." He tells them that the day
after that, they went on vacation by plane, and stayed a week. The police
ask what happened to the girl's corpse. Benny says he doesn't know. The
police say, "why are you here now?” Benny shrugs his shoulders and says,
"I don't know." The police ask, "do you know who she is?” Benny says that
he doesn't know. The police ask where his parents are. Benny, after giving
the work address of his parents, asks, "can I go now?” The police let Benny
Necla Mora 45
go after watching the footage from the video he took on the Egyptian
vacation. When the door opens, Benny sees the confused and upset faces of
his parents. Benny looks at his parents and says, "I'm sorry", and leaves the
police station. Meanwhile, news of war, violence, and death, is heard from
the radio.
Analysis of Benny's Video according to sociological

critical theory
Analysis of the screenwriter and director Michael Haneke's second film in
the city trilogy, is titled Emotional Icing, which is Benny’s Video, dated
1992, with reference to the following concepts, and, according to Marcus’
sociological critical theory of ‘emancipating the power of technology, the
instrumentalization of things, transformed into a chain of liberation,
becomes the instrumentalization of humans’.
Table 3-1. Analysis of Benny's Video according to Sociological Critical
Theory
Digital Age Benny has audio and recording devices that monitor
and record, inside and outside, 24 hours a day, in his
room. He's addicted to digital technology. He perceives
the world and life through this digital technology.
Miscommunication Benny is usually lonely out of school. He only gets

(lack of together with his parents at dinner. His has almost no
communication) contact with his sister. He is only close to his
schoolmate, Richie. He has no safe and warm
communication with him. He doesn't share with him
the murder that he committed. He lies to the teacher
who didn't give him his book.
Insensibility Benny watches the images of the pig that was dying in
agony and killed on the farm in cold blood. He coolly
kills his girlfriend, who he invited to his house. He
cleans up the surroundings. He hides the corpse and
lives his normal life, even though the body is in the
closet for two days. He brings the tape of his parents’
conversations about destroying the corpse to the police,
thus reports them and when he encounters them, he
goes away like a stranger with an ordinary word of
kindness, saying "excuse me."
Perception of reality Benny's control over his recorded images, winding

them back and forward to change time and space, and
constant interest in the virtual fictional images in the
digital environment negatively affect his perception of
the real world. He has lost the perception of reality. His
response, "I wanted to see how it would be", to the
question his father asks, “why did you kill her?,
indicates that he was not aware of his behavior.
Capitalism Middle-class European urban parents, Benny's mother

Anna, and his father Georg have to work all day to take
advantage of the comfort and well-being that
capitalism has offered them.
Cultural slavery Capitalism has an understanding of production that

imposes existence by consuming. Benny and his
parents are cultural slaves created by capitalism. In
addition, Haneke, in the film, points to cultural
imperialism by means of the technological tools given
into their hands by the poor Eastern people on Benny
and his mother’s visit to Egypt.
Violence The film portrays violence as an ordinary occurrence.

Benny watches, insensibly, over and over again, the pig
being shot, and suffering sorely. Later, after killing his
girlfriend whom he invited home, in a way similar to
that of the pig, he watches the images of the violence
that he recorded in the video over and over again, with
the same insensitivity. He punches his friend Richie in
the stomach in class.
Alienation Benny has alienated himself from his family. There is

no value or norm that he believes in his life. His
perception of reality is distorted and he lacks a role
model to guide him. As for his father, he is a false role
model who, after learning of the murder committed by
Benny, plans and implements the destruction of the
corpse quite coolly.
Necla Mora 47
Conclusion and evaluation

In the Middle Ages, while most of humanity was dealing with agriculture,
a significant distinction began to emerge between the countries which
experienced the Industrial Revolution and the countries that could not
achieve it. When the countries which experienced the Industrial Revolution
started mass production with machinery, they started to colonialize or semi-
colonialize other countries, both in search of new markets in order to sell
their increased production, and in order to meet increasing raw materials
and labour needs. Therefore, the Industrial Revolution caused significant
changes in the world, and in human life.
In this study, this has been discussed in reference to the thesis developed
by Herbert Marcuse from the School of Frankfurt that “the emancipating
power of technology, the instrumentalization of things, transforms into a
chain of liberation, and becomes instrumentalization of humans”, and the
film director Michael Haneke’s film, Benny’s Video, dated 1992, has been
analyzed in accordance with sociological critical theory, and within the
framework of concepts of ‘the digital age’, ‘lack of communication’,
‘insensitivity’, ‘perception of reality’, ‘capitalism’, ‘cultural slavery’,
‘violence’, and ‘alienation’.
Accordingly, the Renaissance, Reform Movements, and the Age of
Enlightenment, which took place in Europe, brought about capitalism.
However, in the analysis of the European urban middle class family, which
emerged as a result of the film’s analysis, it has been found that the welfare
and comfort of capitalism has not brought happiness to European people,
but has transformed them into unhappy, insensitive, self-alienated,
uncommunicative, and solitary, individuals.
In addition, by means of the images of Benny's videos, taken during the
travels of Benny and his mother Anna to Egypt, director Michael Haneke,
in his work Benny's Video, points out that the reflection of capitalism, and
consequent cultural imperialism towards the East, have taken on the form
of cultural colonialism and backwardness, by giving the digital technology
that flows from developed capitalist countries, to the less developed
countries, into the hands of the people of the East, whose poverty and
backwardness are exhibited.
Based on this, in the next study, the situation of the European inferior
class who worked as the manpower of capitalist production, and whose
labour was exploited, as occasionally pointed out by Haneke through
images, and exchanged for digital technologies given into the hands of the
Eastern peoples, will be questioned in the light of the development of the
digital age.
References
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Adıgüzel, Y.(2001). The Impasse Of Mass Society The Culture Industry.
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Bewes, T. (2008). Transformation into commodity (Seylesme). İstanbul.
Turkey: Metis Publications.
Büyükuslu, A. (2018,4,16). Industry 4.0 and Digital Transformation.
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makale,1392.html
Castells, M. (2007). The End of The Millennium. İstanbul. Turkey: Bilgi
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Habermas, Jürgen (2001), Technique and Science as Ideology. Istanbul.
Turkey: YKY.
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Publications.
MANAGING BIG DATA TURBULENCE
IN THE INDUSTRY WORLD
DERYA ÖCAL
Introduction
Throughout history, humankind which plays a role in revealing
technological transformations, is also exposed to the effects of these
changes. In the present century, the big data that comes up frequently affects
the decision makers who manage and depend on it. Big data, especially
important for users, must be analyzed in a traditional way after being caught
and domesticated (Davenport 2014, 103). In this context, technology using
large data, and predicting convergence between vehicles, is used effectively
on humans. In the last half-century, the capacity has been transformed into
an expansionist network, reaching from a small research network with few
nodes in it, to more than a billion users. Minimization of electronic
equipment and cost reduction have enabled the internet to be accessed by
objects the size of smart phones (Köroğlu 2015). The products of
mechanical and electrical components of before, have today become
complex systems formed as data storage units, hardware sensors,
microprocessors, software, and various connections, defined as ‘smart
connected products’ involving power processing, device miniaturization,
and network environments generated by common wireless connections
(Porter and Heppelmann 2015, 20). The internet, the shorter definition of
‘interconnected networks’, is an electronic-informatics communication
medium that is shaped by the connection of numerous public, private,
military, civil, academic networks around the world. The internet, alongside
its initial military-industrial nature, has become a commercial-
communication-oriented structure, and a data flood has to be transformed
into information for the market structure which is created. Profit and
competition-based market dynamics have supported many researchers to
develop different techniques to analyze the growing data stack. In recent
years, inter-machine communication (M2M) has been shown as the main
factor in achieving such high amounts of data. Having access to the internet,
and working according to commands over the internet, or change that occurs
50 Managing Big Data Turbulence in the Industry World
in itself (again over the internet) to the necessary places of anything (entity
or object), is identified with the concept of the ‘internet of everything’.
In the current century, almost every individual in the world uses a micro
controller application (mobile phone, camera, remote control device, etc.)
as part of their life practice.
Security systems, coordination of energy resources, domestic applications,
wearable technologies, healthcare devices, final consumer products, smart
cars, and many other devices offer ‘mobile/wireless interaction’ services
(GSMA 2015, 6). In terms of technological developments, a new and
comprehensive internet transformation is attained, “and also objects become
self-defined, collect information/data which they can communicate among
themselves, to become intelligent decision-making mechanisms. They
provide access to information provided by other things as part of a complex
and integrated system” (Vermesan 2013, 8). Wearable technologies that
have become an important part of the economy and govern the sector,
provide cloud and global positioning system-supported (GPS) data flow to
every available environment. That the individual is accessible ‘at any time’,
both as a producer and as a consumer, makes it possible for employees -in
particular in multinational companies- to control their non-work time via
social networks, and using very small-scale initiatives, delaying the
contraction in market conditions by developing new solutions that will
overcome the bottlenecks of distribution channels, and guarantee the
functioning of the internet economy in terms of capitalism (Schröter 2014).
The relationship of individuals with technology is experiencing a radical
change today, in what is known as the information age. The individual tries
to benefit from the accumulation of concrete data beyond his perception and
intuition in order to control himself and his environment. This tendency
leads to a new psychology that goes beyond its own nature, and will benefit
from this data flood in its decisions, actions, and attitudes.
Just like individuals, organizations are trying to reconstruct their
communications with their environment in a way to protect their position
and reinforce their position in data turbulence. “According to a recent
market report published by Transparency Market Research, the total value
of big data was estimated at $6.3 billion as of 2012, but by 2018, it’s
expected to reach the staggering level of $48.3 billion. That’s an increase
of almost 700 percent ” (Zakir et al. 2015, 81). Now manufacturers have
entered the age of big data, data sizes can range from a few dozen terabytes
to many petabytes of data in a single data set. The size of data can be
expressed by quantitative indicators, such as 571 new web sites on the
internet, 204 million e-mails, $83,000-worth of shopping at Amazon.com,
1.4 million people establishing video connections over Skype, uploading
Derya Öcal 51
20,000 new photos to Tumblr, downloading 15,000 songs in iTunes, and 14

new songs in Spotify within one minute. In addition, it can be expressed by
qualitative interpretation as the perception of organizations about what is
happening all around, using an active strategy, and methods of assessment
and social consequences. “The big data revolution is based on advanced
statistics and calculation methods, rather than growth in storage or
computing capacity” (Shaw 2014, 30). In this context, this study has aimed
to uncover the basic principles of data management strategies of
organizations which mobilize decision-making and action processes under
dynamic conditions.
Big data: The development potential of digital networks

Frequently referred to as the information age, the economic industry of the
21st century is highly dependent on data and data usage. The phenomenon
of big data is continually growing as organizations remodel their operational
processes, to drive effective marketing techniques, improve customer
engagement, and to provide new products and services. In this way, big data
refers to large sets of complex data, both structured and unstructured, using
traditional processing techniques and/or algorithms. As stated in the
summary study of Prof. Dr. Francis X. Diebold, Professor of Econometrics
at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, the concept of ‘big
data’ has been used since the mid-1990s to draw attention to the size of the
data analyzed in different areas, such as production management,
informatics, statistics, and econometrics. Big data is included in the
academic literature, with the information systems study of Sholom M.
Weiss and Nitin Indurkhya, called Predictive Data Mining: A Practical
Guide (1998), the econometrics study of F. X. Diebold, Big Data Dynamic
Factor Models for Macroeconomic Measurement and Forecasting (2000)
and the statistics study of William S. Cleveland, called Data Science: An
Action Plan for Expanding the Technical Areas of the Field of Statistics
(2001). In the historical process, big data developed too fast. In Big Data
1.0, organizations began using the internet to conduct business and compile
data about their customers. The Big Data 2.0 stage allowed organizations to
obtain and aggregate vast amounts of data very quickly and extract useful
knowledge from them. In the academic literature, big data means “the
collecting, storing, cleaning, visualizing, analyzing and understanding of
large volumes of high-volume and fast data from sensors and scientific
instruments” (Gürsakal 2013). A more inclusive definition is transforming
any type of enterprise data digitally encoded by both human and machines
and the personal data generated by the internet and social media shares into
a meaningful and processable format. “Big data is derived from multiple

sources. It involves not just traditional relational data, but all paradigms of
unstructured data sources that are growing at a significant rate. For instance,
machine-derived data multiplies quickly, and contains rich, diverse content
that needs to be discovered. Another example of human-derived data from
social media is more textual, but the valuable insights are often overloaded
with many possible meanings” (Zakir, Seymour and Berg 2015, 81). In this
context, all information can be accessed from users of digital platforms
through the publicly accessible APIs of social media, from the static,
unstructured information and data which is perceived as worthless. API
(application programming interface), is a module that is created to be able
to use certain functions of any application in other applications. Big data
platforms try to categorize different, discrete, offensive applications on
digital networks, and, on the other hand, try to reduce costs by integrating
more data into virtual environments. In this context, the five elements of big
data have gained importance (Gürsakal 2013, Ege 2013): (i) variety, (ii)
velocity, (iii) volume, (iv) verification, and (v) value. The increase in the
amount and variety of data directly affects the decision-makers' decisions
and the simplification of access to information causes the digital platforms
to spontaneously make many decisions on behalf of their users, and to make
decision-makers more specific, comprehensive, and deeper-questioning.
Especially in the business world, it is frequently stated that making
decisions after obtaining data, and analysing it using big data processes,
provides increased efficiency and profitability after making intuitive
decisions in conditions where there is insufficient information. This
situation reveals the role of big data in terms of business life, eliminating
uncertainty in market conditions.
The formation and management of big data

Interaction between machine and human is increasing day by day. A way of
life is quickly passed, where internet providers provide communication
capability to objects in daily life via the internet. In this context, the studies
on the internet of objects cover a wide range, from industrial control systems
to retail, from medicine to logistics, from fun to agricultural areas.
According to a CISCO report in 2003, the number of interconnected people
was 6.1 billion, the number of devices was 500 million, and the number of
connected devices per person was 0.08. In 2010, this ratio increased to 1.84.
According to a CISCO 2020 estimate, there are 7.6 billion people in the
world, and 50 billion objects, and the number of connected devices per
person ratio is expected to increase to 6.48 (Arıcı 2015, 1). In Turkey, as of
Derya Öcal 53
2020, 150 million applications are expected to be linked together, as 56

million smartphones, 16 million consumer electronics (cameras, game
consoles, navigation devices, etc.), 15 million tablets, 14 million meters
(electricity, water, gas, etc.), 12 million PCs, 9 million buildings and office
security systems, 9 million vehicles (cars, trucks, minibuses, etc.), 5 million
white goods (TVs, fridges, etc.), 4 million people using tracking systems
(elderly, children, etc.), 3 million payment systems (cash register, POS,
etc.), 2 million wearable devices, and 2 million lifts/escalators (Turkcell,
2015, 42). The petabyte unit, which is equivalent to 1024 terabytes in the
current time period, stands out in measuring the data capacity based on
technological developments, and it appears to be expressed in the near
future in exabytes and zettabyte units. At the same time, the speed of
inclusion of technology in human life is constantly increasing.
Large data analysis with the potential to transform the business world,
understands the problems that cannot be solved by intuitive-emotional
methods, and which cannot be explained by classical research. Big data
analysis reveals corporate value with detailed data on organizations,
products, consumers, and the whole market, provides detailed market
segmentation, and develops new goods and services while improving
existing goods and services. It has been determined that enterprises that
have a culture of decision-making based on detailed data are more efficient
and more profitable. The Internet of Things, pointing to a network structure,
collects information as the devices perform data communication among
themselves without the need for human intervention, and data entry and
decision-making depending on the information collected (Aktaş, Çeken ve
Erdemli 2014, 300). It is defined as “networks providing fast transfer of
information collected by all kinds of instruments and sensors by wired or
wireless method, analysis with the cloud, interpretation, and taking different
kinds of actions” (Arıcı 2015, 1). In other words, the Internet of Things is
linked to the existing internet structure of embedded computer-based
systems with disaggregated identities (Sanlı ve Alanyalı 2014). So much so
that the Internet of Things is the most common form of smart connected
products which are expected to increase in numbers in the near future. Here,
the nature of the internet faces possibilities offered by the changing objects.
The three basic elements that need to be looked at closely, to understand
the analysis of the numerical information revealed by all kinds of data on
earth, are quantum information processing, big data, and artificial intelligence.
Quantum data processing allows data to be converted into digitally coded
information, and interpreted by analyzing the information. Nowadays,
processing the existing stack of data on computers using superconductors
has become easier. Big data allows the information obtained after
questioning the databases through predictive analytical programs, to turn

into a commodity that will provide profitability and competitive advantage
for companies. With the Internet of Things, the experiences of users give a
different perspective to human-object relationships. Individuals get in touch
with the world of objects outside themselves in a multi-layered way, and the
language of different communication conditions and environments with the
developed projects, and disconnected networks formed by separate
languages, are eliminated.
Since the Second World War, the business analytics field, using data as
decision-making input, has shown rapid development via computer
technology which stores larger amounts of data, detects inter-link ties, and
models faster than the human mind, and classifies and produces new data.
In the age of business analytics, data from different areas such as production
processes, sales, storage, logistics, customer interaction, and feedback, are
recorded, merged, and analysed, and the companies fed from external
sources outside the organizational structure, such as the internet, social
media, public institutions, and data banks. Thomas H. Davenport was
perhaps the first to observe, in his Harvard Business Review article,
published in January 2006 “Competing on Analytics”, how companies who
orientated themselves around fact-based management approaches, and
competed on their analytical abilities, considerably outperformed their peers
in the marketplace. The reality is, that it takes continuous improvement to
become an analytics-driven organization (Zakir, Seymour and Berg 2015,
87).
The results of analytical handling of information with a utopian or
controllable approach are no different. In capitalist market conditions,
information is more than the raw material of knowledge, it is the mythator
or legitimator of hegemony, built on economic, political and social life,
under conditions of absolute rationality and efficiency. It is seen that the
process passes through three stages. In the Information 1.0 period,
experienced in the 1960-70s, with the evolution of electro-mechanical-
informatics technologies from military to commercial use, activities such as
order, design, production resource planning, repeatable production phases,
inventory control, billing, and payment flow, are being aligned with
computer and communication technologies. In the Information 2.0 period
of the 1980-90s, the loosening of the international order based on the blocs,
the acceleration of technological inventions, and the widespread
participation in the process of invention, have globalized the capital scale.
Public resources privatized in this period caused the market actors to have
almost unlimited efficiency. In the period of Industry 3.0, beginning in the
2000s and covering the first quarter of the century, information and IT
Derya Öcal 55
services have become an integral part of products. When the goods or

services were separated from the informatics content they had, they started
to lose their social meaning. With built-in sensors, microprocessors, and
connections in products, data is provided which is stored and analysed, and
different applications used via a product cloud, greatly improving the
functionality and performance of the product. Nowadays, global companies
that generate value on the basis of innovation are emerging, and, in terms of
capital competition, have gained uncontrolled speed.
An important issue to be taken into consideration in the management of
big data, rather than analyzing the data related to planned decisions, is the
examination of the digital breaks left behind by internet users while
browsing the internet. The best defining feature of our age is the ability to
transform data into a brand. Businesses as learning organizations,
transforming information into data, and interpreting information into
knowledge, actively determine the direction of the branding movement.
Among the executives, the opinion that the data needed for branding is
coming directly from the field becomes widespread. The inference, which
is quickly accepted, is, “No more laboratory experiments; now we have to
do actual experiments in the real world” (Petland 2012). Social media has
opened new avenues and opportunities for organizations to connect with
their customers, but the sheer volume of communications about brands,
products and services, which are discussed, shared, criticized, or liked, on
different social platforms, can be overwhelming. Sentiment analytics helps
to rapidly read all this data, providing an executive summary of what people
like and don’t like about a company, brand, or products. The reasons behind
the sentiment can then be easily extracted, providing valuable business
insights. The process goes through: (i) Monitoring what customers say to
increase marketing success; (ii) Identifying key customers to boost word-
of-mouth marketing; and (iii) Examining customer feedback to improve
products and services. Sentiment analytics, or opinion mining, offers a
deeper understanding of the crowd. It provides a focus group of millions of
customers which can be tracked, revealing insights into how they think
about a certain topic.
The effect of analytic transformation on the industrial

world
Compared to big data in general, industrial big data has the potential to
create value in different sections of the manufacturing business chain.
Recently, industrial big data analytics has attracted extensive research
interests from both academia and industry. Taking advantages of valuable
industrial big data analytics will become basic competition for today’s
enterprises, and will create new competitors who are able to attract
employees who have the critical skills in industrial big data. In the 20th
century, when information was commercialized on a mass scale, the
digitalization of the dominant form of storage and transmission media was
heterogenic, while content had a homogeneous form. Diversity is based on
culture but information networks transform ‘citizens’ of public space to
‘consumers. The analysis of the data stack of this fragmentation is carried
out by information companies, called ‘network companies’. According to a
report prepared by US-based network infrastructure company CISCO, in a
ten-year period of 2013-2022, with the combination of the Internet of
Things (IoT) with companies, increased revenues and falling costs between
sectors will occur, which is expected to reveal a potential value of US $14.4
trillion. Elements that support this potential value are: asset usage (US $2.5
trillion due to reduced costs); employee productivity (US$ 2.5 trillion due
to increased labor productivity); development of supply chain and logistics
(US $2.7 trillion due to eliminating waste and saving on resources such as
capital, labor and time); customer experience (US$ 3.7 trillion due to
increased demand and more customers); and innovation (US $3.0 trillion
due to shortened time to market and shorter market life curve) (Bradley et
al. 2013).
The main areas of application of the Internet of Things include:
environmental surveillance, infrastructure management, industrial applications,
energy management, medical and health systems, building and home
automation, transport systems, and large-scale applications. Industrial big
data has been produced by diverse sources in manufacturing spaces, such as
sensors, devices, logistics vehicles, factory buildings, and humans, tackling
manufacturing process elements. Those highly distributed data sources
include: (i) large-scale devices data, (ii) production life-cycle data, (iii)
enterprise operation data, (iv) manufacturing value chain, and (v) external
collaboration data. Manufacturing data ingestion technologies is associated
with real-time acquisition and integration of either massive device-
generated measurement data, or enterprise IT software-generated data. As
data volumes increase, the industrial big data analytics platform must allow
real-time acquisition and integration of massive heterogeneous data from
large-scale industrial devices and software systems. The components of the
Internet of Things are Wireless Body Area Network (WBAN), and Radio
Frequency Identification (RFID). The Wireless Body Area Network is a set
of intelligent small-sized devices capable of detecting the physiological
signals of individuals, and data processing. Radio Frequency Identification
is technology for identifying living things or objects with radio waves
Derya Öcal 57
(Aktaş, Çeken ve Erdemli 2014, 300). The driving force of analytic

transformation in the economy is revealed through mobile communication,
cloud computing, big data analysis, artificial intelligence, superconductors,
and nano-technologies. New technologies are not purely end-use devices.
All these devices, which form part of the system, depend on the internet
for their services and capacities. This makes the relationship between the
user and the product very dynamic.
Unlike traditional physical products, the user interacts with these
devices throughout his or her life. The user's experiences are shaped not
only by the device, but also by an entire system (Rowland 2015, 70).
Conclusion
Today’s technology landscape is changing fast. Organizations of all shapes
and sizes are being pressured to be data driven, and to do more with less. The
common ground of recent studies on the transformation of information and
the social consequences of the internet is about the effects of the increase in
the number of variables enabling decision-making, and the decision-making
processes. Businesses focus on increasing their competitiveness by
eliminating their value-free activities, through techniques used in
information management and data analysis. Digital networks try to control
the individual and global production, flow, distribution, sharing, and
consumption, of meta-information determining the meaning and importance
of data, information, and knowledge, in favor of capital. In this context, in
the capitalist market structure where digital platforms are accelerated by the
internet, it is known that both analog and digitally-coded information are
factors that direct market dynamics.
Big data, used frequently in recent studies, beyond being a fashionable
word, means improving the decision-making capacity of the data collected,
and using the mass of data to provide competitive advantage. Companies
focus on increasing their competitiveness by eliminating activities that do
not create value through process engineering used in data management
analysis. Big data management organizes the flow, distribution, sharing, and
consumption of meta-data, from individual parts to global (Raghavan 2014).
In today's advanced market structure based on internet and digital platforms,
the data, the source of production and the meaning of the product, are
known. Developing new rules for the solution of both economic and social
problems with big data analysis accelerates the transformation of the
numerical into the social.
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ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
IN COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES
UĞUR YAVUZ
Introduction
We are currently observing a paradigm shift towards ‘smart’ communication
networks that take advantage of network data. In fact, modern
communication networks, and in particular mobile networks, generate a
large amount of data at the network infrastructure level, and at the
user/customer level. The data in the network contains a wealth of useful
information, such as location information, mobility, and call patterns. The
vision of network operators is to either enable new businesses through the
provisioning of this data (or the information contained within it) to external
service providers and customers, or to exploit the network data for in-house
services, such as network optimization and management. Machine learning
methods are a core part of many emerging applications of communication
technology, e.g. smart cities or the Internet of Things.[1]
The increasing commodification and commercialization of ubiquitous,
pervasive augmentation technologies is leading to a restructuring and re-
bordering of interaction with the world around us, as we increasingly
communicate, willingly or unknowingly, with machines. Indeed, the verge
on which human-machine communication now finds itself, and its
intersection with wearable technology and the Internet of Things should
cause us to focus critically on these technological augmentations, which we
call Human Augmentics. Through analyses of human and machine agency,
interposed through a theory of close human-machine communication, we
argue that the critical element in discussions of human-machine
communication is an increase in sense of agency, extending the traditional
human-computer interface dictum to provide an internal locus of control,
and is the defining feature of Human Augmentics.[2]
Presently, cellular networks are designed to support human-to-human
(H2H) or human-to-machine (H2M) communications. But, characteristics
of M2M applications are different from H2H applications in terms of high
Uğur Yavuz 61
uplink to downlink traffic ratio, low traffic volume, limited mobility of

devices, and larger density of devices in a particular geographical area.
Because of these differences, supporting M2M in cellular networks, without
damaging, or least affecting, H2H communications, is a very challenging
problem.[3]
This paper gives brief introductions to current technologies, such as AI
and ML, as well answering some questions, such as, whether artificial
intelligence ‘machines’ communicate with each other, and how the inter-
relations between AIs are. Can the machines learn from each other? What
are the relationships between artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning,
the Internet of Things (IoT) and types of communication such as human to
human (H2H), human to machine (H2M), machine to machine (M2M) and
machine in human (MiH)?
Artificial intelligence
The term ‘AI’ is used so often nowadays that we have a basic understanding
of what it means; a computer’s ability to perform tasks such as visual
perception, speech recognition, decision-making, and language translation.
AI has progressed rapidly over the last few years, but it is still nowhere near
matching the vast dimensions of human intelligence. Humans make quick
use of all the data around them and can use what they have stored in their
minds to make decisions. However, AI does not yet boast such abilities.
Instead, it is using huge chunks of data to clear its objectives. This ultimately
means that AI might require huge chunks of data for doing something as
simple as editing text.[10]
The artificial intelligence (AI) industry has been leading the headlines
consistently, and for good reason. It has already transformed industries
across the globe, and companies are racing to understand how to integrate
this emerging technology. Artificial intelligence is not a new concept. The
technology has been with us for a long time, but what has changed in recent
years is the power of computing, cloud-based service options, and the
applicability of AI to our jobs as marketers.[11]
AI’s impact on marketing is growing, predicted to reach nearly $40
billion by 2025. Most CMOs are aware of AI, but many are still unsure and
unaware of the magnitude of the benefits, and how they can adopt AI to
improve marketing. Advances in AI now mean product developers can
create innovative, leading-edge products and services that, until recently,
would not have been within reach of the average marketing budget.[12]
62 Artificial Intelligence in Communication Technologies
AI machine learning
Machine learning is a continuation of the concepts around predictive
analytics, with one key difference: The AI system is able to make
assumptions, test, and learn, autonomously. AI is a combination of
technologies, and machine learning is one of the most prominent techniques
utilized for hyper-personalized marketing. AI machine learning makes
assumptions, reassesses the model, and reevaluates the data, all without the
intervention of a human. This changes everything. Just as AI means that a
human engineer does not need to code each and every possible
action/reaction, AI machine learning is able to test and retest data to predict
every possible customer-product match, at a speed and capability no human
could attain. Complex analysis can be done instantaneously with many more
variables involved, allowing the system to rapidly learn. This learning can
deliver micro target insights that could not be realistically done by human
analysts across a large population. These results can dramatically improve
conversion rates, marketing return on investment, and customer loyalty.[13]
AI and communication
Whether it is explicitly acknowledged or not, communication (and
‘communication’ is the concept as understood and mobilized in the
discipline of communication studies) is fundamental to both the theory and
practice of artificial intelligence (AI). In particular, it is communication that
provides science with its definitive test case and experimental evidence. [4]
This clause reviews the use of machine learning algorithms in different
application fields of communications (see Fig. 5-1).
Uğur Yavuz 63
Figure 5-1. Applications of machine learning in different areas of communications
Types of communication
Figure 5-3 depicts the high-level logical partitioning of the interaction
space; this figure illustrates H2H communication, M2M communication,
H2M communication, and machine in (or on) human communications
(MiH). MiH devices may include chips embedded in humans, medical
monitoring probes, and global positioning system (GPS) bracelets.
Recently, the IoT has been seen as an emerging ‘paradigm of building smart
communities’ through networking various devices enabled by M2M
technologies (but not excluding H2M), for which standards are now
emerging. As a general concept, the IoT effectively eliminates time and
space isolation between geographical space and virtual space, forming what
proponents label as ‘smart geographical space’ and creating new human-to-
environment (and/or H2M) relationships. The latter implies that the IoT can
advance the goal of integration of human beings with their surroundings. A
smart environment can be defined as consisting of networks of federated
sensors and actuators, and can be designed to encompass homes, offices,
buildings, and civil infrastructure; from this granular foundation, large-scale
end-to-end services supporting smart cities, smart transportation, and smart
grids (SGs), among others, can be contemplated.[5]
For orientation, we can generally distinguish software used in a
horizontal fashion; between humans (H2H); and between machines (M2M),
and, especially in a lab, in a vertical fashion; between humans and machines
(H2M). These different types of relations can also be associated with
different types of software tasks, as shown in figure 2. [9]
Figure 5-2. The three relations discussed in this chapter: M2M, H2H, H2M
Figure 5-3. H2H, H2M, and M2M environment: (a) Interaction space partitioning
showing humans and machines; (b) The target machine is shown explicitly to be
embedded in the ‘thing’; (c) Interaction space showing icons; (d) Embedded
machine, icon view.
H2H: Human to Human; MiH: Machine in Humans (e.g., medical sensors) (also
includes chips in animals/pets);
H2M: Human to Machine = H2TM: Human to Thing with
Microprocessor/Machine;
M2M: Machine to Machine = M2TM: Machine to Thing with
Microprocessor/Machine.
Uğur Yavuz 65
The IoT is a general, heterogeneous concept with somewhat open-ended

definitions; M2M, on the other hand, is a tighter, well-defined concept (a
subset of the IoT), where standards have evolved and have been published
by industry organizations, such as the European Telecommunications
Standards Institute (ETSI). The focus of the IoT is on M2M, H2M, and MiH
applications (also see Table 2). [5]
M2M communication
M2M refers to those solutions that allow communication between devices
of the same type, and a specific application, all via wired or wireless
communication networks. M2M solutions allow end-users to capture data
about events from assets, such as temperature or inventory levels. Typically,
M2M is deployed to achieve productivity gains, reduce costs, and increase
safety or security. M2M has been applied in many different scenarios,
including the remote monitoring and control of enterprise assets, or to
provide connectivity of remote machine-type devices. Remote monitoring
and control has generally provided the incentive for industrial applications,
whereas connectivity has been the focus in other enterprise scenarios, such
as connected vending machines or point-of-sale terminals for online credit
card transactions. M2M solutions, however, do not generally allow for the
broad sharing of data or connection of the devices in question directly to the
internet. [9]
Internet of Things (IoT)

The IoT is a widely used term for a set of technologies, systems, and design
principles associated with the emerging wave of internet-connected things
that are based on the physical environment. In many respects, it can initially
look the same as M2M communication, connecting sensors and other
devices to information and communication technology (ICT) systems via
wired or wireless networks. In contrast to M2M, however, IoT also refers
to the connection of such systems and sensors to the broader internet, as
well as the use of general internet technologies. In the longer term, it is
envisaged that an IoT ecosystem not dissimilar to today’s internet will
emerge, allowing things and real world objects to connect, communicate,
and interact with one another, in the same way humans do via the web today.
Increased understanding of the complexity of the systems in question,
economies of scale, and methods for ensuring interoperability, in
conjunction with key business drivers and governance structures across
value chains, will create wide-scale adoption and deployment of IoT

solutions.[8]
M2M towards IoT

M2M solutions have been around for decades and are quite common in
many different scenarios. While the need to remotely monitor and control
assets - personal, enterprise, or other - is not new, a number of concurrent
things are now converging to create drivers for change, not just within the
technology industry, but within the wider global economy and society. Our
planet is facing massive challenges, environmental, social, and economic.
The changes that humanity needs to deal with in the coming decades are
unprecedented, not because similar things have not happened before during
our common history on this planet, but because many of them are happening
at the same time. From constraints on natural resources to a reconfiguration
of the world’s economy, many people are looking to technology to assist
with these issues. Essentially, therefore, several megatrends are combining
to create needs and capabilities, which, in turn, produce a set of IoT
technology and business drivers. This is illustrated in Figure 5-2. A
megatrend is a pattern or trend that will have a fundamental and global
impact on society, at a macro level, over several generations. It is something
that will have a significant impact on the world in the foreseeable future.[10]
IoT and AI
The AI market is growing quickly. Bank of America and Merrill Lynch
predicted that the robot and AI solutions market would surge to US$153bn/y
by 2020. They suggested that adoption could boost productivity by 30% in
many industries, whilst simultaneously cutting manufacturing labour costs
by between 18-30%. As AI matures, the technology is becoming more
robust at handling multiple situations with increasing accuracy. This means
that AI is becoming more likely to be deployed at scale with reduced (and
reducing) human intervention – thus magnifying the positive impact
solutions are likely to have. The IoT market also continues to expand at
breath-taking pace, driven by a combination of factors, illustrated in the
diagram below, and including: decreasing cost of data storage, the advent
of cloud and fog computing, increasing data transmission capabilities, and
a wealth of IoT sector investment. [6]
Uğur Yavuz 67
Figure 5-4. IoT and AI
Challenges of IoT and AI in implementation

A survey report from PWC 2017 suggests:
• Determining how to manage, analyse, and create meaningful
insights from all this data;
• Maintaining the accuracy and speed of analysis;
• Balancing centralisation and localisation of intelligence—how
smart or dumb do you want the sensors and devices to be?
• Balancing personalization with the need to maintain the privacy
and confidentiality of data;
• Maintaining security in the face of growing cyber risks and
threats;[7]
• Understanding the relative maturity of enterprise capabilities in
the realms of product technology and IT;
• Understanding the types of IoT functionality that can be
incorporated, and where new capabilities will impact customer
value;
• Understanding the role of machine learning and predictive
analytics models; and
• Rethinking business models and value chains based on how
quickly the market is changing and the relative agility of
competitors.[8]
Conclusion
AI and IoT are like brothers; if put together they can achieve many things
in future. The only thing is, we need to take preventive measures in knowing
the security and legal aspects of them, and to improve our skills and
infrastructure. If we want to achieve financial benefits through IoT, it is not
easy. The lack of tangible objectives is disturbing. The advancement of
digitization and IoT places new prerequisites on both buyers and sellers.
Organizations are not clear which areas will change with the
implementation of an IoT strategy. In general, clearly defined, tangible,
intermediary objectives are missing. When we look into industrial
companies which produce a massive amount of data on a daily basis, by and
large, they fail to thoroughly collect, store, analyze and use such data to
improve process efficiency or meet other goals.
AI and IoT are two different trends which will be used together in 2018
to get the best results in business and daily life. While IoT will create a large
amount of data, AI will help you track, and get an in-depth analysis of, the
data. Get ready to use these two technologies and get more from your life
and business in coming years.
Table 5-1. Taxonomy of Things in IoT

Uğur Yavuz 69
Table 5-2. A Comparison of the Main Characteristics of M2M and IoT

Aspect M2M IOT
Point problem driven Innovation driven
Single application - single device Multiple applications - multiple
Applications devices
and services
Communication and device centric Information and service centric
Asset management driven Data and information driven
Closed business operations Open market place
Business objective driven Participatory community driven
B2B B2B, B2C
Business Established value chains Emerging ecosystems
Consultancy and Systems Integration Open Web and as-a-Service enabled
enabled
In-house deployment Cloud deployment
Vertical system solution approach Horizontal enabler approach

Specialized device solutions Generic commodity devices
De facto and proprietary Standards and open source
Technology Specific closed data formats and Open APIs and data specifications
service descriptions
Closed specialized software Open software development
development
SOA enterprise integration Open APIs and web development
References
Samek, W., Stanczak, S., & Wiegand, T. (2017). The Convergence of
Machine Learning and Communications. arXiv preprint
arXiv:1708.08299.
Novak, J., Archer, J., Mateevitsi, V., & Jones, S. (2016). Communication,
machines & human augmentics. Communication+ 1, 5(1), 1-33.
Giluka, M. K., Kumar, N. S., Rajoria, N., & Tamma, B. R. (2014, February).
Class based priority scheduling to support machine to machine
communications in LTE systems. In 2014 Twentieth National
Conference on Communications (NCC)(pp. 1-6). IEEE.
Gunkel, D. J. (2012). Communication and artificial intelligence:
Opportunities and challenges for the 21st century. Communication+ 1,
1(1), 1-25.
(Minoli, D. (2015). Innovations in satellite communications and satellite
technology: the industry implications of DVB-S2X, high throughput
satellites, Ultra HD, M2M, and IP. John Wiley & Sons.)
You can find it through the following link https://www.reply.com/breed-
reply/en/content/why-are-ai-and-iot-perfect-partners-for-growth
PWC, 2017, The Industrial Internet of Things: Why it demands not only
new technology—but also a new operational blueprint for your business,
[Online] Avialble:
<http://www.pwc.com/gx/en/industries/technology/publications/industr
ial-internet-of-things.html>, (accessed 24.05.18).
Seth Earley, Earley & Associates, 2015, Analytics, Machine Learning, and
the Internet of Things You can access to PDF from the link
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/315702010_Lab_Survey_-
_State_of_the_Art_Smart_Grid_Laboratories
https://www.simplilearn.com/data-science-vs-big-data-vs-data-analytics-
article
https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2018/08/01/do-you-
know-the-difference-between-data-analytics-and-ai-machine-
learning/#266febd45878
Uğur Yavuz 71
https://www.attunity.com/blog/10-eye-opening-stats-about-the-growth-of-
big-data/
https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2018/08/01/do-you-
know-the-difference-between-data-analytics-and-ai-machine-
learning/#7732b5195878
GENDER DIFFERENCES IN THE PERCEPTION
OF ADVERTISEMENTS
BAHADIR ERCİŞ AND OĞUZ KÖPRÜCÜ
Introduction
Businesses can evaluate the markets in which they offer their products or
services as a whole. In addition, they can divide the market into many
aspects, and implement their strategies. Upon considering the population
according to gender, the numbers of women and men are seen to be very
close to each other. Differences between the genders take their place as an
indispensable element of this segmentation. Therefore, analysing the
differences between the genders, and developing and implementing target
market strategies according to the results of these determined analyses,
leads to success.
In addition to changing demographic data, attitudes, business, and
earnings models, the consumer market is also subject to change. As women
have become more and more involved in economic life, men have begun to
appear more in advertisements as objects. In such cases, it is important for
enterprises to differentiate between the markets of women and of men.
Many research study results have revealed that men and women respond
differently to objective and subjective marketing messages. According to
these research studies, since women tend to process comprehensive
information, they pay attention to subjective (emotional) elements in
marketing messages, and they exhibit attitudes, and make purchasing
decisions, considering the objective elements. Men, in general, are focused
more on merely objective information (Güldoğan 2009).
Consumer and consumer behaviour

The consumer concept can be defined in the simplest and clearest way, as
the person who buys products and services for use. In TDK dictionary, the
term ‘consumer’ is defined as beneficiary, and buyer.
The consumer concept, which has been defined differently in the
literature, is important in terms of determining the target masses for
Bahadır Erciş and Oğuz Köprücü 73
enterprises. In order to determine the target market correctly, consumer

behaviours need to be analysed thoroughly.
According to Engel, consumer behaviour is activity that involves a
decision-making process before, during, and after the acquisition, use and
consumption of goods and services (Blackwell et al. 1993). According to
Solomon et al. (1999), consumer behaviour includes processes for selecting,
purchasing, using, and disposing of, goods, services, ideas, or experiences,
in order to satisfy the needs and desires of individuals or groups.
In order to determine the products and services which will be demanded
by the consumer, it is necessary to be familiar with the reasons for the
consumer’s purchasing behaviours, and the factors affecting these
behaviours.
Factors affecting consumer purchasing behaviour are categorized into
four main groups, as personal, social, cultural, and psychological (Yükselen
2003).
Table 6-1. Factors affecting the purchasing decision process of consumers
Demographic Cultural Social Factors Psychological

Factors Factors Factors
Age Culture Family Perception
Gender Subculture Reference Groups Motivation
Income Social class Role and status Learning
Profession Attitude
Personality
Lifestyle
The difference between the goods and services purchased by women and
men, or the difference between tendencies upon purchasing the same goods
and services, indicates that gender difference is one of the most important
factors affecting purchasing behaviours (Elden 2009).
Differences between genders in terms of biological,

sensory and social factors
Gender is one of the most fundamental variables used in the formation of
marketing components. Gender is an easily identifiable variable. For
example, for purely biological reasons, women are more prone to digestive
system problems than men are. For this reason, mineral water, and special
yeasts that facilitate digestion, are consumed more by women, and firms
74 Gender Differences in the Perception of Advertisements
marketing such products emerge when it comes to designing women’s

marketing components (Koç 2007).
Improving and changing consumer habits and roles have led to changes
in marketing approaches towards female and male consumers. Both
women’s role in economic life and men’s adaptation to this change have led
to differences in marketing.
Benko and Pelster (2013) mentioned this in their article as follows:
“Today, women hold nearly half of the administrative and professional
positions in the United States of America. According to the Bureau of
Labour Statistics, about 37% of managerial positions, and approximately
60% of accounting and supervision positions are occupied by women. At
the same time, nearly 41% of employees having the authority to make
purchasing decisions are women. We realized that the vast majority of our
partners and managers, including women, have developed their ability to
sell to men, but the proportion of women among our potential customers has
increased rapidly.”
According to the results of research conducted by Özdemir and Yaman
(2007) in order to test the differences between consumers by gender, female
consumers are more excited about shopping than men, and perceive
shopping as a part of socialization, more than men. In addition, women tend
to purchase more to please others, and perceive shopping as a form of leisure
activity.
Whether or not women are different from men is one of the most
frequently asked questions. In the 1960s, 70s, and 80s, women were the
same as men in every aspect, except for physical strength.
According to belief in the past, men will do well in medicine, whereas
women make good nurses. Men were good executives, and women were
extraordinary secretaries. It was simply justified by the notion that men and
women were different. While men had the necessary skills and abilities for
big operations, women did not. If women wanted to gain men’s
opportunities and separate incomes besides their salaries, they had to have
the same skills and abilities. Women of the 1960s and 1970s struggled to
create equality at home as well as outside it, and to open new doors for all
women. After all, women were the same as men, except for physical
strength. They certainly knew that women were not less intelligent or less
talented (Barletta 2003)
Traditionally, men are considered aggressive, independent, and callous;
whereas women are considered passive, dependent, and compassionate.
Recently, there have been some changes in these gender roles. Men now
express their feelings; women defend their rights and see no harm in dealing
with the business world. While some gender constraints have recently
loosened, gender roles remain a part of culture across almost the whole
world. Women and men behave in different ways. Even though biological
differences between the two genders have an impact, behaviourists and
social learning theorists state that gender-role socialization is a lifelong
process (Burger 2006).
Although they have similar chromosomes, hormones, and brain
structures, there are differences between the two genders which can be
explained biologically, sensually, and socially.
Three main components are considered in the comparison of female and
male consumers in terms of the biological factors; namely, chromosomes,
hormones, and the structure of the brain. Each of these components is
related to the others, and these components are very difficult to examine
separately (Barletta 2003).
Statistics indicate that marketers should do a better job of designing and
branding attractive services for women, but there is also a large area to
operate on to increase sales to men. Knowing what motivates a man, and
what triggers an emotional connection with a product or brand, increases
your profits. To attract both X and Y chromosomes, it is important to
understand the differences between male and female brains (Pace 2009).
Although gender differences depend on sexual chromosomes,
chromosomes only affect the body and behaviour through the dispersion of
hormones. Sexual hormones begin to have an effect on personality and
gender before birth (Wilson 1998). For instance, when a female fetus with
genetically XX chromosomes encounters male hormones, the infant is born
with a normal male appearance. When a male fetus with genetically XY
chromosomes is deprived of male hormones, the infant is born with a
normal female appearance (Money 1970). In addition, the gender of the
female brain is differentiated by the lack of the male hormone, testosterone.
Normally in girls, the brain naturally develops in a female structure. In
males, the gender of the brain is formed according to the testosterone
hormone (Moir and Jessel 1992).
The differences in the layout of the brains of men and women affect their
ways of thinking. The male model, whose brain function is arranged for a
specific purpose, suggests that his attention cannot be easily diverted by
unnecessary data (Moir and Jessel 1992).
Male brains are organized in order to understand the objects’ interaction,
their spatial positions, how they work, and to solve problems, i.e. they are
systematized. Women long for love, compassion, proximity, and
conversation. Women often prefer to gather more information before
making a decision. Men decide more quickly, and are more impulsive (Eşel
2005).
For example, a man’s brain resembles a filing cabinet. Everything is

filed. A man focuses on the job at hand. The right cerebral hemispheres of
men contain developed regions specialized for certain tasks. In men, the
right cerebral hemisphere, the centre of spatial reasoning, is larger in size
than the left hemisphere. Men use the right or left cerebral hemisphere of
their brains, depending what they are focused on, but not the two
hemispheres at once. Consequently, a man’s brain allows his emotions to be
kept separate from a problem, to move faster, and move on to the next
activity (Pace 2009).
According to a study conducted at the University of California, Irvine,
men’s brains have almost 6.5 times more gray matter than women’s brains,
which have approximately ten times more white matter than men’s brains.
While the gray matter is the distinguishing feature of data processing centres
in the brain, it is a known fact that white matter facilitates the connections
between these centres. Scientists think that men specialize in processing-
based tasks, whereas women can be relatively more successful in tasks
which require a thorough understanding and integration of different pieces
of information. Furthermore, the cord connecting the left and right cerebral
hemispheres is about 0.1 times thicker in women’s brains, so that women
have wider circumferential vision than men have (Benko and Pelster 2013).
A woman’s brain resembles a large table. The files are dispersed in
groups in contact with each other. A woman’s brain is like a lighthouse that
scans across the sea - it sees, processes, and links everything, 24 hours a
day, seven days a week. Ruben Gur, a neurologist at the University of
Pennsylvania, found that men can interrupt their attention with the
surrounding environment by taking short mental breaks in front of the
television, but that women’s brains work constantly. At any given moment,
women have about 15% more blood flow in their brains, which, in turn,
activates more regions of their brains (Gurian 2003).
According to brain scan images, women are more capable of emotional
separation than men. For example, women can recognize the emotional
content in facial expressions more easily and accurately than men (Popcorn
and Marigold 1998).
Sensory differences between women and men can be examined as
attention and focus, contextual thinking, and traditional differences.
According to the results of the research, women are better than men at
capturing details. In a study asking men and women certain questions
regarding objects they can remember from a room in which they had been
recently, it was seen that the number of objects that women remembered,
and the characteristics of those objects, significantly exceeded the objects
that men remembered. Similarly, upon speaking with a couple who are
known to travel together to a new city, university campus, or holiday resort,

the woman remembers more details than the man does (Barletta 2003).
There are traditional differences between men and women which
indirectly affect their purchasing behaviours.
Women have more verbal capabilities than men. Indeed, girls tend to
speak, read, and write, much earlier than boys. Girls acquire better grammar,
pronunciation, and vocabulary skills. They frame longer and various
sentences, use more words, and make fewer mistakes. Women perform
better than men in many verbal tests, such as vocabulary, irregular words,
and speech fluency. Also, women are less likely to have verbal problems
such as stuttering and dyslexia (Vinnicombe and Colwill 1995).
Barletta (2003) stated that there are differences between men and
women in terms of human relations. These differences are as follows:
 Men exhibit individual behaviours, whereas women exhibit social
behaviours.
 Men choose to be winners, whereas women prefer to be sincere in
their relationships.
 Men wish to create a hierarchical pyramid structure, whereas women
want to create a group of friends.
Women are evolutionally human-oriented and nurturing, and males are
programmed to be competitive, due to hormones (Barletta 2003). Women
rely on trust and cooperative relations, rather than on competition and
hostility. They tend to think more about others (Interep Research).
Marketing towards female and male consumers

Gender differences are taken into consideration by enterprises in many
strategies developed for the product, such as product identification, product
positioning, brand identity creation, packaging of products, labeling, and
new product strategies.
The product is a whole, formed by tangible and intangible qualities. The
customers pay for the satisfaction of needs and wants. Therefore, the
product constitutes a basis for the continuity of businesses and marketing
strategies (Balta 2006).
Benefit and style are two important aspects that arise in the creation of
more attractive products and services towards women. Not all, but in many
categories, women are less concerned with the internal mechanisms of
technological and mechanical products, are more prone to pressure of time
than men, and simply want easily-operated and reliable products. For
example, when the Ford Motor Company introduced its new minivan,
Windstar, it achieved great success by taking advantage of this approach.
The vehicle was designed by a team of 30 female engineers and automotive

designers. Moreover, most of these women were mothers. Innovations were
revealed by reflecting on the responses of female consumers and the
experiences and life forms of the female members. New features included
easy opening of the rear door, adjustable pedals, an easy-to-clean interior, a
safe place for storing a handbag, the option of adjusting the light in the cabin
to remain turned off when the door is opened, and so on. As seen, most of
these features would not be created by male engineers and designers since
men are rarely interested in any of these issues. These characteristics are
perceived as important differences created by female consumers. The
benefit of the automobile, combined with the clever use of Ford’s ‘female
engineer team’ design story, gained a significant market share with the
emergence of the Windstar (Barletta 2003).
The automotive sector is mostly a masculine realm. However,
everything changed with the arrival of women in this market in recent years.
Due to the increasing influence of women in decisions related to the
automobile, the automotive industry needs to recognize women having
different priorities, because women are concerned with more than capacity,
safety, horsepower, and torque (Kinsler 1999).
The product positioning of the enterprise should be made in the context
of the livelihood of female consumers. Female consumers should be shown
ways in which women’s products can improve their lifestyles (Kimberly
2005). Both male and female customers have feelings. These feelings affect
the decisions they make about you, what they think about your offers, and
whether or not they would pass by your product, or become lifelong
customers. So far, you must have learned that a single strategy is not suitable
for everyone - men and women feel differently, so you must sell to them
differently (Pace 2009).
Although women and men have similar perceptions about which brands
of technology are prioritized in their minds and hearts, they are strongly
differentiated in their ideas about how certain brands are more suitable for
their lives, and which brands would be positioned in the market in the future
(Marketing to Women).
Businesses need perspectives, such as interest, emotion, social
responsibility, and transparency, to guide them in positioning communications
for women. The attention of contemporary women must be earned. In order
to attract such attention, the business can be positioned in a way that
indicates how it can help to make the day happier, by providing benefits,
such as comforting, entertaining, or allowing time for the family (Barletta
2003).
At the point of positioning of the brand, differences between female and

male consumers are noticed. Women do not purchase brands; they involve
themselves. Women long for a relationship with their brands. Women make
decisions by comparing brands (Krabach 2002). As can be seen, women
have a higher bond with brands than men do, and their brand loyalty is
higher.
On the basis of product labels, female consumers are more selective. For
instance, Australian women take on the perspective of protecting their
interests while they make purchases of groceries and household products.
Eight-tenths of all women in Australia now read product labels more
carefully than ever before. The tendency to read product labels is 75% for
women in professional career paths, and 84% for housewives (Bartos 1989).
Price has a different place from other elements of the marketing mix.
While other items such as product, distribution, and promotion, affect costs,
prices provide costs. In other words, it is a profit-making element for
enterprises.
In a price-based decision, the male or female may be dominant in the
household, depending on the structure of the product and the role structure.
If the product is to be purchased according to an economic decision, such a
decision is usually made by the male, who is dominant in decision making.
Traditionally, product decisions in the field of the female are made by
females (Mellot 1983). Nowadays, this situation is changing, especially in
terms of the role of women on professional career paths, by rendering both
parties closely involved with price decisions.
Quinlan (2009) described this situation as follows: “The list
encompasses technology, home decoration, the travel industry, the
entertainment industry, and even women’s homes, beauty, food, children,
and family products, as well as the clientele which relies on women as
nurses, and the financial services industry, which has finally understood the
power of women. There is no business as of today that does not rely on
women to sink or raise the brand.”
Advertising messages for female and male consumers

The attitude of consumers who are exposed to messages in marketing
communication is very important. Another factor that plays a role in
advertisement efficiency involves the extent to which consumers perceive
the company or brand being advertised. Also, the gender of the consumer is
crucial for the effectiveness of an advertisement (Yağcı and İlarslan 2010).
Women and men can perceive communicated messages differently as well,
as they may differ in terms of their attitudes towards the brand, and their
tendencies to purchase. In broad terms, the message is any shape or sign that
makes sense. The message in the advertisement refers to the information
required to be given through the advertisement per se (Odabaşı and Oyman
2003).
Advertising messages should include features as follows: ability to
attract the target audience’s attention; success in addressing selective
perceptions; acquiring the message images perceived by buyers; being
problem solving-oriented in terms of meeting needs and requests;
compatibility with the basic attitudes of the target audience; accessibility
through appropriate and viewed media channels; ability to raise the target
audience’s level of information perception; considerations of the issues that
may cause resistance; and avoidance of contradictions with the target
audience (Elden et al. 2005).
Research studies indicate that women have a higher ability to perceive
and analyze advertisement messages than men do. According to this result,
it can be argued that women are more sensitive to advertisements than men
(Gürgen 1990).
According to Putrevu (2004), men and women tend to respond very
differently to similarly printed advertisements. Women are influenced by,
and tend to exhibit purchase intent toward, verbal, harmonious, and
complex advertisements, whereas men are mostly affected by, and
therefore, tend to exhibit purchase intent toward, comparative and simple
advertisements (Putrevu 2004).
Men’s and women’s roles in advertisements

Gender in advertising is one of the most commonly used concepts, due to
the fact that gender is one of the deepest and most important features of
mankind. One of the first things that a human being takes into consideration
in defining himself/herself is his/her gender. Another reason involves the
possibility of communicating with gender messages in a very short time,
courtesy of familiarity with the gender codes that are already agreed upon
(Jhally 1990).
The social concept of gender defines the roles, duties, rights,
responsibilities, and behaviors, determined by society and culture for both
genders (Sabuncuoğlu 2006).
The presentation of women’s images in advertisements
In an advertisement, women are mostly portrayed by their roles as mothers,
in terms of their attractiveness, and eventually, as elderly women.
Women as Mother and Spouse, by Mary L. Quinlan (2009), describes the

advantage of using the mother role in advertisements as follows: “Mother is
the number one consumer of many products and services. If you are selling
to her, you have the toughest job ever.”
Traditional married and maternal women are usually portrayed in
advertisements as individuals around 30-35 years of age, dressed
fashionably, pictured in a private space, such as a house, or apartment. The
focal point of this woman type’s life is the family. She acquires personality
traits such as emotion, insecurity, naivety and obedience. Being loved by
her children and spouse is only possible for the housewife if she uses the
most appropriate product to wash the cleanest laundry, and cooks the most
delicious food (İmançer and İmançer 2006).
Such presentations can be seen especially in countries with a
conservative structure. Although there are changes in the appearance of the
audience, the presentation of women in such advertisements is usually
prepared in such a way that the country’s culture, tradition, or values,
behave in the most appropriate manner, and try to preserve it. Women in
this model are often used in advertisements for cleaning products or
household appliances. In the advertisements, in which the woman who
knows best for her home, family, and children, is used, a male voice-over is
usually used for consumer guidance towards the product or service. In this
respect, it could be suggested that a woman will use the appropriate product
or service because of her devotion to the man and his guidance, so she acts
in accordance with the applicable norms. In addition, this model also
includes other female models that advise other women about their
knowledge of the product. The best example in this regard is Aunt Ayşe in
the ACE advertisements. Thus, an identification effect with the target
audience, and the creation of gender solidarity are also provided (Elden et
al. 2006).
Pretty and attractive young woman: Advertisers have found that
advertisements that bring out women’s physical features are more effective
with viewers, and that advertisements where women are portrayed as
attractive objects are more successful in attracting consumers to the screen.
This discovery has begun to increase the number of advertisements where
the physical characteristics of women are at the forefront (Uğur and Şimşek
2004).
It is not just men who enjoy gazing at pretty women, many women also
do so. Consider the success of the Victoria’s Secret brand. The models they
use define a sexy, feminine beauty. The key target group is men, as in the
issue of Sports Illustrated’s Swimsuit Edition, but women also watch the
show. Even if we underestimate the models in the presence of their

excellence, the whole point is to observe, to compare, and to measure
ourselves against the ideal (Quinlan 2009).
The use of women is also prominent in the advertising of products that
are not directly related to women, besides the advertisements for products
that are, such as women’s stockings, hygiene pads, and cosmetics.
Especially in automobile advertisements, female attractiveness is used
intensively. In this type of advertising, the woman who is used in the name
of her sexuality, is almost exploited (Uğur and Şimsek 2004).
Elderly women: The last of the female models presented in the
advertisements are the elderly, who are used less than the others. A member
of the family, a warm, sympathetic mother, a grandmother who cares for her
grandchildren with her maternal experience, is presented as a character in
the community who is not involved as much as she used to be, because of
her age, or inability to participate in these activities as much. She is usually
included in advertisements with traditional family models. This is usually
the advanced version of the married and maternal female model. With the
image of the elderly woman, who is often cheerful, loving and
compassionate, the social values are conveyed to the audience again, and
identity is established between these values and the product or service
(Elden et al. 2005).
Presentation of male images in advertising
The male roles in advertising mostly appear to be proxies of strength, power,
and success. Men are basically represented in roles as father and spouse,
young and attractive male, or male as an expert and elderly man.
Men as fathers and spouses: The most widely used model in the
advertisement is the male as father and spouse. In this model, preferred in
countries where the family matters, such as Turkey, the man is portrayed as
a responsible father and the head of the household (Yıldız 2006).The man
acts as the approval authority for household products, such as detergents
and cleaning products. Women’s use of these products increases men’s
interest, admiration and desire for them (Pira and Elgün 2004).
Young and attractive male: Since the 1950s, there has been a prominent
increase in the number of movies, television, and print media
advertisements for the commercial representation of the male body in
Western media. Male characters in advertising represent the ideal image of
masculinity. Therefore, advertisers also associate their products with these
ideal images, represented by male characters, as instruments of sale (Shaw
and Tan 2014).
The advertisements in which the male element is used predominantly

involve products and services such as newspapers, magazines, banks,
computers, lectures, financial services, etc., representing the public space.
A male stereotype is the protagonist of the advertisement who has self-
confidence, knows what he is doing, and is convinced that he will get what
he wants by simply consuming, or using the product/service. He swaggers
in a suit, ruling the public domain with his stupendous body in
advertisements. He is competitive, and acquires the ability to analyze
scientific data (Pira and Elgün 2004).
Male as expert: In these ads, it is important to use male objects to assure the
consumer that the product can be used with confidence, and that it differs
from other products (İmran and Şimşek 2006). It is seen that men are used
predominantly in finance, bank transactions, and news, whereas women are
mainly used in shopping, sexuality, and personal care. Women are used as
female factors in newspapers and magazine advertisements that have been
published on television, in newspapers and magazines regarding shopping,
decoration, and hobbies. The males read the newspaper’s economy page,
about technology, and the puzzle appendix. Generally, the male voice is
used as a pattern, guiding the voice-over in advertisements for such products
(Pira and Elgün 2004).
Elderly man: Another different advertisement in which an elderly male
model is used, is the Pimapen ad, seen quite recently. Two elderly men are
friends, and they attract attention by framing sentences referring to each
other as old and grumpy (Yıldız 2006).
Conclusion
In order to focus marketing principles on certain points, and to reach the
consumer groups who are interested in purchasing, businesses divide their
chosen markets into segments. One of the segmentation variables that
marketing professionals think of first, is segmentation by gender. The
context in which enterprises target male consumers is quite different from
the marketing strategies of those enterprises choosing women as their target
market.
As of today, the marketing of products and services is considered one of
the biggest problems for businesses. The most important and effective way
to solve this problem is through advertising. Businesses make an effort to
influence the consumer through advertising, in order to achieve their sales
objectives. There have been many studies conducted on the impacts of
advertising on consumers.
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ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE-ASSISTED
PROGRAMMATIC ADVERTISING
ÖZEN OKAT AND KEMAL KADİRHAN
Introduction
Computer and mobile technologies, which are used continuously in daily
life, have enabled consumers to reach consumers effectively, with the
development of digital marketing. However, this situation has left
consumers with a mass of dense messages, and consumers who have to
come in contact with a large number of unnecessary messages have not been
able to access healthy information due to excessive arousal. Moreover, this
intense message bombardment has caused consumers to develop negative
reactions to marketing messages. At the same time, a counter-effect has
emerged, as advertisers spend unnecessary time and money. At this point,
artificial intelligence that emerged with the development of computer
programming, began to be convenient for marketing professionals. Seeking
full accuracy, especially at the access point to the target audience, and at the
same time, persuade them into buying behaviour without a negative
reaction, advertisers’ interest in artificial intelligence-assisted advertising
applications that deliver automated and predictable advertising messages to
consumers, has grown. These applications, now called programmatic
advertising, are becoming increasingly widespread, and have diversified as
a kind of digital marketing.
Digital marketing
From the Industrial Revolution -which is considered to be the beginning of
marketing - to date, marketing and marketing activities have differentiated,
diversified, and transformed, with the changes and conversions which occur
in social and commercial life, technology, and similar fields. Today, the
marketing concept which started with the ‘I sell what I produce’ idea, has
given way to dozens more concepts, and has reached an extremely remote
point. From mass marketing to individual marketing, from individuals who
had no say in the buying process to individuals that have a voice at every
88 Artificial Intelligence-Assisted Programmatic Advertising
stage, marketing has changed its form in many ways. Computer technology
tools, which are facilitating daily life, have diversified, and, of course, the
evolution from simple machines to artificial intelligence, has shown its
reflection in the marketing sector as well. The increase in the use of
computers, the internet, and later, mobile communication technologies, has
given birth to brand new environments for advertisers and marketing
professionals. This is exactly the point where digital marketing has come
into existence. Marketing professionals and advertisers have started using
digital tools (computer, internet, phone) as a marketing/advertising
environment, and taking publicity/announcement action. This can be
defined as digital marketing.
The digital marketing model that has been developed is based on a
pragmatic assessment of what seems to work, and what does not, in the
interactive age. It is built around five apparent factors for success, which
are: attracting users, engaging users’ interest and participation, retaining
users, and ensuring they return to an interactive media-based service, and
learning about their preferences, and relating back to them to provide the
sort of customized interactions that represent the true ‘value bubble’ of
digital marketing (Kierzkowski et al. 1996). Digital environments have
allowed advertisers to send advertising messages at very low costs. and
without even having to move. With such a convenience bundle to offer,
diversification and production of digital marketing tools have increased,
day-by-day.
Types of digital marketing

Digital marketing can be applied in different types, such as search engine
optimization (SEO), search engine marketing, pay-per-click advertising,
social media marketing, content marketing, e-mail marketing, mobile phone
advertising, and the term which covers all these types, called programmatic
advertising (Benson 2017) (Deiss & Henneberry 2017) (Ryan & Jones
2009) (Hanlon & Akins 2012).
1. Search Engine Optimization (SEO): Search engine optimization is a way
to shape websites based on user searches. As part of this process, the
website’s textual and visual content, technical infrastructure, site map, and
user interface, is reshaped in the context of user experience. In other words,
search engine optimization (SEO) can be defined as a process of making
minor changes in various parts of the website (Google Ekibi 2019). This
concept is mainly about how the websites are actually indexed by Google
(index) and with which keywords they will be displayed to the users. SEO,
having its own rules, is one of the key elements that allow websites to come
Özen Okat and Kemal Kadirhan 89
out in front of users organically, and determines how they should be shaped.
In this regard, the most commonly used SEO tools give web sites, which are
tailored for users’ needs a higher priority in search displays. In other words,
SEO looks at web pages in a way that most users are not looking, with the
keyword search priority (Hanlon & Akins 2012). SEO is carried out through
various processes. The first stage of these processes is keyword research.
The second stage is to test those keywords in Google Keyword Planner, to
see if they attract attention from users. In line with these stages, the content
of the websites belonging to brands is reshaped. In addition, the website’s
speed, user experience, and site map, are changed in the context of SEO.
Thus, in terms of SEO strategy, brands can appear in any place users
seek using targeted keywords in search engines. Being on the first page of
the search engine delivers 70% higher click-through rate for a brand (Dean
2019). The concept of SEO is not only a web-based digital marketing field
thanks to evolving video technology, but it has become widespread within
the context of mobile technology as well. In the case of America, while the
use of desktop search engines was more prominent than mobile tools until
2015, the rate of use of both tools equalized in 2015, and, after 2015, the
use of search engines via mobile devices has exceeded desktop use (see
Figure 1). Considering this, it can be said that the importance of mobile tools
has increased, day-by-day in the optimization of search engines.
Brands use search engine marketing on the keywords they target. Brands
who want to rank on the first page in search engines’ organic search results
in their sector make serious investments in this field. They produce content
on targeted keywords, both on their own websites and on other websites.
They also organize their own websites according to search engine
optimization. Brands that use cleverly targeted keywords in their content
can move upward in organic rankings in the long-term. Although SEO was
a more technical subject in its first years, it has become a structure that
focuses on reading more content, with changes in the algorithms of search
engines in recent years. It has become important to get external backlinks
(routing from external sites) for this structure, as well as content on the
website which contains the focusing keywords to support the dwell time
(time spent on the site) without boring the reader. In the process of SEO
formation, the planning phase refers to a stage that requires more attention
than the content writing stage. Thanks to a well-planned and researched
keyword list, the user accessing the appropriate website will be able to stay
on the site with the support of the interface.
Figure 7-1. U.S. Local search market: Mobile vs. desktop (Dean 2019).
2. Search Engine Marketing and Pay-per-click advertising: Search engine

marketing (SEM) is a digital marketing method used by brands that want to
reach new customers in search engines, and to be listed on the first pages
and in the top positions when searched for by specific keywords (Hanlon &
Akins 2012). Pay-per-click advertising is a type of ad that advertisers pay
for when clicked, which ranks above the search engine's organic results
(above the standard search engine result list with the phrase ‘ad’). The main
difference between search engine optimization (SEO) and search engine
marketing (SEM) is the listing of page results in SEO without any charge
from the search engine advertiser. SEM occurs in the second phase and the
advertiser pays per click. At the same time, the most clicked advertiser ranks
higher among the advertisers in the SEM search results rankings, as they
have paid more fees than other advertisers (Ryan & Jones 2009).
Pay-per-click advertising has several advantages. It gives the advertiser
the opportunity to write the most beautiful, attractive, and clickable, meta
name and meta description related to the keyword. It can also increase target
audience optimization by using longtail keywords. Using the location
selection feature in the ads, only the target keywords are shown in search
results in specific regions. A long-term first page search result can be
obtained as a result of the correct optimizations made on the website in SEO,
while in SEM, fast return can be received in the short term, in accordance
with instant targeted keywords (Ryan & Jones 2009). In general, SEO is an
optimization for an organic search result; SEM is an optimization for paid
search. SEM and PPC (pay-per-click) are not only digital advertising types,
but also important data sources and broadcast media of programmatic
advertising.
3. Social Media Marketing: Social media provides users with the
opportunity to share their thoughts and ideas, to express and present
themselves; this is the name given to the entire web-based environment that
makes it possible to share through a computer, tablet, or phone with an
internet connection, without time or space limitation. According to Hanlon
& Akins, a social network provides a way to connect people of similar
interests, regardless of geography, on a website-wide range of sites which
provide tools for individuals (both personally and professionally) and for
businesses, depending on the site, as well as offering a platform for friends
and family to keep up with each other (Hanlon & Akins 2012). Also
according to the definition of Hanlon & Akins, there is a professional side
to social media. That professional side of social media provides commercial
benefits, known as social media marketing. Social media is a digital
marketing tool that brands use to increase their digital visibility and revenue.
Brands are more active in social media to gain more followers, interaction,
and awareness (Saruhan 2018). Social media marketing includes all
communication activities through social networking sites. The target
audience of each social networking site may differ. At this point, brands can
implement a different marketing plan for each social networking site. Thus,
there is an opportunity to create a community for each brand (Varnalı 2013).
Social media has become a media platform where more people are involved
with the widespread use of the internet. In terms of marketing
communication, brands use this platform more effectively as the daily
media literacy of consumers shifts to this platform. The social media
platform which the consumer considers to be the source of information, can
also initiate a very rapid action-reaction process in the sharing of any
information. This action-reaction process is often dealt with by enterprises
in terms of commercial utility. These applications, called viral marketing,
are frequently used by businesses on social media. With the rise of new
media, the dissemination process of interpersonal communication has been
moved to online environments by viral marketing. The e-word-of-mouth
process, which can be called the continuation of word-of-mouth, has similar
features to the classical gossip process (Cheung & Thadani 2012). Viral
marketing is messaging about brand and product, which spreads on social
media platforms through a ‘snowball’ effect in a network, starting with the
primary user’s connections. Viral marketing has to contain quality content
in order to affect more users, because users share their quality content faster
(Kawasaki & Fitzpatrick 2014). One of the most significant contributing
factors to the current vogue for word-of-mouth marketing is the rapid uptake
of digital media – particularly the internet and its peer-to-peer technologies,
such as chat rooms, forums, instant messaging programmes, blogs, file
transfer, and social networks – which enable messages to spread faster and
more exponentially than ever before (Kirby 2007).
Another marketing type that can be matched with viral marketing is
called influencer marketing. Influencer marketing is the art and science of
engaging people who are influential online to share brand messaging with
their audiences in the form of sponsored content (Sammis, Cat, & Pomponi
2015). As can be understood from the definition, influencer marketing is
very similar to word-of-mouth. Word-of-mouth refers to a verbal
interaction, while influencer marketing talks about the entire interaction.
The main difference between the two is that influencer marketing provides
the dissemination of product and brand messages via digital platforms, such
as bloggers and celebrities; word-of-mouth shared experiences regarding a
product, service, or brand, with a traditional understanding. In word of
mouth, the trigger is often the users’ themselves; in influencer marketing, it
is the brand's choice of tool. For example, because he used a product
himself, the person who shares his experience in his blog or social media is
the word-of-mouth; the person who talks about a product as if he has used
it, in his social media, is considered as the influencer. All this shows that
influencer marketing has a structure that includes word-of-mouth. In all
these ways, social media is a digital advertising medium which facilitates
advertisers, in comparison to traditional advertising environments, which
provide an interpersonal communication environment that eliminates the
limitations of time and space in real life.
4. Content marketing (affiliate marketing): In recent years, content
marketing has become more important, thanks to changing media.
Consumers are able to access information and entertainment more easily
and quickly online than by any other means of communication. Content
marketing is the marketing and business process for creating and
distributing relevant and valuable content to attract, acquire, and engage, a
clearly defined and understood target audience, with the objective of driving
profitable customer action (Pulizzi 2012). From another perspective,
content marketing is an umbrella term encompassing all marketing formats
that involve the creation or sharing of content for the purpose of engaging
current and potential consumer bases (Sexena 2010).
One of the most important points of content marketing is to create
written or visual content in an interesting way. The concept of content
marketing can be addressed in a very broad perspective. In terms of digital

marketing, content marketing is a crucial management process, which
affects all the areas of digital marketing. Since good content directly affects
advertising costs, it contributes to efficiency in the digital marketing
communication process. It enables advertisers to deliver the brand or
product to the target audience in a better, simpler, and more authentic, way.
The increasing importance of digital marketing in recent years has led
brands to prefer methods based more on consumer tests than classical
methods, in terms of content. On the advertising panels of social networks,
such as Facebook, Google, Twitter, and LinkedIn, consumers can evaluate
contents using A/B testing. Thus, brands are able to achieve their goals at
the point of good content creation. Social media has played a key role in the
growth of content marketing (Ryan, Dijital Pazarlama 2016). Brands cannot
provide interaction without content, and they cannot be found on social
platform sites without interaction. In this context, community communication
has been very important for brands in recent years. Therefore, brands make
serious plans at the point of creating content strategy. Content marketing is
a process which needs to be managed with a holistic approach in many
media, from websites to social media platforms. In content marketing, the
medium, frequency, and publishing time, planning is done in its entirety,
just as with traditional media tools. In the programmatic-based media
buying process, a sustainable content plan is being created to increase
advertising efficiency. Thus, significant savings are provided at the point of
advertising costs. In addition, brands can create more relevant content for
the target audience’s level of interest, wishes, and expectations, in their ad
messages, by providing more interaction with their consumer.
5. E-mail marketing: E-mail marketing can be defined as the first form of
digital marketing. E-mail marketing is a combination of marketing
intelligence and creative text. It is a sales text sent to a client list, and an e-
mail which contains a call to action in its simplest form (Ryan 2016). The
greatest advantage of e-mail marketing is that the content can be
determined, and it is quite suitable for call to action. On the other hand, it
provides more conversion opportunities, with CRM (consumer relationship
management) matching the right customer at the point of accession.
Thanks to the development of digital marketing in recent years,
omnichannel marketing strategy has gained importance. Thus, e-mail
marketing has become an important component within an omnichannel
marketing strategy. At this point, it is useful to shed some light on the
omnichannel concept. Omnichannel refers to the multichannel sales
approach that provides the customer with an integrated shopping experience
(Manthei 2018). Personal information, which is taken from the customer at

the customer contact point, allows the omnichannel strategy to be defined
in a customized way by matching data, such as buying behaviour, to the e-
mail address. Messages from digital media can also take form accordingly.
Email marketing data offers incredible segmentation power, and the ability
to take advantage of small audience segments that might otherwise be
financially or technically difficult to reach (Ayan 2007). E-mail marketing
is one of the significant tools of digital marketing. It can often be considered
as a complement to campaigns. Better responses can be given in the context
of engagement rate in the name of interaction, as it can be adjusted more
privately by means of content. For this reason, e-mail marketing has a place
in most digital marketing strategies.
6. Mobile phone advertising: Mobile marketing has developed rapidly in
recent years, thanks to the increasing number of mobile users. GSM
operators, who have eliminated the speed problem, with 3G, 4.5G and 5G
technologies, have increased the communication speed between users and
brands, since they enable faster content sharing. The definition of mobile
marketing, which was originally formed on the basis of short messages, has
changed over the years, depending on the development and transformation
of technology. Mobile marketing is a set of practices that enables
organizations to communicate and engage with their audience in an
interactive and relevant manner, through, and with, any mobile device or
network (Global 2009). Mobile marketing offers great advantages to brands
in providing faster and more digital experiences to users. According to 2019
predictions by Google, brands who want to offer their customers a road with
omnichannel features, should use mobiles and websites in an integrated way
(Google 2019). Users interact with brands over mobile devices twice as
often, when compared to other channels (Hardimon 2018). Mobile
marketing has become more important in the fields of social media and
digital marketing, thanks to the changes from past to present. In all the
campaigns established for digital marketing communication, a large
proportion of consumers can access content via a mobile. In 2018, the
number of mobile users in the world was determined as 5 billion, 135
thousand people (Kemp 2019). This number also explains the reason for the
rapid growth of the mobile marketing sector. Most advertising media
operates on the basis of cost per mille (CPM) that is, cost per 1000
impressions. This means you are paying for display, not for clicks, and
certainly not for results. And this also means it’s very easy to waste budget
on ad views by the completely wrong audience. CPM-based online
advertising brings inefficient conversion. At this point, the programmatic
advertising concept gets involved, in order to eliminate this inefficiency.
With an artificial intelligence based on machine learning, which is

necessary for the accurate adjustment of the advertisements’ impression,
conversion rates can be brought to the desired level. Systemic errors can
support a smooth, productivity-based work process with a well-designed
system architecture, by fixing it. Mobile marketing has serious complexities
at the point of target audience analysis regarding the number of its users.
Thus, the omnichannel strategy can be effectively implemented in all digital
marketing tools.
Artificial intelligence
The human brain, and intelligence, are concepts which have been discussed
over centuries, and will be discussed for many years. While ‘human
intelligence’ is seen as a dystopian subject, which is processed only in
science fiction films, it has become an issue in real life, with the emergence,
development, and increasing usage of artificial intelligence. Nowadays,
especially in the advertising sector, artificial intelligence can be used in data
storage, producing new combinations by processing these stored data, and
showing behaviour according to them, just like a human brain. Artificial
intelligence can be defined as the intersection point of computer and human.
Artificial intelligence is a branch of computer science – the study of the
relation between computation and cognition (Avron Barr 2014). Many
define AI as ‘algorithms autonomously running analytics across data’, as
we see AI used in everyday functions, such as search engines, product
recommendations, financial trading, and curated content. Some names that
are synonymous with AI applications in the home are Google Home,
Amazon Alexa, and Apple Siri, (Xaxis 2018). The evolutionary speed of
artificial intelligence is helping to drive corporate information processing
and decision-making, while also presenting new opportunities for better
marketing, each and every day (Busch, Preface 2016). Artificial intelligence
deals with two types of data (Kietzmann et al. 2018):
• Structured data: traditional, standardized datasets, such as basic
customer demographics, transaction records, or web-browsing
history. AI, with its enormous computing power, runs complex
computations on large volumes of such structured data and often
produces results in real time.
• Unstructured data: about 80% of the approximately 2.5 billion
gigabytes of daily user-generated data are unstructured (Rizkallah
2017) and provided as written texts, speech, and images. AI’s
ability to process large volumes of this type of data—and to do so
very quickly—is what distinguishes it from traditional computing
systems. AI pre-processes unstructured inputs to prepare them for

subsequent computations, or building blocks. The results of these
building blocks vastly outperform our natural intelligence—to
advertisers’ benefit.
As Kietzmann and his friends pointed out, structured and unstructured data
types used in artificial intelligence technology provide the necessary
sources for brands in order to use the programmatic advertising model. It
accelerates the understanding of consumer insight in the context of online
advertising. Programmatic advertising can be carried out by two different
methods. One of these methods is called machine learning. Machine
learning is preferred for re-using the data recorded by computer technology,
by calculating various formulations, and thus solving existing problems.
Machine learning uses a variety of algorithms that iteratively learn from
data to improve, describe, and predict outcomes (Hurwitz & Kirsch 2018).
Artificial intelligence, on the other hand, is the ability to present brand-new
and different data, just like the human brain, by gathering the data recorded
by machine learning. There are several subsets (Figure 2) of artificial
intelligence (Hurwitz & Kirsch 2018).
Reasoning: Machine reasoning allows a system to make inferences based
on data. In essence, reasoning helps fill in the blanks when there is
incomplete data.
Natural language processing (NLP): NLP is the ability to train computers to
understand both written text and human speech. NLP techniques are needed
to capture the meaning of unstructured text from documents, or
communication from the user.
Planning: Automated planning is the ability of an intelligent system to act
autonomously and flexibly to construct a sequence of actions to reach a final
goal.
Artificial intelligence is used in order to increase efficiency in programmatic
purchasing technologies. AI offers the possibility of purified decision-
making processes in the context of learning speed, solution orientation, and
budgeting capability, when compared to human intelligence. While many
psychological and environmental factors get involved in the decision-
making process, these factors do not exist in AI. Borders can be drawn more
clearly, and thus more accurate results can be reached. Of course, these
systems, called AI, were created by human encoders in the first place. It is
not always possible to achieve zero errors in this context. However, once
the system architecture is set up properly and consummately, systematic
errors will be largely eliminated, and thus, all the operational processes will
be performed with minimum error.
Figure 7. 2. AI is the overall category that includes machine learning and natural
language processing (Hurwitz & Kirsch 2018).
Programmatic advertising
As a general definition, programmatic advertising is a self-regulating form
of all digital advertising types. Unlike traditional digital marketing types,
artificial intelligence is used more efficiently in programmatic advertising.
Programmatic advertising is essentially nothing more than the long overdue
automation of buying and insertion processes in digital advertising
(Münstermann & Würtenberger 2015). Specifically, programmatic
advertising eliminates manual intervention between a buyer (advertiser or
agency) and a seller (publisher) of digital media, and replaces it with
machines (Cadogan 2019).
Programmatic ad buying typically refers to the use of software to
purchase digital advertising, as opposed to the traditional process that
involves RFPs (request for proposal), human negotiations, and manual
insertion orders. Basically, it is using machines to buy ads (Marshall 2014).
According to Google, which has a say in the field of digital marketing,
programmatic advertising is a method that makes media purchasing faster
and smarter by using technology and analysing the data. The main purpose
of this is to increase the efficiency of digital marketing investments. The
system works by focusing on the user and his/her behaviours, analyses the
user’s data, enables brands to reach the target audience, and increases the
efficiency of the advertisement. Moreover, it does all these things in
milliseconds, as real-time (Benbanaste 2016).
Active players in the programmatic advertising field can be sorted into
ad networks, agency desks, ad exchanges, supply side platforms (SSP),
demand-side platforms (DSP), data providers, and data management
platforms (DMP) (Cadogan 2019).
The Auffret (2017) classification is similar to the classification of
Cadogan (2019) for the players in the programmatic advertising sector, and
defines them as follows:
Publishers: have some advertising spaces to sell on their websites.
Media buyers / advertisers: buy advertising space to promote their brand or
offer.
Ad inventory: means a publisher’s package of advertising spaces available
for sale. It lists spaces, locations, forms, and sizes.
Ad exchange: automated marketplaces where buyers and publishers
purchase and sell online advertising spaces.
Demand-side platform (DSP): a platform that allows buyers to manage
different ad exchanges from a single interface, bid automatically, and get
advertising spaces or impressions in real-time.
Supply-side platform (SSP): A platform that operates in the same way as
DSP, but is used by publishers. SSPs gather thousands of ad inventories.
An impression: when an ad is displayed on a screen.
There are many factors in programmatic advertising that affect the
process. The factors listed above can be referred to as the players in the
programmatic advertisement process. The process mentioned is shown in
Figure 7-3 as well.
Figure 7-3. Players and the ecosystem of programmatic advertising (Cadogan

2019).
Programmatic advertising is a type of advertising media purchase, which is

held as an auction. In order to implement programmatic advertising, there
is a need for knowledge about digital advertising. Therefore, it is not
realistic to expect every advertiser to manage this process single-handedly.
At this point, publishers, representing the supply side platform, agencies
representing the demand side platform (DSP), and software and

technologies which make up the data management platform (DMP),
intercede. Thanks to these technologies, brands are able to renew the real
time bidding (RTB) process in online advertisement purchasing, more
efficiently, within milliseconds. The purchasing process can minimize the
failure rates through the meeting of online advertising with programmatic
advertising, by requiring less need for human work. Also machine learning,
the basis of programmatic advertising, can save important data about
consumer insights and behaviours. Through this storing, all the problems
about targeting can be solved. The right content, right targeting, right
timing, and right budgeting, are the basic advantages of online advertising.
Thus, obtaining this advantage requires creating the right content, which
plays a key role in the main purpose. If it includes the right elements
prepared by advertisement creators, good content will complement
programmatic purchasing (Benbanaste 2016). According to studies, in order
to increase efficiency in media purchasing processes, it is safe to say that
programmatic purchasing is more efficient than other purchasing processes,
in terms of outcome, according to the e-marketer 2015 research results
(eMarketer 2015), as it is based on technologies which are supported by
artificial intelligence.
Advantages and disadvantages of programmatic

advertising
The basic characteristics of programmatic advertising can be listed as
granularity, real-time trading, real-time information, real-time creation, and
automation (Busch 2015). When the results of e-marketer research are
considered within the framework of these characteristics, programmatic
advertising enables advertisers to personalize the ad messages and the target
audience, and to get to know them in real-time. Thus, programmatic
advertising makes it easier to reach the right audience, at the right place and
time, simultaneously. Since everything can be recorded in the digital world,
return on investments can be delivered to the advertiser immediately. 87%
of marketers are seeing greater return through programmatic ads, compared
to traditional media buying (Watts 2016). 91% of programmatic advertising
users stated that they benefitted from it for increasing the density of
targeting and media purchasing activities, 90% for introducing more
effective messages with the audience, 87% for increasing the conversion
rates, and reaching the media ROI, 82% for obtaining better results, 75%
for increasing brand awareness, 75% for benefits from more effective
quotations, and 65% for gaining 360 visibility of customers (Figure 4).
Based on these data, programmatic advertising is preferred in the context of

providing clarity in targeting. Bringing more effective messages to the
consumer who stands in the second row, stands out again in connection with
the first purpose, because right targeting is also a factor that increases the
efficiency of the message.
Figure 7-4. What return have you seen from your programmatic campaigns?
(MediaMath 2015)
Just like in every advertising environment, programmatic advertising also

has disadvantages along with many advantages. A minor mistake in the
process of programming can affect the system’s functionality. Deceleration
and outage in internet connectivity speed can cause problems in
programmatic advertising, as well as all the advertising activities carried out
via internet connection. Cookies reflecting bad data may cause problems in
accurate targeting, which is one of the basic features of programmatic
advertising. Too many simultaneous impressions can prevent clear results,
through which a target audience can be reached. Because of the need for
computer programming knowledge during the application, there is a need
for expert opinion on this topic. From time to time, errors can arise in
system-based cost calculations.
The disadvantages of programmatic advertising from a different
perspective can be listed as follows (Guru 2018):
Low engagement rates: An analysis by Google has shown that standard
display advertising ads purchased through the programmatic method posted
a dismal 0.18% CTR. This means that you are getting only what you’re
willing to pay for.
Media lacks context: The inherent goal of programmatic buying is to
increase awareness by displaying ads to more viewers. As a result, the media
is played over and over, even without relevance, although recent upgrades
have been made to address this disadvantage and help increase the
engagement rate.
Risk of fraud: There is a very high risk of fraud in programmatic advertising.
With the very simplified process of programmatic buying, almost anyone
can buy and sell ads. Ad fraud is reported as among the leading concerns
regarding programmatic advertising. Bot traffic and non-viewable ads are
two of the most common examples of fraud associated with programmatic
advertising. In 2017, the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) found
that over $6.5 billion globally has been lost due to bots. Meanwhile, non-
viewable ads can be a problem too. Even though ads have been reported as
placed or displayed, they were never viewable, and never reached the user.
Ad misplacement: In programmatic advertising, there is the possibility of
your ads being misdirected or misplaced. This happens when a publisher
sends your ad to an affiliated entity, where the ad is displayed. As a result,
your ads never reach their target audience. Misdirecting ads can even
backfire to your brand. For instance, an adult-oriented ad can mistakenly
find its way onto a children’s app. Such unintentional mishaps can
negatively impact your brand.
Narrowing your target audience is costly: If you want to narrow down your
target with pinpoint accuracy, then you’ll have to work with a powerful
programmatic platform capable of this. But just like any other special offers,
they come at a price.
In terms of all these advantages and disadvantages, it can be seen that the
advantageous aspects of programmatic advertising dominate. It is
anticipated that the existing disadvantages can be eliminated with advances
in computer programming technology. In this context, it is thought that it

will be preferred as a more open method, and as a field open to development
and change.
Conclusion
The widespread use of digital marketing, due to the speed of marketing and
computer programming technologies, has led to the emergence of many
different types of digital marketing. In the intensely competitive marketing
world, businesses aiming to stand out from their competitors and reach the
consumer more quickly show interest in all kinds of advertising tools that
have high efficiency. Businesses that aim to have maximum access at
minimum cost have adopted internet-based advertising types with high
levels of feedback and reporting in recent years. The process, which started
with e-mail marketing and website advertisements, led to a form of digital
marketing which is a type of programmable, predictable, and clearly
finalized, digital marketing, with the development of databases and
information communication technologies.
In recent years, the concept of advertising efficiency has been very
important for sectors with heavy competition, and all brands with limited
resources. Therefore, the share of programmatic-based advertising in digital
advertising has grown, and continues to grow. Programmatic advertising,
based on machine learning-assisted artificial intelligence, has enabled
advertisers and publishers to achieve considerable time savings and high
productivity. Thus, in recent years, a large amount of investment has been
made by advertisers in this area.
The merger of technology and advertising enables brands to create a
marketing communication process based on more effective interaction with
their consumers, enabling returns to be more qualified and accurate.
Programmatic advertising, which supports high-probability artificial
intelligence, provides the most accurate content and provides support in
finding creative content, which is one of the biggest problems of advertisers.
This support ensures that the right target audience can achieve the best
engagement rates with different data management platforms. Programmatic
advertising supported by artificial intelligence needs a meticulously worked
software process. It is important that the teams, in both the software part and
the advertising department, work in harmony with each other. The biggest
function of programmatic advertising is that it provides insight. Advertisers
and advertising publishers define this insight using the results and insights
in digital advertising activities, which will be carried out later through
machine learning by getting the instant reactions of the users. Programmatic
advertising is able to produce solutions to understanding consumer insight,

which is the biggest problem for advertisers. Programmatic advertising,
which has the intelligence to evaluate the data of millions of consumers, can
provide immediate insight into significant groups of consumers. This
situation is one of the most important reasons for its use by the advertising
sector in recent years. Brands that try to get qualified return guarantees are
questioning the media companies that broadcast their ads. With these
inquiries, concerns about the numerical credibility of digital advertising are
minimized.
With all these aspects and advantages, programmatic advertising seems
set to be used for many years as one of the most important types of
advertising of our age, and in future.
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DIGITAL MARKETING
BAHADIR ERCİŞ AND HATİCE NUR YILDIZ
Introduction
The marketing approach which began with the manufacturing era, led to
different concepts being adopted, as living conditions changed and
technology advanced. Manufacturing concepts, which had been the
dominant element during the initial periods, were replaced by different
approaches in different periods, such as sales, modern marketing, social
marketing, and integrated marketing. The once-dominant enterprise-
oriented concepts became rather consumer-oriented. Along with heavy
competition, which arose as the result of the proliferation in the number of
enterprises, consideration of the demands and needs of the consumers and
clients, or receiving feedback regarding products or services, presented
opportunities for enterprise. Customer expectations from brands increased
and shifted over time. In ever-changing living conditions, customers began
demanding products manufactured according to their own needs, wanted to
access products or services more swiftly, and expected companies to take
their demands into account. Due to advancements in technology, and the
emergence of the internet, customers had the chance to access products they
wanted in a faster and easier manner. As the internet and social media grew
in popularity, people had the opportunity to make comments about the
products they purchased, and to showcase the said products in their own
media posts. Accordingly, consumers who wished to purchase a product,
now had a chance to conduct research regarding their chosen product or
service, and to offer their own opinions after using such a product or service.
Companies, who wanted to access the shifting consumer profiles, initiated
searches for new marketing strategies, in addition to conventional marketing
methods. One of the instruments that companies chose in this regard was
digital media, with its tools. These digital media instruments enabled
companies to reach a higher number of audiences with lower costs.
Furthermore, digital marketing began to take on strategic importance for
companies, who wanted to reach consumers without the confines of time
and place (Koçak Alan et al. 2018).
108 Digital Marketing
Transition from conventional marketing to digital

marketing
The transition from conventional to digital marketing did not happen over-
night or within a short span of time. The marketing approach differentiated
with each passing period, and advanced into the digital marketing approach.
It is possible to analyze the transition from conventional to modern
marketing in four stages. The first period of marketing is the manufacturing
phase, in which demand exceeded supply. In this era, before 1930, the
concept of manufacturing was dominant, and consumers had to purchase
the goods that were being manufactured, rather than the goods they actually
wanted. In this regard, it can be concluded that, during the time when
manufacturing was the dominant force, production outweighed sales in
terms of importance, and competition was non-existent. It is also safe to
conclude that the mantra of ‘I sell what I produce’ was adopted at this time,
dominated by the manufacturing approach (Mucuk 2014).
The period that superseded the manufacturing era was the sales era. In
this era, conducting sales became more important, and selling more became
the key purpose. In order to make more sales, misleading and inflated
advertising methods were employed. The influential thought in this
marketing approach was ‘I sell whatever I produce as long as I know how
to sell it’ (Mucuk 2014).
The third period was the marketing era. In this period, it was understood
and recognized that a long-term relationship cannot be established with
misleading and inflated advertisements (Mucuk 2014). In this era, supply
exceeded demand, and a competitive environment began to appear (Alabay
2010) In this era, the dominant approach was, “to gain profits by satisfying
the consumers” (Alabay 2010).
In the modern marketing era, production begins by taking the demands
and needs of consumers into account. Rather than making profit in the short-
term by utilizing inflated advertisements, going for long-term profit by
ensuring customer satisfaction has become more important. In this period,
studies towards the consumers are conducted as well (Alabay 2010).
We can summarize the first four periods of the marketing approach, in
other words, as the transition from conventional to modern marketing in
Table 8-1.
Bahadır Erciş and Hatice Nur Yıldız 109
Table 8-1. Periods in the transition process, from conventional to modern

marketing
Manufacturing Sales Marketing Modern

Marketing
Demand exceeds Next period Demands and
supply. after needs of
Production is manufacturing. Supply consumers
dominant. No Selling more is outweighs begin to be
competition. The important. demand. relevant. Long
demands and Misleading Competition term profits are
needs of the advertisements begins to sought after.
consumers are are employed. emerge.
irrelevant.
Adapted from Alabay (2010).
The periods that marketing has gone through do not come to a stop with the
arrival of the modern marketing approach. In line with changing world
conditions, the marketing approach has continued evolving as well. After
the modern marketing period, social marketing and integrated marketing
have begun their reign.
After the modern marketing approach began, criticism towards the
preservation of social existence began to increase. The indicated criticism
brought the social responsibilities of enterprise to the forefront. As this
approach gained currency, an approach that showed regard for society was
adopted. In this period, in which the social marketing approach was first
experienced, considering the interests of society while conducting
marketing became important (Yükselen 2012). According to this approach,
enterprises, while undertaking production, should know that the resources
of society are limited, and should consider their social responsibilities as
well (Feldman 1971). The period which came after the social marketing
approach was dominated by the integrated marketing approach.
The integrated marketing approach is based on paying attention to the
relationships of marketing programs, processes, and activities, to each other,
and is further based on improving, designing, and running them. Integrated
marketing has four aspects: internal, relational, integrated, and
performance-based (Yükselen 2012):
 In internal marketing, all employees within the company (from the

top management to lower levels), are encouraged to adopt the marketing
principles. In internal marketing, it is important to recruit, train, and
motivate the required personnel.
 Relational marketing is based on reciprocal business relationships,
established between enterprises and groups, such as clients, employees,
suppliers, distributors, universities, etc.
 Integrated marketing indicates the use of the marketing mix
elements, also known as 8M, together.
 Performance-based marketing expresses the achievements of the
enterprise as the result of its marketing activities.
Consumers, along with the changing times, have become bored with the
marketing methods that utilize mass communications instruments, and
therefore headed for the internet. The way to reach consumers, who want
more interaction and participation, and who spend most of their time in the
digital environment, is now through digital marketing (Ryan 2017).
The concept of digital marketing

Digital marketing can be described as marketing goods and services via
technology. Over time, the term ‘digital marketing’ has evolved from a
specific term which means marketing goods and services by using digital
channels, into a broader term that defines the processes of employing digital
technologies in order to obtain customers, create customer preferences,
promote brands, and keep the client base (Kannan and Li 2017, 23).
Digital marketing, when compared to conventional marketing, may be
preferred, due to the fact that it offers an ability to reach a greater number
of people, at all times, with fewer costs. It is thought that enabling two-way
communications with consumers, and using warmer language, give digital
marketing an edge over conventional marketing. The differences between
conventional marketing and digital marketing are shown in Table 8-2.
Table 8-2. Differences between conventional marketing and digital

marketing.
Conventional Digital Marketing

Marketing
Costs Higher costs, due to the Can be accomplished

fact that visual and with less cost.
printed materials are
preferred in general.
Communication A single way Consumers have the
communication from the chance to make
marketing party (source) comments to
to the consumer. advertisements, thus
there is a two-way
communication effort.
Accessibility Although the target Thanks to the internet,
audience is apparent, the access is instant with
access opportunities are little cost.
hard and costly.
Analysis and Determining the Trending about the
reporting outcomes of the strategies effects that it creates can
is virtually impossible. It determine the
is very hard to get a interaction, and a new
numeric value. path can be plotted from
the comments, made by
the target audience.
Time It takes a long time to Depending on the
form and build an ad agenda, short term
campaign. builds can be made.
Actors Usually, celebrities are Mentors, micro
preferred. celebrities, or users may
take part.
Adapted from https://pazarlamaturkiye.com/pazarlama/dijital-pazarlama/7-adimda-
geleneksel-ve-dijital-pazarlama-arasindaki-farklar/
Digitalization of marketing has a different effect on the product, price,

placement, and promotion, collectively known as the 4P of marketing.
Product: In a general sense, product can be shown as a physical product, or
a service rendered. The important point for companies is the demand for
that service or product. What should be paid attention, in terms of digital
marketing, is knowing the trade status of the product within online media.
For example, three people buy an album. One of them buys the CD of the
album for the purpose of listening to the tracks of the artist. Another one
downloads the tracks from the internet, and the third one prefers listening
to the songs over the internet. Therefore, each one of them uses the product
in a different way, displaying different consumer behavior. At this point, the
enterprises should understand these different sets of behaviors, and
modernize their marketing strategies in line with the digital times
(Kingsnorth 2017). Thanks to digital marketing, enterprises have the ability
to re-shape their products based on comments made in regard to those
products (Stone and Woodcock 2014).
Price: One of the nuances of the price aspect, which is the second element
of the marketing mix, is paying attention to the fact that consumers consent
to determined prices. There is a common belief amongst consumers that
purchases made from online shopping sites are less costly, and they may
agree to pay the prices listed on such sites. Enterprises should accurately
determine the viability of this for their strategies (Kingsnorth 2017).
Placement: For retail enterprises or service providers, the placement of their
stores is vital. Reaching customers, and delivering goods in a timely
manner, are among the criteria that have a direct effect on enterprises in
terms of achieving success. The advancement of digital marketing does not
make any changes in this regard. Enterprises should pay attention to their
websites, ensuring they are easily accessible and their products are available
(Kingsnorth 2017).
Promotion: Promotion, which is the fourth element of the marketing mix,
involves the advertisement of goods or services. Thanks to promotional
activities, a first impression can be generated for consumers, and they may
be impressed in this regard (Kingsnorth 2017). In the digital age, TV and
radio, which have been two conventional promotional instruments, are
being replaced by websites and mobile advertisements. Ads in websites can
reach more consumers. Furthermore, by directing the information, mouth-
to-mouth advertisement activities can be commenced using digital media
(Stone and Woodcock 2014).
Enterprises require digital marketing strategies in order not to miss

opportunities. There are two issues to be addressed in order to determine
whether an organization needs digital marketing. One of them is the
possibility of the target audience going online, and the viability of products
for digital marketing. In the first phase, companies should have some
knowledge of the rate of their target audience going online, in terms of
getting their information and shopping. The enterprise should head towards
digital marketing if its target audience prefers digital media. Otherwise, that
organization may experience difficulties in reaching its target audience.
However, companies with a target audience with little social media use may
not head in that direction. Another decision to be taken is whether the
product is viable for digital marketing, and how to form digital marketing
strategies. However, forming a digital marketing strategy is not that simple
(Ryan 2017). In order to create a digital marketing strategy, some key
points should be attended to (Ryan 2017):
Work Description: In order to practice digital marketing, the work, the
products, and the services, should be suitable for digital marketing efforts.
The technological infrastructure that would enable the enterprise to be
active in the digital media should be sufficient.
Be aware of the competition: When entering the digital market, competitors
should be identified, and opportunities should be created, or measures taken
based on the competitors' strategies. When identifying competitors, it
should be taken into account that they also play in the digital market, and
that this is different from the local market.
Get to know the customers: Customers and their wishes should be known.
An inaccurate or deficient customer assessment may negatively impact the
strategies that an enterprise would like to implement. Transmitting a
message using mobile marketing methods to a target audience with high TV
or radio usage, or a group of customers who have a low rate of phone
usage, would not be very effective. The target audience's use of technology
is a good guide in terms of reaching, and developing strategies for them.
Advantages and disadvantages of digital marketing

As digital marketing advances, companies and organizations have gained
some advantages. It is possible to list the benefits of digital marketing as
follows (Piñeiro-Otero and Martínez-Rolán 2016, 37):
 Branding: Platforms, and the scope of the 2.0 services and their
constant updates, are perfect opportunities for creating a brand
image on the web.
 Integrity: In digital marketing, the ways to transmit the information

over connections give consumers an opportunity to approach the
organization in a broader and more specialized manner.
 Availability-functionality: In order to improve the user experience
of Web 2.0, and to allow the activities of consumers, simple and
user friendly platforms should be offered.
 Interaction: Thanks to the internet, companies find opportunities to
meet with their customers, and thus positive experiences can be
formed in relation to the brand. This is an important advantage for
companies who want to establish long term communications.
 Visual communications: Digital marketing presents different
visual and video-based tools to marketing people. This is one of
the attractive ways to reach a larger group of people.
 Relational advertising: Easy segmentation on the internet, and
customization of advertisements, maximize the outcome.
Furthermore, this medium, far from the limitations of other types
of media, allows more attractive ads.
 Mass connections: Thanks to the internet, companies get unique
opportunities in terms of establishing their target audiences and
within themselves.
 Virility: The internet allows the spread of information with a
snowball effect.
 Measurable outcomes: Online platforms rank first in terms of the
availability of monitoring options and the possibility to assess the
outcomes.
Digital advertising, in addition to its advantages, has some disadvantages
as well. As enterprises place their products and campaigns for open access,
their competitors may imitate their products (Safko and Brake 2009).
Furthermore, online purchasing may not be favored by consumers, who are
in the habit of touching and checking out products when purchasing them
(Başar 2018, Taken 2012). Another downside of digital marketing is the
necessity of paying for goods online . Consumers may feel insecure and
uneasy when making payments online (Wind and Mahajan 2002). Digital
marketing is not an exclusively advantageous approach. In order for digital
marketing to be efficient, right and effective channels should be employed.
Digital marketing channels

As technology has developed, and habits have changed, enterprises have
sought new ways to reach their target audiences, in addition to their
traditional channels. Some of these ways are web-based tools that may be
used for marketing purposes. These can be employed by enterprises in terms
of digital marketing, and can be listed as (Yalçınkaya 2018):
 Search engine optimization,
 Instant messaging apps,
 E-mail,
 Blogs,
 Video sharing sites,
 Social media.
SEO (Search Engine Optimization): Search engine optimization can be
described as procedures which are performed to place the corporate website
near the top in search engines (Altındal 2013). In order to obtain new
customers, and not to lose current ones, promotion of goods and services
should be performed well. In order to succeed in promotion, customers
should be presented with easy access to products and services. In this regard,
SEO, which is among the online promotional activities, should be paid
attention. In other words, the content of a website in which sales are made,
and customer searches carried out, should be compatible. For an internet
site, appearing at the top of the search engines, and being accessible, are
vital (Ryan 2017). There are some fine points to ensure optimization
between internet sites and search engines (Ryan 2017):
 In search engines, keywords should be selected to make the
internet site more visible. The right selection of keyword may also
be the key for a web site to be found with ease.
 In order to find the right keyword, effective words should be found.
The keywords should be determined by conducting a search
regarding the product or service in question. The words the
potential customers use for choosing the product should be
researched .
 Each page of a website should have a unique subject. Actually,
this feature will help in finding the right keyword.
 The title of each page of the website should be carefully selected,
and that page should have a single metadata definition.
 Thanks to the fact that images are more attractive to visitors ,
visual content should be tagged for search engines.
Instant Messaging Apps: Instant messaging apps are net-based applications
that provide communications between people. Compared to e-mail, they
offer feedback in a shorter time. It is safe to say that instant messaging apps
are the best available technology as an alternative to face-to-face
communication (Li et al. 2005). The reasons for enterprises using mobile
phones for marketing purposes can be listed as (as cited in Barutçu 2011, 9,
from Yuan and Cheng 2004):
 Mobile phones are with the customers, anytime, anywhere,
 They are always active for communications,
 One-on-one communications established with customers are
always regarded more highly,
 Customers may always store the messages which are sent to mobile
phones and read them at a later time,
 Enterprises may establish one-on-one vocal or visual contact with
customers via mobile phones.
E-Mail: Due to the advantages that e-mail applications offer in terms of
speed, time, and costs, compared to traditional methods, e-mail is preferred
for various purposes, such as electronic correspondence, advertisements,
information, and announcements (Koçoğlu et al. 2011). One of the reasons
that enterprises use e-mail for marketing is that the outcomes in this regard
are quantifiable (Haşıloğlu 2006).
Blogs: With the emergence of Web 2.0, new ways of producing and sharing
information have begun to appear. One such way is blogging, which acts as
a bridge between consumers and enterprises. Blogs are environments in
which ideas are presented regarding products and services, users share their
experiences, and suggestions are made. These features, and the desire of
consumers to have a general opinion about a product before purchasing it,
make blogs significant (Yurttaş 2011). The fact that bloggers present their
opinions in a personal manner, and so their stance is set apart from corporate
interests, means their ideas are perceived as reliable and trustworthy (Cristol
2002); negative comments about a product in blogs may be powerful
enough to deter consumers from purchasing that product (Kotler et al.
2010).
Video Sharing Sites: As mobile phones have begun featuring cameras,
people now have the chance to shoot videos of almost every moment in their
lives, and they sometimes make some pretty striking ones too. Thanks to the
fact that some video sharing sites have no cost, people can easily share the
videos they make. A video uploaded through such a site may reach all four
corners of the world. In parallel to this, video sharing sites are preferred by
enterprises who wish to promote their products or services to the whole
world, with far less cost. Furthermore, those sites prove to be advantageous
for enterprises, because an ad that is broadcasted on a video sharing site can
be replayed when desired (Yalçınkaya 2018).
Social Media: It is possible to define social media, which has emerged in

conjunction with the advancement of technology, and the increase of the use
of the internet, as a platform which offers the exchange of ideas without the
limitation of time and place, and, through which, reciprocal communications
are established (Bulunmaz 2011). The characteristics of social media, in
terms of its structure and content, are listed below (Kırcova and Enginkaya
2015):
 The most important difference of social media is that it offers an
interactive environment for communications. On social media
platforms, exchange of ideas is possible between people, between
individuals and enterprises, and between enterprises. Social media,
which, unlike conventional marketing, enables mutual
communications, also helps brands to build social reputations,
because receiving the opinions of the target audience, and
providing answers to their questions, have profoundly positive
impacts on the reputations of enterprises (Akar 2011, Kırcova and
Enginkaya 2015).
 It is always possible to generate content by accessing social media
platforms via tablets, phones, and other similar instruments,
anytime. In other words, social media is independent of time and
place (Kırcova and Enginkaya 2015).
 Social media is an easy-to-use platform. Individuals can generate
content easily without being hindered by bureaucratic formalities
or prerequisites. From this point of view, brands can create their
own websites, and generate their own content with ease (Zarella
2010).
 As social media makes generating content conveniently easy,
millions of items of content are being generated in almost all
subjects and matters. That is why an individual who needs to obtain
information regarding a matter can benefit from the vast content on
social media, and can access the opinions presented there easily
(Kushin and Yamamoto 2010).
 Establishing connections and links between platforms is another
feature of social media (Kırcova and Enginkaya 2015).
 Each transaction commenced on social media platforms is stored
in a database. For example, the content that an individual
generates, and the usage rate of social media, are recorded.
Recording every action makes social media quantifiable. For
instance, a brand can easily obtain information regarding how
much its content was viewed, how many comments it had, how
many ‘likes’ it received, or what kind of comments were made, etc.
As a result, new decisions can be taken without the need for large
budgets, and the target audience can be reached in an effective
manner by creating new ads (Kırcova and Enginkaya 2015).
The advantages that enterprises which use social media platforms to reach
their respective target audiences without any limitations of time and space,
and enable them to get feedback to use as instruments of marketing, can be
listed as follows (Kırcova and Enginkaya 2015):
 Social media enables enterprises to reach their target audiences in
a direct and effective manner,
 Enterprises can directly relay information about themselves and
their products to their target audiences without any need for
advertising companies or communications agencies,
 Enterprises can form personalized interactions through social
media,
 Thanks to social media, enterprises are able to obtain the opinions
of their target audiences in relation to themselves or their products.
Traditional media cannot offer this edge.
 Enterprises, by combining online games, played on social media,
can ensure players encounter their ads during the gameplay, and
thus benefit from the advantage of mouth-to-mouth marketing, as
experiences are shared amongst friends.
Digital use in Turkey

As of 2018, the population of Turkey reached 81 million, and 75% of the
population lives in cities. While 67% of the population uses the internet,
63% uses social media actively. The number of mobile phone users exceeds
59 million; in other words, 73% of the population uses a mobile phone. The
number of people who connect to social media via a mobile phone is 44
million, and that figure corresponds to 54% of the population. While 98%
of adults use a mobile phone, 77% of them use a smart phone. The ratio of
people who use a desktop or laptop computer is 48%, while the ratio of
tablet users is 25%. In Turkey, approximately seven hours a day are spent
on the internet, and an average of two hours and 48 minutes are spent on
social media. The rate of internet users in Turkey is 67%, and 63% of them
employ their phones to connect to the internet (Digital in 2018 in Western
Asia 2019).
When the above given ratios, determined in 2018, are compared with the
2017 figures, the following data is obtained; the number of internet users
increased by 13%, the number of active social media and phone users
increased by 6% and 5% respectively, and the number of people who

connect to social media via their mobile phones increased by 5% (Digital in
2018 in Western Asia 2019).
When the above-indicated data is taken into account, it can be concluded
that increases in social media and technology usage are experienced each
passing year. It is thought that the increase in the use of technology and
social media necessitates digital marketing because, for marketing people,
reaching consumers and promoting products are essential activities.
Therefore, knowing the medium in which consumers spend most of their
time, in other words, knowing the social media and internet usage rates, and
acting on such knowledge, will prove to be beneficial for marketing people.
Conclusion
Today, the increase in the use of the internet and mobile devices has begun
creating changes in customer expectations. Enterprises which want to reach
customers have switched to digital marketing methods from more
conventional marketing methods over time. New methods have brought
advantages, such as the ability to reach larger audiences, quantifiable
outcomes, and mutual interactions with the enterprises, while also bringing
some disadvantages, such as the possibility of imitation by competitors, and
the chance to cause distrust in customers.
When the results of the studies are examined, it is clearly seen that
people use digital tools effectively, and they roam the social media realms
substantively. This indicates that digital marketing is a must for enterprises,
despite its negative aspects.
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CONSPICUOUS CONSUMPTION
AND POSTMODERN IDENTITY
IN THE GLOBAL SHOW ERA
ARZU KALAFAT ÇAT
Introduction
The concept of consumption, which is used to express activities carried out
in order to meet basic physiological needs in the traditional sense, has
gradually shifted away from its traditional meaning in postmodern
processes, and has come to mean the pretentious consumption style through
which individuals turn to showy products in order to be status indicators or
to have prestige. Baudrillard reinterprets the concept of consumption used
by Raymond Williams in terms of destroying, wasting, and finishing (1976,
68) and defines the act of consumption as involving signs and symbols, in
a very different sense from the consumption of simple commercial objects
(Orçan 2014, 22 ). Therefore, new meanings have been brought to the act
of consumption over time. The Industrial Revolution, and Fordist forms of
production, have been instrumental in the consumption of new meanings,
just as rapid advances in communication technologies and the widespread
use of mass media have facilitated the transfer of capitalist ideology to the
masses through the culture industry. For today's consumers, the act of
consumption is realized for the purpose of social acceptance, the desire to
belong to a particular social class, and as a status or power indicator, because
of the symbolic meanings attributed to the commodities consumed, rather
than the biological requirements. In other words, in postmodern processes,
the identities of consumers are determined according to their having, or not
having, conspicuous consumer goods. "The Theory of Conspicuous
Consumption" in the book The Theory of the Classroom, written by
Thorstein Veblen, was examined first. According to the conspicuous
consumption theory, the starting point of consumption behaviors of
individuals towards showy behaviour is the necessity of asserting identity
and status rather than economic benefit. Therefore, in postmodern
processes, consumer goods possessed by individuals have turned into
Arzu Kalafat Çat 123
nonverbal communication tools that are used to reveal their socioeconomic

status.
Today, the brands that individuals prefer in their shopping, the
neighborhood they live in, and their free time and leisure activities, as well
as their leisure habits, place them within the sociological structure
(Kadioglu, 2014, 33). In this study, besides the concept of consumption and
conspicuous consumption, theoretical explanations are made for
postmodern consumers and postmodern identity concepts.
Consumption and conspicuous consumption concepts

The act of consumption, which has a history as old as that of humanity, and
which is an ongoing process of an individual from the moment he/she is
born until the last moment of life, has turned into a new and complex
structure with symbolic meanings within it, rather than being action taken
to meet needs in time (Başar 2018). For this reason, the concept of
consumption, which was seen as a concept that was first concerned with the
science of economics, is considered as an interdisciplinary concept which is
related to many fields of social sciences, such as psychology,
communication, history, and philosophy (Orçan 2014, 23).
In the simplest sense, the word ‘consumption’ is used in the sense of
destroying the object of consumption, while the consumer is defined as the
perpetrator of the act of consumption. Traditional theories emphasize the
benefit dimension of consumption. According to this, the most important
task of the objects used by individuals is to benefit consumers. However, in
postmodern processes, the benefit dimension in the consumption concept is
replaced by the pleasure and satisfaction of the individual as a result of the
consumption act (Odabaşı 2017, 5). Therefore, the act of consumption has
turned into an action not only for the purpose of eliminating vital needs, but
also because of the sense of satisfaction that the consumer object presents
to the consumer. The concept of the consumption society is used to describe
the social structure in which consumption is adopted as a way of life.
There are various discussions about where the consumer society first
appeared. According to McKendrick, the consumption society emerged in
England in the 18th century. According to Williams, it was in France in the
19th century, and according to Mukerji, in England in the 15th and 16th
centuries. Grant McCracken demonstrates the evidence of all these studies
and argues that the consumption society was first born in Europe (as cited
in Orçan 2014, 25). According to another approach, the emergence of the
consumption society is seen in the United States after the Second World
War. The main reasons for this situation are the increase in income after the
124 Conspicuous Consumption and Postmodern Identity in the Global
Show Era
war, the increase in production and consumption caused by Fordist

production, and the implementation of Keynesian economic policies
(Dağtaş and Dağtaş 2009, 7). Chaney stated that the emergence of consumer
culture coincided with the end of the 19th century and the early years of the
20th century, and the reason for this was that the standardization of products
in global markets coincided with this period (1999, 27). According to this
view, the consumption culture that first emerged with the increase in
consumption in the United States has gradually become a widespread
culture, spreading to all Western countries and the whole world.
The culture of consumption is characterized as the culture of capitalist
societies, and it is stated that the new ‘consumption cathedrals’ are
consciously designed in order to determine the mass dimensions of the
flange lifestyles. The capitalist system produces new leisure time spaces to
increase the time spent by the city's wanderers on the boulevards, stores, or
in entertainment places in cities (Dağtaş and Dağtaş 2009, 30). The
individual who performs activities pre-designed by the capitalist ideology,
in the consumption spaces called consumption cathedrals, has a false sense
of freedom. Thus, capitalist ideology suppresses individuals' creative ideas
and alienates the individual from himself/herself, from the environment, and
even from his/her job. While the process of alienation experienced by the
individual is expressed as a consumption culture, the individual has a
perception that the meaning of life can be discovered, not by production but
by consumption. Of course, media tools have a great influence on the
perceptual manipulation of the masses. The symbolic meanings of objects
of consumption are loaded by the content prepared by media companies
operated within capital companies. In particular, the programs and
advertisements included in the mass media deliver messages with symbolic
meanings to the masses, thus legitimizing the dominance of capitalist
ideology (Dağtaş and Dağtaş 2009, 36). In addition to symbolic meanings
given to the objects of consumption, the cultural industry produces
continuous artificial needs in order to promote a consumer-oriented lifestyle
(Marcuse 1990, 43).
Baudrillard states that, with postmodernism, the act of consumption has
turned into a system of indicators. Accordingly, in the consumer society,
moral qualities such as conviction have been abandoned, and the search for
pleasure and satisfaction has become the aim of the act of consumption. In
postmodern consumption processes, objects with symbolic meaning are
consumed. For this purpose, consumption objects are first brought into the
indicators, and then the codes that contain symbolic meanings are added to
the indicators. Thanks to the codes loaded onto the objects, status and
prestige features are gained by the products or services (Stevenson 2015,
251). Thus, the consumption of objects is ensured due to their symbolic

meaning and for the purpose of demonstration, and it is ensured that
consumers are classified according to the socioeconomic classification
according to the situation of buying, or not buying, products with symbolic
meaning.
Thorstein Veblen, who made initial investigations into the concept of
conspicuous consumption, stated that consumption had a function of
identity and status. According to Veblen, the appearance of conspicuous
consumption style coincides with a process that coincides with the
emergence of private property. According to this, from primitive societies
to the present day, the amount and quality of goods possessed by people
have provided information about their economic situation. In barbarian
societies, women and slaves were seen as the spoils of war, and having many
women and slaves was accepted as an indicator of power. With the
transition from primitive communities to modern communities, the
importance of the goods increased, and the property system was fully
established. Individuals who worked for wages in factories had more wages
and accumulation, and started to work to acquire more property, which led
to an increase in production and consumption. Over time, the act of
consumption has become the most important goal of economic gain.
According to Veblen, the reason for people’s ambition about property
ownership is competition. In addition, people with material wealth are
respected by their social environment. Therefore, ownership of property has
become a matter of honor, while those in the lower income groups, working
to maintain their basic livelihood, are pushed out of this competition.
According to Veblen, having a property has brought honor and prestige
gain, from the past to the present (2005, 31-36). The concept of conspicuous
consumption was used for the first time in the book The Theory of the
Leisure Class, written by Veblen in 1988. In this book, Veblen describes
the aristocratic segment as the leisure class (Açıkalın and Erdoğan 2005, 6).
Veblen states that, as industrial activities become widespread, accumulated
ownership has become a sign of strength and success. In addition,
possessing material assets brings reputation, prestige, and respectability to
individuals. In fact, the material wealth obtained through inheritance in a
passive manner is seen as more valuable than the wealth obtained by
working (Veblen 2005, 35).
According to Veblen, the aim of consumption is not only the fulfillment
of biological needs, but also the prestige gained by the consumer as a result
of the purchase of goods with symbolic meanings. Therefore, consumers are
attracted to products by the good opinions of others, the proof of financial
means they demonstrate in a social environment, the power provided by
Show Era
goods with high value, prestige, and respectful consumption (Hız 2018,
118). According to Veblen, "the non-production of goods is primarily a sign
of bravery and a reputation for the dignity of humanity, as the secondary, in
particular, the consumption of very desirable things is essentially
reputable." Nowadays, individuals are working to obtain the financial
means necessary to perform the act of conspicuous consumption. The
symbolic meanings imposed on consumer goods encourage conspicuous
consumption. In this age, which Baudrillard called the ‘age of objects’, the
act of consumption was taken as a conspicuous consumption without any
purpose other than arrogance and vanity, for the satisfaction of desires, not
needs (Bauman 2018, 254).
In postmodern processes, symbolic meanings are loaded onto consumer
goods, however, the places where consumption is carried out also determine
the reputation of consumers. Preferred holiday venues, membership of
sports halls, and large and glamorous stores are defined as glamorous
consumption places which show the dignity of individuals or upper class
members with privileges, and underline the layers between them and the
lower classes (Featherstone 2013, 53-54). Focusing on the ‘signalling’
function of conspicuous consumption, Miller states that people are not
committed to helping their social environment, but mostly to showing off
within it. Miller stated that the theory of signalling is "valid for both nature
and culture." According to this, the tails of peacocks or the horns of deer are
signals sent to their environment, and the signals of fitness are the indicators
of wealth that are transmitted to the social environment by people who own
a Hummer car, or a Rolex watch (Miller 2012, 105). Debord describes the
notion of show as the "autonomous motion of the non-living, as the concrete
reversal of life”, and today describes human life as the "immense
accumulation of demonstrations." Accordingly, the demonstration
constitutes both the reason and the result of the production system as the
concrete material reality. Pretentious consumption signals present the
current picture of a socially desirable lifestyle (Debord 2018, 35).
While conspicuous consumer products are symbolic, the signals given
by the products are prioritized, and the real features of the products are not
mentioned. For example, in Vogue magazine ads, the name of the brand,
and a character whose personality is identified with the brand, are included,
and the usage characteristics of the advertised product do not need to be
explained. "Mont Blanc pens commercials, in which Johnny Depp or
Julianne Moore can be counted as customers, endow these pens with a
mental relationship with the characteristics of these celebrities, such as
being charismatic, attractive, smart, funny, sensitive, and widely known -
all admirable features. This is done without stating these characteristics."
(Miller 2012, 112). Consequently, consumers are guided to conspicuous

consumption behavior by means of symbolic meanings created by classical
conditioning between the characteristics perceived by the masses, and the
advertised product.
According to Baudrillard, individuals are convinced that they will
indicate happiness by obtaining simulated objects as consumption
survivors, and they are directed to consumption action in order to reach
happiness. In other words, consumers are under the influence of indicators,
and the pleasures obtained as a result of consumption are considered as
accumulation of happiness indicators (2016, 24). Nowadays, the objects of
consumption are decorated with indicators, and a new economic area is
created by providing the submission of society to those indicators. The
reason why consumers want to have simulated objects in this economic field
is ‘to look like’. Therefore, the indicators are symbolic meanings that are
produced and marketed independently of the people's activities (Debord
2018, 38). Consumers aim to express themselves by buying objects that are
reproduced by a capitalist market, by gaining the appreciation of others, by
being part of a certain status group, or by leaving a group (Bauman 2018,
256). In today's consumer societies, where indicators, images and identities
are highly important, products have become transformative consumption
objects, and it has been extremely important for consumers not to be
deprived of the taste of others. Today's consumers consist of individuals
who like to display the latest fashion and high-value products, who are keen
on buying possessions, who are aware of the material values of the goods
they have, and of the qualities of leisure activities they carry out, all of
which send messages to their social environment.
Social identity gained by consumption

Nowadays, individuals gain a certain social identity through consumption
action. The concept of identity, which is defined as ‘an expression of the
self-understanding of human being’, is a concept that is formed and shaped
as a result of interaction that is not heritable, and is completely realized
through the social environment of the individual throughout his life (Kaban
Kadıoğlu 2014). When individuals make a decision on consumption, they
prefer products which correspond to their identities, and the way they want
to be perceived by their social environment. In other words, "consumption
in consumer societies is defined as actions carried out on behalf of symbolic
values such as prestige, difference, belonging to a group, identity and image
acquisition, and class jumping, rather than necessity." With media messages
created by the cultural industry, it is suggested that consumers can be
Show Era
included in a particular social class by consuming products which imply

happiness, or being part of a socioeconomic group (Dağtaş and Dağtaş
2009, 7). The culture industry directs not only the ways in which individuals
meet their material consumption needs, but also the ways in which they
perform entertainment and leisure activities. The places where
entertainment and leisure activities are carried out contain symbols that
reveal individuals' personalities, ethnic, political, social, and personal
identities (Orçan 2014, 24). Therefore, it is possible to make inferences
about the political, ethnic, social, and religious beliefs of individuals by
looking at their consumption, entertainment and leisure activities.
The position of the concept of identity has also changed in the historical
process. While the identities of individuals in modern processes are
determined by factors such as their jobs, their social position, or their family
characteristics, the roles, behaviors and consumption preferences that
individuals show in the postmodern processes correspond to the identities
within which they position themselves (Kaban Kadıoğlu 2014, 37).
According to Rosennau, postmodern individuals are people with temporary
preferences, who are spontaneous, who have an intense interest in
differences, who pursue instant gratification, who are irrelevant to their
families, or have a low level of commitment to their nation (Rosennau
2014).
On this subject, Bocock uses the following in his book Consumption:
"Consumption now affects people's sense of who they are, who they want
to be, and the ways in which they protect those sensibilities: they are very
intertwined with the facts surrounding the development of identity as well
as being a social and cultural phenomenon (1997, 10). The perception that
consumers can achieve through consumption is constantly being imposed
on the masses by the culture industry. Today, the media encourages more
consumption, gives symbolic meanings to consumer goods, and conveys the
message to the masses that it is possible to acquire social identity with the
products consumed. In this way, it is aimed to create new consumer
identities.
In the process called ‘late capitalism’ or postmodernism, sparkling
lifestyles are being presented to the masses using media products. This has
been commonly done since 1980 in order to encourage consumption by
positioning individuals according to their lifestyles (Dağtaş and Dağtaş
2009, 13). Chaney defines the way of life as "behavior patterns that make
people different from each other." Hence, lifestyles offer information about
the identity of an individual to another person, without having to tell the
people to whom it relates (Chaney 1999, 16). ‘Today’ as a work of art, and
consciously artificially formed forms of life, are expressed by Bensman and
Vidich (1995, 39). Artificial lifestyles that are reinforced by the media are
standardized, and certain lifestyles are transformed into commercial
commodities (Dağtaş and Dağtaş 2009, 8). Lifestyles are important in terms
of being an indicator of individuals' identities. For example, the Armani and
Porsche brands give the user a certain social identity. Consumption goods,
which have symbolic meaning, have a significant effect on the formation of
interpersonal relations between "people whose identities are in the environment
of consumption rather than a production environment" (Zablocki and Kanter
1976, 280). Individuals are required to undertake a continuous and large
amount of consumption in order to reach the standardized lifestyles and
identity they desire (Dağtaş and Dağtaş 2009, 9). Therefore, in the consumer
society, consumers make a non-verbal communication with their social
environment through their preferred consumption objects. An individual
who carries out the act of consumption in order to gain social identity makes
preferences which are especially close to the consumption forms of the
social class in which he/she wishes to be included, thus revealing his/her
difference from other individuals (Kaban Kadıoğlu 2014, 35).
Conclusion
Conspicuous consumption is the form of consumption which individuals
practice in order to reveal their social status, position, and economic power.
Moreover, conspicuous consumption provides indications that make class
differences in society visible. Consumers who are in a higher class,
socioeconomically, in the social hierarchy, apply conspicuous consumption
with the aim of proving their wealth to society and showing their differences
from the lower classes. Lower class consumers purchase products which
higher class people consume, instead of preferring products which are
affordable for them, and they try to feel as though they belong to a higher
class (Koçak 2017, 81). As is seen, individuals are social beings who have
a need for social acceptance and belonging. Therefore, individuals want to
gain social identity through consumption, by adopting a conspicuous
consumption style. This is because the shortest way for individuals to show
their social identity to others is through their consumption preferences
(Kaban Kadıoğlu 2014, 37). However, just consuming conspicuously isn’t
enough to satisfy individuals. The products purchased or consumed must be
displayed and shown to the social environment (Koçak 2017, 82).
Developments in communication technologies, and the widespread use of
internet technology, have provided practical and effective display spaces for
today's people. Individuals have been striving to build status and identity
since ancient times, by making conspicuous consumption and showing these
Show Era
products to their social environment. While the spaces where individuals

exhibited products with the highest financial value in the past were limited,
social media has provided people with new display areas that can reach a
wider audience. In addition to this, social networks have made it possible to
display products with high financial value much faster, and to a wider
audience, in any environment where the internet is located, without
temporal and spatial constraints, and freeing the display from face-to-face
limitations. In other words, social media has created a new conspicuous
consumption area for today's consumers. In this new media, the social
approval mechanism is realized with the ‘likes’ of things people share.
In consumer society, where leisure activities have turned into
consumption tools, places where people spend their free time, entertainment
styles, eating-drinking habits, and preferred holiday or sports centers, have
all become opportunities for conspicuous consumption. Nowadays, luxury
goods, food and beverages, expensive cars, clothing or accessories, leisure
activities, etc., are intended to convey a certain social identity, through
consumption and sharing on social media. In other words, today's
consumers are trying to legitimize the identities that they reflect on social
media using consumption (Sabuncuoğlu 2015, 369). Today's consumers,
who want expensive brands for display purposes, want to exhibit their
economic power, besides personalizing the symbolic meanings that are
loaded onto brands, such as power, success, and prestige.
In postmodern processes, the factors that make up the identities of
consumers have changed. Factors that reveal the social identity of the
modern man, such as the level of education, or the social environment, have
been transformed. According to this, the identity of the postmodern
individual depends on the type of leisure activities which are attributed to
the objects of luxury consumption they possess, regardless of demographic
and socioeconomic variables. As a result, today's consumers are interested
in conspicuous consumption in order to belong to a particular social group,
to display their material powers, and to reveal their identities. In addition,
individuals who want to be included in a hierarchical upper class want to
belong to that class by imitating its consumption habits, and individuals who
are in socioeconomically upper classes want to buy new conspicuous
consumption materials that do not represent the lower classes. In other
words, "the consumption preferences of individuals in today’s society are
also their adjectives" (Kaban Kadıoğlu 2014, 36). Consequently, individuals
create their identities with the possessions they buy; they make consumption
expenditures that belong to a higher class socioeconomically, and are happy
to show the products with high material value to others. In postmodern
processes, the consumption act has undergone a purposeful transformation,
and the consumption realized for the purpose of meeting the basic
physiological needs has been replaced by the purchase of images, symbols,
and indicators, and thus, a conspicuous, ostentatious, materialistic society
has emerged.
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www.abs.cu.edu.tr/Dokumanlar/2015/PF%20409/338651448_enf4.doc
THE USE OF FINANCIAL REPORTS IN TERMS
OF COMMUNICATION AND THE DIGITAL
COMMUNICATIONS ASPECT
NİLGÜN SANALAN BİLİCİ
Introduction
Healthy, high quality and swift communications are necessary and required
by enterprises, just as in all fields. Communications in enterprises are
carried out by financial reports and documents, in addition to those at an
oral level. In financial communications, financial reports are used as sources
of information. Necessary information for managing company activities is
obtained from financial tables, which means from financial reports. Until
recently, the importance of communications, and their association with
financial reporting, has been acknowledged, but the relationship between
communications and accounting and financial reporting has largely been
ignored. However, in recent years, the association of communications
theory with accounting and financial reporting has gained more importance
(Smith & Smith 1971).
Communications are carried out by companies through accounting data
and financial reports. We can classify communications in terms of
enterprises into two categories; internal and external communications.
Financial reports contain all kinds of information that may be required
regarding the financial status of enterprises. The main goal for the
management and organization of enterprises is to achieve financial success.
In order to accomplish that, and in order to manage the enterprise,
information flow should be ensured at all levels. This can be accomplished
by the use of intra-enterprise communications lines. For the management of
enterprise activities and decision-making departments, financial structure,
status, and movements, should be taken into account very meticulously.
Today, thanks to the opportunities offered by digital communications, all
the data required for management, such as decision making, supervision,
planning, etc. can be simultaneously accessed with ease via digital
Nilgün Sanalan Bilici 133
communication devices. This gives management the opportunity to form

healthier plans, and to make decisions in a faster manner.
In financial communications, the extra-enterprise groups, meaning the
entities which have commercial relations with the enterprise, creditors, and
other enterprises in the same industry, as well as the state, all obtain the
most crucial information from financial reports. Through communications
enabled by financial reports submitted to the state, taxation and supervision
of enterprise earnings can be performed. Communications established with
state agencies, communications with social security agencies concerning
employment, and the submitting of information and documents that
necessitate the transfer of information, are other forms of communications.
Providing information to finance institutions which supply resources to
enterprises in terms of foreign resource provisions is another aspect of
communications. In addition to all of these, information given to the public,
and activities carried out in communication with shareholders, competitors,
and all relevant institutions and/or entities can be achieved in a direct or
indirect manner.
Enterprises receive and provide information via communication tools.
The digital communication tools of our age make it possible to access
financial reports that provide information regarding enterprises with a single
click of a key. Each one of the aforementioned financial reports offers
information from a different angle, in terms of their goals and methods of
preparation.
Financial reports
Enterprises, when carrying out their activities, are legally required to record
their transactions , in order to ensure they have the information needed
for planning, management, and supervision.
Enterprises gather documents related to activities carried out in all
departments into the accounting department. The source of data for the
communications necessary for management is financial tables, which can
be compiled as the result of accounting records. These tables contain the
information that is required for the management, supervision, and
assessment of companies. These financial reports can sometimes be
compiled with the aim of providing information to the management,
sometimes in response to legal requirements, or in order to disclose
information to the public or to the entrepreneur. The form, naming, and
purpose of the preparation of financial reports within the general definition
should be standardized. Due to globalization, transparency of borders, the
need to express activities via a common language, etc. countries are
134 The Use of Financial Reports in Terms of Communication
and the Digital Communications Aspect
mobilizing to create common standards, because the necessity for activities

to be carried out everywhere, in every language, and every form, in order to
be readable and understandable by everyone, has emerged.
International harmonization has arisen from the need to increase the
comparability of financial reports by decreasing the differences in report
compilation between countries, and from the need to create international
accounting standards (IFR/IAS) which are acknowledged by all countries
(Çankaya 2007).
We can list the main financial documents which provide financial
information to enterprises as follows (Aydın et al. 2015):
 Balance sheet,
 Income statement,
 Statement of cost of goods sold,
 Funds flow statement,
 Cash flow statement,
 Statement of profit appropriation,
 Statement of changes in equity.
Balance Sheet: This is the table which shows the resources of a company at
a certain date, and the assets procured by the indicated resources (Akdogan
& Tenker 1998). In the statements, which are compiled in the form of tables,
the right-hand side, called ‘liabilities’, indicates resources. The resources
are divided into two components; equity and liability. Liabilities are
differentiated as long-term and short-term. Liabilities of up to a year, funded
externally, which represent the debts of the company, are considered short-
term and are included in this group. Long-term liabilities are external
liabilities that exceed a year, and are translated into the debts that the
company has. The supply of assets obtained via the resources of the
enterprise, including activities as well as investments, are placed in the
current assets. The investments on the assets side of the balance sheet are
divided into two groups; floating assets and fixed (non-current) assets
(Akgüç 2011).
Income Statement: In the income statement, which is alternatively called the
statement of profits/losses, all income, expenditures, and costs of the
companies within a certain period - the profit/loss-related figures in a
quarter - are shown (Akdogan & Tenker 1998). Due to the fact that the
income and expenditure figures within the flow of the income table are
shown in the report, starting from the gross sales total up to the net profit
figure, all income and expenditure figures of the enterprise within a certain
period are classified.
Statement of Cost of Goods Sold: The statement of cost of goods sold is

actually compiled as the income statement is prepared. This section, which
is placed in the income statement as the cost of the goods sold, includes
information regarding the cost of sales. In the statement, information
regarding the details of the relevant articles of goods and services produced
and rendered is featured.
The statement of cost of goods sold is, in fact, a table, which shows the
manufacturing costs, the cost of the intermediate products that complete
production, and the cost calculations of the commercial goods sold (Savcı
2009).
The Funds Flow Statement: The concept of the fund is defined as the entirety
of the financial opportunities resulting from the relation of an enterprise
with third parties. Therefore, the content of the funds flow statement is more
comprehensive than the cashflow statement and the table of statements in
equity. The funds flow statement is a financial table that highlights the fund
resources of the enterprise which accumulate over a certain period, as well
as their use. With this table, it is possible to show the fund flows and their
fields of use in a detailed manner (Akgüç 2011).
Cash Flow Statement: The cash flow statement shows the income and
outflow of companies’ money. In other words, this table indicates the cash
collections, payments, and resources, as well as the places they are used
(Akgüç 2011). The concept of cash in the cash flow statement is used for
the utilization of money and other resources which are equal to money. The
cash flow table aims to highlight the cash movements within a period which
result in changes to the financial status of the enterprise (Sarıaslan et al.
2008).
Statement of Profit Appropriation: This is considered as one of the most
important tables, especially for people who request information from
outside the institution. Entities which use financial reports for the purpose
of assessing the status of the enterprise, such as institutions which carry out
taxation activities, shareholders, investors, and competitors, especially
examine and assess the statement of profit appropriation, and they use this
information carefully.
The purpose of the statement of profit appropriation is being able to see
the dividends to be paid to the shareholders, after taxes and other state
withholdings are deducted from income, in a clear way, and by calculating
profit and dividend per share (Akdogan & Tenker 1998).
Statement of Changes in Equity: This is a financial table which is compiled
by utilizing the data extracted from the balance sheet and income statements
of a certain period. Income statements may not completely show the

changes in equity. In addition, changes in equity may not only occur due to
changes in profit. Therefore, in order to display all changes in equity, a
statement is compiled, separate from the income statement and the
statement of profit appropriation. The statement of changes in equity shows
the increases and decreases occurring in the equity components as a whole
(Akdogan & Tenker 1998).
From all the indicated tables, information users within the institution,
and the parties outside it, gain the information that they need regarding the
activities of the enterprise. Accessing such information is possible today via
digital communication devices.
Digital communication devices

Communication is one of the prominent needs of human life, and the most
important factor in establishing relationships in both daily and business life
(Demir & Demir 2009). Communication is the act of transmitting
information, ideas, skills, and emotions, between individuals and groups, by
using various methods, via verbal or non-verbal symbols, images, and
graphics (Mısırlı 2017).
People, whether they live singly or within a group, can accomplish their
goals by establishing communication. The need to communicate is the result
of raising awareness of the environment. No matter what the aim of
communication is, spreading information, educating, entertaining, expressing,
etc., the main purpose is to create a response by providing information.
Communication, especially as a tool of control and guidance over the
behavior of people who act together in a group, is used as an essential
instrument (Tengilimoğlu & Öztürk 2011).
Ever changing and advancing technology has led to the fact that
communications throughout the world can occur via electronic networks.
With advances in technology, communications can be carried out via
various instruments. These tools, and their paths, and methods, are similar
to external communication, and can be the same or different from tools
created by the internal management mechanisms of enterprises.
We can classify the instruments and methods that we use in public
relations as printed, oral, audiovisual, and other communication tools
(Tengilimoğlu & Öztürk 2011). Communication instruments and tools can
be classified into various types, based on their fields of use, form, place of
use, and purpose. Communication tools may vary depending on how, where,
or with whom, we communicate.
With advances in technology, many countries launched satellites, which

laid the foundations for the communications networks used across the earth,
and this has rapidly increased the scale of communications . This advance
has brought in the use of electronic or digital devices.
The communication devices used in public relations can be listed as: the
press, audio-visual tools, media, seminars/meetings, conferences, newspapers,
the internet, intranet, and extranet (Gecikli 2016).
Digital public relations are communications made via online media,
search engines, and social web sites, all of which are processed as
communications, transmissions, and interaction channels (Gavra &
Savitskaya 2012). Communications carried out via digital communication
devices can be defined as digital communications. From the communication
instruments, we can list the internet, the intranet, and the extranet, as tools
that provide digital communications. The most important factor in digital
communications is the platforms which make communication possible.
Invention and proliferation of computers and similar devices are
naturally important in terms of digital communications. However, without
the advent and use of the internet, the communications would not be as
effective. Therefore, we will provide information regarding the internet,
intranet and extranet, which make digital communications possible.
Internet: What made the use of the communications devices meaningful
became a reality with the advent of the internet, which is a product of
advances in technology. The communications network presented by the
internet is what rendered the technology actively useable and beneficial.
The advent of the internet was initially in order to create a safer medium for
military purposes. In the 1960s, ARPA (the Defense Advanced Project
Agency) was tasked in this regard in order to maintain information transfer
in a safer and non-problematic manner during a possible war (Giddens &
Güzel 2005).
The term ‘internet’ emerged after the concept of networks. The internet can
be defined as a worldwide network in which information can be swiftly
shared via computers, and which includes thousands of networks as a virtual
environment (Şengül, Ulama, & Türkay 2018). Being cheap, easy to use,
and easy to access, in addition to being versatile in communications, and
being consistent, are the strong suits and the offerings of the internet (Birsen
Haluk 2013).
Intranet: With advancing network technologies, the personalization of the
internet became a possibility. Institutions maintain mail servers, web
servers, DNS (Domain Name Systems) and FTP (File Transfer Protocols)
and various other types of servers in their own structure. This type of
network, in which the individuals or institutions set up their servers to

authorize access only for their own employees, or only within the
institution, is called an intranet. As the private lines (LANs) are used for
accessing intranet applications, it is also possible to gain access via various
applications and software via the internet (Şeker 2019).
The intranet, which is established to share the information within an
organization, is a TCP/IP-based network that connects organization
networks with each other in the form of LAN (Local Area Networks) for
internal communications, or WAN (Wide Area Networks) for networks in
a wider environment (http//www.advancity.net). By rendering their internal
communications faster, easier, more open, and more understandable,
organizations utilize the intranet as a more rational form of carrying out their
activities. In this way, organizations can get rid of the bulkiness of oral and
written communications systems, as well as communicating in an economic
way. As communications are swifter, easier, and cheaper, it becomes
possible to increase the effectiveness of management functions in the
internal audit process.
Extranet: The word ‘extranet’ is derived from the combination of the words
‘extra’ and ‘network’ in English, and is defined as an open-to-outside
network, which provides access to the internal networks of solution
partners, contractors, vendors, and institutions, in the name of a state
authority, or for transparency, as a door or a part that offers access to the
intranet. In other words, the extranet can be interpreted as a part of the
intranet open to those who gain access from the outside. Usually, business
to business (B2B) networks which connect institutional structures together,
and business to consumer (B2C) set-ups which connect institutions to end
users, can be given as examples of this concept (Şeker 2019).
The extranet can be defined as the final point of overcoming the
concepts of time and place. All the elements of an organization, and parties
such as the customers, partners, stakeholders, buyers, vendors, who have
the same logic and technical structure, and who have the authorization, can
log into the system, can access it, based on their level of authorization, and
can have the opportunity to use it (Batlaş 2006). Enterprises can establish
online communications for loan requests, or for similar subjects in terms of
taxation, and they can view reports in this regard. In addition to the
aforementioned platforms, there are also tools in use.
The tools used for digital communications systems can be listed as;
 Web sites,
 Blogs,
 Social media networks,
 Chat rooms,
 Mobile apps,
 E-mails,
 E-bulletins.
Naturally, oral and written communication tools will continue to be used in
terms of organizational and extra-organizational communications, when the
enterprises carry out their activities. However, the use of digital
communications devices, which are necessities of the age, is on the rise.
Therefore, when we mention the devices used in digital communications,
we immediately think of the communication devices and forms,
predominantly featuring the internet, that are used in an electronic
environment. Just like today, there will be technological advances and fast
development in information technologies which will direct daily life
tomorrow. As the internet is involved in business management, the use of
new information technologies such as e-commerce and electronic data
sharing become a reality (Arıkboğa & Kaya 2000).
Using financial reports as a digital communication tool

Changes in technology have brought advances in many things in the world.
Today, thanks to transportation, the concept of distance has lost its meaning.
This has been reflected in every aspect of the daily life. If such advances
had not been achieved, undertaking many activities manually, or using any
other ways or methods, would seem virtually impossible. In this regard,
technology-based communications have become a necessity in carrying out
in-organization activities and for extra-organizational sharing. The
advances in technology, use of information technologies, and the advent of
the internet have led to electronic data sharing.
Preda (2007), who viewed the financial markets with a sociological
approach, thinks that the significance of the financial markets in today’s
modern society has become gradually more apparent. Furthermore, he
indicates that there is a close relationship between the increase in financial
information sharing, configuring financial transactions, the development
and expansion of the media network, and the advent of computer
technologies.
With the use of the internet and digital technologies, the psychological
distance between organizations and their target audiences, should be
considered as a necessity for the success of the organizations. As the internet
has become the face of enterprises in the world, enterprises have become
more accessible, and have begun to establish communications with their
target audiences with the communication instruments that they use. These
opportunities differentiate between the forms of communication (Karsak et

al. 2018).
Today, as information is obtained very swiftly, it is also very important
to transmit information to individuals and user organizations in a safe and
secure manner. Therefore, electronic or digital information should have
characteristics such as being flexible, accessible, and easily storable. As a
result, thanks to information technologies, enterprises can record
transactions via electronic media and can reach financial reports, online, and
instantaneously (Zabıhollah, Elam, & Sharbatoghlıe 2001).
Use of digital information is not only achieved via computers, but also
using various mobile devices which are small, but are equipped with many
functions which cannot be underrated. These can be listed as mobile phones
and notebooks, which are used as digital communications devices at an
increasing rate. The internet can be considered as the most effective tool of
communication of our age, and devices through which we can
communicate have emerged with it. These can be defined as information
providers or transmitters.
In order to carry out their daily activities, companies record their
transactions using computer software. These software packages facilitate
access to company information instantly from each department. This
technological transaction makes in-company communications healthier,
more accurate, and faster. All the information users within the company can
exchange necessary information whenever they want to, thanks to the digital
communication possibilities via computer networks. As the employees
establish easy and fast communications with each other, it is also possible
to be in easier and faster communication with the individuals and
organizations with whom they are in a business relationship. Digital
communication tools make business management easier and allow
information to be shared easily, due to the fact that they also provide very
fast communication possibilities. This may increase the performance of the
employees and their ratio of their involvement in the job. Today, financial
reports transfer information to everybody through digital communication
devices in carrying out in-company activities.
Legal regulations across the finance markets have made transparency in
the financial communications a requirement for companies and e-companies
in the market. Ever growing transaction volumes raise a need to improve
and expand structural communication policies and actions in terms of
financial communications (Bradin Prat 2018).
Conclusion
Today, with ever-advancing technology, using digital communication
devices for the exchange of financial data with the outside environment, as
much as within the enterprise via financial reports, has become a necessity.
This leads to the need to increase communications-related infrastructure
investment, as this is becoming a widespread phenomenon both in terms of
internal and external communications. After the investment and equipment
phases, there are training needs for the people who will establish the
communications, to equip them with necessary knowledge.
Although the use of technology in communications is a necessity of our
times, it also brings many advantages. Most important of all is that
communications become easier, clearer, more apparent, and tangible.
Despite the fact that this results in the need for qualified personnel, it also
creates a need to employ fewer numbers. In addition to all this,
communication requires fewer materials, thus leading to savings. Therefore,
digital is an eco-friendly method of communication.
Since users may not be able to create solutions easily on their own, due
to the advantages and disadvantages that digital communications offer, it
has become clear that nations and international organizations should take
measures, and come up with solutions, in terms of digital communication
security, which has also become a necessity of the age.
Due to the fact that correspondence in digital communications is made

in written form, and is therefore based on documents, communications can
be more secure, controllable, and provable. Therefore, we can add the
reliability element to the list of positive features of digital communications,
such as being cheap, fast and easy. The most important issue in relation to
the formation of the channels that provide communications to external
users, state institutions, financial markets, and others is the cyber security
issue, which can also be considered as one of the disadvantages of the
advances in the markets. In order to protect their systems from internal and
external attacks, organizations take ever-growing measures against malicious
users and software. However, efforts to protect digital communications
channels from malicious people in a corporate way, may not yield the
intended results. In this regard, cooperation between states on an
international level would be very effective.
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GLOBAL GENDER CONSTRUCTION
OF SOCIAL MEDIA
ÜLHAK ÇİMEN
Introduction
The technology involved in the globalization adventure of our present
world, and the culture based on this technology, have eliminated national
boundaries, and the necessity of installing new meanings in time and space
has emerged. Women and men have been defined with different/new roles
in the global culture, which are independent of classical value judgments.
Gender, which is biological , has been transformed into a state where the
identity and the self are reconstructed by changing the meaning. Social
media, which is the current dimension of communication and interaction
during this editing phase, has renewed the position and modelling of male
and female status, determined the appropriate categories of behaviour, and
reshaped the factual values of social harmony. In the context of the
reflection of social communication, social media has forced gender to
display a multi-faceted outlook with limited expectations and tasks. Social
media tools, which are accessible to almost all sectors of society without
paying a price, can easily and directly affect social perception, and direct
the paradigms of thinking and behavior. In this study, the effects of social
media and the dominant digital culture represented by social media on the
formation of social roles of women and men are examined.
Interactions and transformations are experienced rapidly and intensively
in the communications world. As a result of the instinct to increase the
motivation of individuals with social media tools, the rate of participation
in this media increases, and, as a result, updated roles and behavior patterns
in cultures emerge. Although the usual social gender paradigms refer to a
structure in which the traditional one-to-one relationships or boundaries
have a certain social space (Connell 2016), we can say that this
understanding has completely changed. Social media has led to changes in
the traditional lifestyles of societies at the macro level, and there are distinct
differences and new meanings within the gender of men and women at the
Ülhak Çimen 145
micro level. Social media, which is seen as an original environment, directs

and transforms the masses, and desires more and more people to participate
in this field. Social media, which has great importance in the continuity of
globalization, keeps gender prototypes in circulation in gender construction.
With the transition from globalization with ideal qualities, to globalization
where sexual identities have completely changed, gender has changed
meaning by becoming independent of known cultural codes (Baudrillard
2008). The system has kept the technology in service while creating this
change. In this study, firstly, it was examined in terms of social media
effects which caused great change in communication phenomenon; in this
context, the transformation of the culture that has become global in the
construction of gender was shown. A literature review was conducted in this
qualitative study, and it is aimed to reveal the representation and shaping
power of social media on gender.
Gender
The concept of gender, a phenomenon which can be found as far back as
the history of mankind, has been discussed on scientific platforms since the
1950s, and different meanings have been implicated in the 1980s, especially
with the influence of feminist groups. Gender is not only explained by
biological functions, but also supported with sociological and psychological
codes. Gender is the norm that surrounds an individual from the moment
s/he is born, and forces him/her to undertake social characteristics/beliefs.
When the individual is born, s/he gains the title of man or woman with
bodily characters in a biological sense. However, being a man or woman is
established after the formation of social culture codes (Connell 2016). These
achievements reveal the sexual identity that gives meaning to manhood or
womanhood. Identities that are very important in the sustainability of social
order, also reveal the other, and otherness.
In the world of literature, social gender features fictitious connections
where the dynamics in the formation of gender characters in the social field,
where gender cannot be fully or insufficiently explained, are emphasized
(Kirman 2004). More precisely, gender represents roles and expectations
that are sociologically expected, and need to be undertaken by women and
men; when it is analyzed in general, it is a construction project. Gender,
formed by interactions within the social reflection chain, where the efforts
to standardize and create status within relationships, correspond to a large
sexist pattern in a sense (Bora and Üstün 2002). Gender, which can also be
defined as an effort to give gender-specific subjectivity (Sancar et al. 2006),
is a producer structure that foresees the combination of the elements of
146 Global Gender Construction of Social Media
personification with value judgments in the society which contain the

characteristics of gender, characterizing psychosocial characteristics
(Dökmen 2014, 20).
The individual as a social being is under the influence of a strong norm
pattern, according to gender expectations from the moment of birth. The
individual who is expected to maintain the emotions, behaviors, and roles
imposed on the subconscious, and is determined by the society according to
gender, contributes to the continuity of the structural order by following the
womanhood-manhood attitude that society creates. Behaviors seen in the
form of disobeying or opposing gender are reacted against, and sanctions
against such behaviour are determined by society. Though thoughts that do
not reflect gender tradition create an inconvenience to society, emphasis on
difference or marginality is often ignored. This may be due to the fact that
change in sociologically-rooted continuity is difficult or impossible.
The concept of gender, which can be changed from culture to culture
according to the personal characteristics of societies, is closely related to the
religion, history, geography, philosophy and other social characteristics of
societies. Gender, which has a social-dependent structural character, is a
concept shaped by cultural mechanisms, reflecting a wide area of life, and
is the concept of the hierarchy of the rule of the gender regime in the region
(Berktay 2000).
Patterns of womanhood and manhood continue to develop within the
framework of various social forces and foci. Biological gender that starts
with birth, and has a universal character, continues with the teaching of
gender rules without interruption. In the early days of life, gender comes to
life in the light of determinative social norms. These norms are transmitted
to the individual through family, groups of friends, games/toys, social life,
education, fairy tales/story, visual arrangements, religion and the media.
The means of transmission are also surrounded by the meanings of society.
The individual develops his/her position and definition in the social world
within the framework of these interpretations.
In today's world, feminist groups criticize gender inequalities, and the
factors that determine the status of women in domestic and public areas are
the subject of current discussion. Due to the roles attributed to women, such
as the unilateral consideration of the burden of children and housework,
women's perceived second place in family life, and their role in social life,
are areas where feminist groups and institutions have intensified their
attention day-by-day (Rankin and Aytaç 2010). However, in light of the
ideas that dominate the modern world, this role structure is undergoing a
change. Conscious societies aim to ensure role distribution through equality
and through the assurance of laws. The financial responsibilities of men are
Ülhak Çimen 147
shared, and the share of work within the family is ensured - justice of the
division of labor based on gender.
From a general perspective, traditional gender perspectives that
dominated until the 1980s entered into a restructuring process with the
factors that provided social transformation. The concept of gender, the
raising of children, and the problems of identity within the popular culture
of youth and the ideology of family have been re-evaluated, and the rooted
patterns have begun to change shape.
There is no doubt that the global mass media has a big role in the change
of the imaginary and attitudinal balances of world societies. In the modern
era where the interaction is very fast and deep, the social culture has
gradually been replaced by the global culture. Within this culture, traditions,
lifestyles, and ways of thinking, change form. The concept of gender is also
affected by the changing world and the roles are re-determined.
Cultural globalization
In the second half of the 20th century, the rapid advances in communication
and internet technologies which revolutionized the usual balanced
development of the history of human beings after the agricultural and
industrial revolutions, soon affected a large part of the world population
(Başar and Erciş 2016). Rapidly spreading technology led to massive
transformations, and the masses that were intertwined with information
placed technology at the center of their lives. The unstoppable rise of
communication technologies, the effects of which have been seen at the
macro level, revealed the necessity of loading new meanings into the
concepts. The concept of globalization has now become more complex after
the technological developments have steered it away from its basic/simple
meaning.
Since globalization, which has no homogeneous definition, is viewed
from many areas of expertise, conceptualization efforts differ from each
other. Larrain (1995) defines globalization as “the processes that globally
operate and connect the world, in reality and in experience, by integrating
and connecting societies and institutions through transcending boundaries
in new time-space combinations” while Robertson (1998) describes it as “a
deep, dual process involving the intertwining of universalization of
particularism and particularization of universalism.” Peter Dicken (1992),
who examines the concept from an economical view, defines globalization
as “a more advanced and complex concept than internationalization; in this
context, it is a phenomenon that enables the integration of goods and
services within the boundaries of the country and region, and enables the
functional integration of nations by increasing the international distribution

of economic activities” while Harvey (Costu 2005) explains it thus: “The
world's smaller concentration is the result of improvements in communication
and information technology, making communication and transportation
easier, faster, and cheaper, and thus increasing interdependence.” As is seen,
the concept of globalization, which does not have a full definition
consensus, refers to the political, economic, cultural, transnational,
technological, and ideological areas that emerged through multidimensional
and joint connections.
According to the general view, the basis of globalization is economic.
After exploring the strength of technology and mechanization, national
companies which changed their familiar market rules aimed at a market
integration that transcends the boundaries of goods, services, and labor.
Thus, the intensity of interaction has increased, due to economic relations,
and the field of mutual opinion has expanded in the world (Fischer 2003).
Globalization, which also has an impact on the political scene, has
organized the conflict of interest or agreement of the nation-states, and
interfered with the rules it established in this field. Political globalization
has brought new meanings to many values such as freedom, human rights,
environment, and democracy. In the light of these solutions, the state was
criticized from a realist view, supranational institutions were established for
individual rights, and it was attempted to protect the adopted values
(Köse, 2003). Giddens (2000) sees the technology dimension of
globalization as a ‘compulsory condition’. The point reached at the level of
informatics, and the opportunity to benefit from this informatics, has made
a positive contribution to globalization in the technological sense.
Technological developments that make even radical changes faster and
more fluent, have also affected economic, political, and cultural strategies.
We can place the effects of economic, social, political and technological
developments in humanity under the title of cultural globalization. The
interaction of societies with the multi-faceted developments in the world has
increased, and changes have occurred in the cultural selves of the people. In
the context of the effects of globalization, consumption habits, customs,
clothing, lifestyle, and ways of thinking, are uniquely differentiated, and
human features have been identified in a universal dimension. Global
culture has emerged where the conflicts, together with global shopping
opportunities, have turned into compromise, and the globalizing individual
has put the distinctive features (language, religion, race, color, profit, etc.)
into the background, over time (Erkan 1998).
The concept of cultural globalization is considered to be the siege of the
whole world, in the cultural inclusion of many transnational factors that are
Ülhak Çimen 149
interrelated with each other, or with complex relationships independent of

each other (Tomlinson 2013). In the concept of cultural globalization,
popular culture is at the forefront, and has the status of a router.
Technological developments in the process of similarization of different
societies present popular culture by comparing different societies to each
other, and thus they form an attractive thinking structure. In a world where
the same films and series’ are watched, the same music is listened to, the
same jeans and T-shirts are worn, and the same language is spoken, the
factor which provides this activation is undoubtedly the phenomenon that
spreads a culture of accumulation (Sağlam 2007). People who meet, in a
common sense, provide harmony in many emotions such as pleasure,
interest, joy, sadness, response to effect, and reflex. The individuals who
internalize the emotional senses brought by the dominant culture have the
same idea structure, overcoming space or geographical differences. The
known audience ethnography (Smith and Riley 2016) is transformed into
the watching/being watched ethnography, and the effect exists from all
directions to one direction, not from one direction to all.
It can be said that the ultimate aim of cultural globalization is to create
one culture and one identity. Technology outputs have an important place
in the construction of this oneness. The technology that affects every area
of human life is the acceptance of a spontaneous perception, and, as a result
of this perception, the local culture loses its influence and the codes of
global culture standardize people. The identity that emerges here goes
beyond national identity and forms a dominant culture with artificial fiction.
In places where national and global identity clash, global identity is crushed.
The modern human being who accesses and uses technology is easily
affected by social media. In this network system, which can be used at any
moment and for long periods of time, the individual performs interactions
directly, and without time/space discrimination. The social media that
processes the hegemonic culture subconsciously disrupts the culture
specific to many axes, and changes the level of consciousness of the vast
majority of the world’s population, with a structure that makes scrutiny and
investigation unnecessary.
Social media
Communication has been one of the most important needs of people
throughout history. For this reason, humanity has tried to find ways to
practice communication . With the development of technology,
communication techniques have increased, these techniques have affected
every aspect of life, and access has become easy. As a revolution for the
communication world, the internet has changed the level of satisfaction of

the communication requirement and has made a great contribution to ever-
growing communication technologies.
Aydemir (2014), who identifies the internet as an international
communication system which is the result of connecting internet networks
to each other through different methods, without a manager or limiting
system, which gives everyone the right to speak, and has the ability to guide
society easily, also emphasizes its ease of use and non-restrictive features.
This ease of use and access has brought the internet to the first place in
communication, and even face-to-face communication has been relegated
to the background. The decrease in the cost of the internet, and the use of it
in portable technological devices, have caused a great transformation in
communication. Device communication has become a part of ordinary life,
and the meaning of space and time has changed in the human-machine
relationship. The individual who can take digital codes anywhere and
anytime, and internalize them, has found the opportunity to travel around
the networks.
Social media tools constitute an important part of developing and
globalizing communication technologies. Social media, which can be
defined as "a common term for online tools and websites that create mutual
interaction by providing information, thoughts, and interests to users"
(Sayımer 2008), is a virtual and digital socialization space that allows
sharing of many anecdotes about emotions, thoughts, snapshots, experience,
knowledge, and life.
Despite the fact that the name includes ‘media’, social media is different
from traditional media, and is not created by anyone, such as a manager or
director. In this field, where the content is created by the member/user,
everyone can be both source and receiver. In this context, users of the media
in the virtual environment create their own agendas, and individuals, both
users and audience, follow the individual agendas via virtual socialization
(Babacan 2011). Social media, which adds a new dimension to the concept
of socialization, has become more accessible after the merger with smart
mobile phone technology.
Social media is a hybrid of the internet and is an expanded form of
written, oral and visual communication tools. This media platform supports
interactive communication by creating many commercial and social
advantages (Aziz 2008). The main social media tools in the world (social
networking sites, Twitter, Facebook, etc., blogs, forum sites, and content
sharing sites) continually propagate interactive communication. Social
media accounts consist of memberships that are continuously used, where
users are entitled to interact unless there is a violation of the rules. Social
Ülhak Çimen 151
media tools attract user attention by using simple search methods and
facilitate access to an account or topic. In a virtual environment, users can
share what they want and create their own agenda in parallel, with self-
confidence.
We can say that those who actively use social media have ‘digital native’
identity. The libertarian environment presented by social media can be a
reason for this (Durmuş 2014). Social media, which can be used without
spatial limitations, identifies a network character to users and creates virtual
identities in this free environment. This identity is shaped by the codes
available in the network. Social media platforms, which weaken our face-
to-face and sincere communication, aim to provide social culture with
ready-made codes to the users, and believes that members who take the
codes subconsciously can diversify from these codes. Due to the fact that
the information source of social media is not one, and there are many centers
of distribution, the data is given in a wide range, and the control of
information becomes difficult. The ready-made codes presented on social
media reveal a different gender perception. Male and female roles become
evident by social media codes, and new role models are emerging with
interaction. Traditionalized gender characteristics gain a new dimension,
and gender is adapted to dominant digital culture on a global basis, with
incentivised or discouraging data.
Gender construction
The importance of communication between human beings in society cannot
be denied. Social structure and relations are the output of communication.
Social interaction has emerged as a concept that makes sense of life and
manifests itself in all kinds of knowledge acquired from the external
environment (Yılmaz 2003). People's ability to express themselves or
determine their roles in life, relates to social return data. Social media tools,
where private life can be experienced with widespread, clear and intense
visuals, feature identity performances, and pave the way for individuals to
gain a certain social status, and to be praised, as well as to identify
competition (Çakır 2017). In this context, individuals confuse social sharing
with memories, and real thoughts with normative ideas, and general
appreciation, instead of with individual tastes. T hey experience feelings of
depression. Self-discipline is lost in the sense of general compatibility, and
examples are followed. In the social environment, the individual is
evaluated using data in social media tools, and communication is developed
in the direction of these data. Thus, the phenomenon of ‘personality’ is
evolving not with instinct, but with the concerns that digital culture
channels.
In the process of socialization, individuals try to gain a place in society
and come to the forefront. For this purpose, they learn by internalizing
generally accepted norms. Technological communication tools have a great
impact in this learning phase. Social media, which includes communication
channels on which individuals spend a lot of time today, is a system that
creates a change in the norms of behavior and the value of individuals. The
social media system wants people to learn and spread hegemonic culture.
The masses, using social media tools, find themselves in the
hegemonic/popular/transitional culture without being able to perceive the
local culture/way of living fully. As active users, young people see social
media tools as a step in their personal development, and aim to resolve their
problems in this way .
Changes occur in the feelings and thoughts of individuals through social
media. First, we see the effort to show oneself as someone else in order to
gain appreciation and status. The individual adopts a global way of life by
moving away from the individual self. By wearing designer clothing, s/he
tries to spread an imaginary intellectual structure through social media .
By doing this, the individual, who may be exposed to stress or psychological
pressure, may experience beneficial and positive gains through some social
groups, while s/he may also be involved in some social groups with harmful
habits, violence, hatred, discrimination, or illegal activities. This cultural
globalization, which can be defined by the new communication system,
passes through global tastes and desires (Timisi 2003). The online digital
identities of individuals have become identified with more than one mask.
The masks they use are the beginning of the ‘I’ transformation. Over time,
the role is determined by precise lines, and globally approved patterns of
behavior occur. As individuals are constantly in search of an identity in
social media, symbolic materials are gaining importance in the fictionalized
social media society, and global digital cultural values are interpreted as
true/positive.
One of the biggest problems in human life is the problem of self-
knowledge. He wants to make sense of the self, and of his personality, in
the questions "Who am I or what am I." With social media communication,
the individual seeks answers to these questions in a universal mirror and
finds his position within a search for universal culture (Takış 2003).
Individuals who have achieved the same thinking ability in the dimensions
of pleasure, desire, opinion, belief, and perspective, are individuals who
have taken all the elements of global culture and digital communication into
themselves. In this complex and multifaceted identity, the individual
Ülhak Çimen 153
reaches ready-made codes for a new generation of gender, using social

media, and accepts and spreads these codes. A person turns his innate
biological gender into a gender with codes presented in social media.
However, the data presented on social media uniformizes gender roles and
often differentiates between the codes of digital culture and gender types.
Qualifications uploaded to gender limit/broaden roles, or lead to the
adoption of incorrect roles. Social media not only constructs gender but also
paves the way for an understanding of gender with intensified alienation.
With the categorized repertoire of social media, the identities of men and
women are reconstructed.
The writings or visuals in social media effectively shape the thinking
structures of men and women. In these forms, in which trading companies
are involved , individuals are asked to incorporate activities such as make-
up, having a good body, dressing according to the fashion of the time,
developing entertainment, and hobbies, with artificial trends. In addition, in
social media advertising, the bodies or voices of women are used as
commodities, and the body is capitalized. Members who take the perfect
people on social media into consideration try to resemble them physically
and behaviorally. The role patterns assigned to men and women are seen as
normative, and are not generally criticized by people.
The gender that expects it will be accepted, is presented in social media
with many codes that are constructed and prepared in advance. Fat-free
women and muscular males identify with the idea of beauty, and ideal body
perception across the globe shows that gender is polarized (Baudrillard
2016). Beauty references to ready-made patterns have become more
important than health, and ideal body and beauty medications have reduced
the value of natural health.
Social media data is quickly shared. Even though comments about
shares or events can be seen as subjective, these shares and comments are
generally a product of the accepted global culture, because, in the masses,
where there is the same ability to think and react to various incidents, there
occurs an idea/view consensus. This is an example of standardization.
Again, the minority who think differently are interpreted as marginal.
According to current system images, users who do not produce social media
face negative consequences. We can show social media as the greatest
supporter of global culture, which is able to make good and bad distinctions,
even in the field of gender.
Conclusion
When social media is consciously used, there is no doubt that it is a platform
where useful things can be achieved. However, global social media in the
socialization process of individuals can disrupt the balance of gender with
the discriminating codes it creates. The codes offered by the capitalist
culture reach people through global social media. The local culture,
traditions and knowledge of societies are devalued at the global level, and
change over time. In addition, global cultural structure values, in every
aspect of life, shape the subconscious, and social media can be seen as a tool
to facilitate this.
The masses, who use social media frequently and intensely, exist within
the affected/transformed group. Together with the changing forms of culture
and thinking, the roles of men and women are determined by social media.
In this role distribution, roles prepared by the system for women and men
are adopted, and various assignments and responsibilities are assumed.
Individuals accept these patterns in the social media world where they are
constantly online. Criticism and different behavioral outcomes are not
welcomed by transforming masses.
Human beings accept mass truths under the psychology of appreciation
and compliance, and they are subject to gender transformation of social
media. After digitalizing fashion, advertising, communication, and culture,
the system creates a digital agenda, where gender and culture are presented
through social media, and people accept this culture without question.
Representation of women and men in social media is conducted through
stereotyped roles, and the individuals who are outside these roles are
charged with failure. The points of view and discourses of the system's
codes are ineffective with anarchism.
Computers, networks, and telecommunication (communication
technologies in general) not only changed the phenomenon of
communication and space-space perception but also brought the concept of
gender to a different level (Özkoçak 2015). Social media presented to
societies as an ideal environment can directly affect self-formation, value
judgments, identity, trends, and gender, and can cause them to be affirmed
or negated in the way they desire. Individuals who construct gender images,
expectations and values in the social media environment, where all kinds of
issues are mentioned, discussed, or learned, adopt the sexist cultural codes
that the system has determined. The perception of gender change and
transformation as the way the system desires is shaped by the social media
which serves globalization and digital culture.
Ülhak Çimen 155
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THE IMPORTANCE OF MARKETING PUBLIC
RELATIONS FOR “NEW” CONSUMERS
GÜLSELİ AYGÜL ERNEK ALAN
Introduction
The formal practice of what is now commonly referred to as ‘public
relations’ dates to the early 20th century. In the relatively brief period
leading up to today, public relations has been defined in many different
ways, the definition often evolving alongside public relations’ changing
roles and technological advances. According to the Public Relations Society
of America (PRSA)’s National Assembly definition (2012): “Public
relations is a strategic communication process that builds mutually
beneficial relationships between organizations and their publics”
(https://www.prsa.org/all-about-pr/).
Also, from the United Kingdom, the Chartered Institute of Public
Relations (CIPR) which is the chartered body for public relations, and the
largest membership organization for PR professionals in Europe, defines in
general, thus: “Public Relations is about reputation - the result of what you
do, what you say and what others say about you.” And the CIPR’s expanded
definition is: “Public Relations is the discipline which looks after reputation,
with the aim of earning understanding and support and influencing opinion
and behavior. It is the planned and sustained effort to establish and maintain
goodwill and mutual understanding between an organization and its
publics” (https://www.cipr.co.uk/content/policy/careers-advice/what-pr).
“Public relations; two-way communication with target audiences; is a
discipline that aims to establish honest relations and cares about mutual
interests. Public relations is considered as a method of generating public
opinion, trust, approval, consent and respectability for democratic societies
(Biber 2009).
Lesly viewed public relations in the ‘middle role’, of working with
intangibles, a focus where business problems are identified as essentially a
communication need. His idea of the professional using communication to
158 The Importance of Marketing Public Relations for “New” Consumers
bridge the interaction between the client/employer and the public served to
demonstrate an even larger social function for public relations (Heath 2005).
Public relations has changed in the historical process to achieve the
definitions given above. Edward Bernays, one of the founders of public
relations, in his 1923 definition, suggests: "any public relations activities,
the case, action or corporate information, persuasion and adaptation, by
adjusting the effort to secure public support." In the context of the 1940s
and 1950s, which focused heavily on attitudes and perceptions, public
relations is considered as the art of persuasion. In the 1960s, with more than
a hundred thousand professionals in public relations, difficulties in
multiplicity began to increase. In the 1970s, public relations was defined as
a discipline that includes management function, management of problems
and topics, informs the public about management and helps management to
be sensitive to the public. In the 1980s, the concept of postmodernism was
reflected in public relations. Messages aimed at creating brand dependency
began to be made through advertisements, sales promotion techniques, and
public relations. In the 1990s, the concept of ’integrated marketing’
emerged in the context of marketing communication in order to plan these
communication efforts in harmony (Odabaşı and Oyman 2003).
Apart from its support for management and marketing communication,
integrated marketing is a communication discipline with independent fields
of activity. Public relations is not a concept defined in narrow scope, in
terms of creating an opportunity for interviewing or giving news to business
managers in television and radio programs (Ülger 2003).
"Marketing public relations" is the area where public relations has a
clear relationship with integrated marketing, and the power of persuasion
comes forward. In this study, the effect of marketing public relations on
changing consumer profiles will be explained.
Marketing public relations

Public relations is used to achieve many purposes, as a function that
supports marketing. The most important of these are raising awareness,
giving news or information, gaining understanding, building trust, forming
friendships, showing reasons for people to buy (in some cases, giving
approval), and, as a result, creating a climate for consumer acceptance
(Erciş, 2003; Harris 1998).
Communication and messaging strategies are very important in public
relations, and also for marketing public relations. The general and required
qualities of communication within this profession are indicated by the 7C
Formula (İnan 2009):
Gülseli Aygül Ernek Alan 159
Credibility: Communication begins in the faith environment.

Context: The communication program should be developed in accordance
with the environment. Mass media uses the words and values of daily life.
The environmental conditions must correspond with, and not contradict, the
transmitted message. Supporting environmental conditions is necessary for
effective communication.
Content: The message should contain meaning for the recipients and be
compatible with the value system of the recipients. The content of the
message determines the target audience.
Clarity: The message should be presented in a simple way. Words must
have the same meaning for both the sender and the recipient of the message.
Complex issues should be supported by simplifying and explaining themes
and slogans. The further away the message is, the simpler it should be.
Continuity – Consistency: Communication is an endless process. It is
necessary to repeat/continue it, through various ways of learning and
persuasion, to achieve success.
Channels: The channels used and trusted by the purchasers should be used.
The creation of new channels can be difficult, time-consuming, and
expensive. Different channels of communication can be used for different
messages.
Capability of the Audience: Communication should be ensured by the target
audience. If the buyer also makes an effort, then the communication will be
the most effective. The habits mentioned here include reading ability and
prior knowledge.
Kitchen suggested that, while there is ‘a significant relationship between
corporate public relations and marketing public relations’, the focus of each
is different. He suggests that marketing aims to create exchanges with
consumers and uses PR tools to that end. Public relations, on the other hand,
aims to ‘create and maintain mutually beneficial relations with publics who
could impact on business success’ (Kitchen 1997 as cited in Theaker 2004).
Van Meter suggests that, "advertising is visibility, public relations is
reliability", and that this reveals the strategic and tactical difference between
public relations and advertising, which is another component of marketing
communication. One of the examples of this, is the fact that, before the start
of Pfizer's advertising, Viagra's sales gained 250 million dollars and 90%
market share (Çınarlı 2009).
Marketing public relations contributes to the establishment of consumer
and brand relations in the directional communication process between the
consumer and the business. Public relations can announce that the brand is
the market leader in its field, can create mobility in the market, develop
promotional and packaging news when the product is unknown, organize an
event, promote the product before the advertising campaign, create news in
the absence of advertising, or create news from the advertising itself
(Peltekoğlu 2007).
The factors that help to develop marketing public relations include
globalization and increasing competition, ecological development and
change, changes in consumers, increased advertising costs, decrease in the
effect of advertising, and decrease in traditional advertising environments
(Kırdar 2012).
Marketing public relations is based on the view that trust-based
functioning of public relations will be much more effective than advertising
alone.
The fact that the disciplines of marketing and public relations establish
close relations is because both are outward-oriented. Kotler lists the five
major instruments of communication (advertising, personal sales, sales
promotion, direct marketing, and marketing public relations), as the fifth ‘P’
in public relations marketing (Harris 1998). Kotler's marketing-oriented
public relations is defined by the ‘pencils’ acronym (Kotler 2000):
Publications: Company magazines, annual reports, useful customer
brochures, etc.
Events: Sports or arts performances and a sprinkling of trade shows.
News: Positive news about the company, its employees and its products.
Community involvement activities: Beneficial activities for the community
(contributing money or time for the needs of society).
Identifying media: Identifying communication tools (letterhead, business
cards, clothing-making rules for the company).
Lobbying activity: Efforts to ensure that the legislation and decisions are
made for the company, or by those who will affect the company positively.
Social responsibility activities: Making a good name and improving the
company's social responsibility.
Kitchen and Papasolomou also use Kotler’s thoughts on the different tasks
which could be undertaken by marketing, marketing public relations, and
public relations. The first deals with market and customer assessment and
segmentation as well as product advertising. Marketing public relations is
concerned with corporate advertising, media strategy, and surveys into
employee attitudes and customer satisfaction. Public relations then takes

responsibility for news, community relations, lobbying, and social
investments (Kitchen 1997 as cited in Theaker 2004).
What is certain, is that the various descriptions of marketing and public
relations activities show that the disciplines are moving more closely
together towards a more integrated approach (Theaker 2004).
Meral Saçkan, chairman of the board of the MPR Marketing Public
Relations agency, who started marketing-oriented public relations work in
Turkey, defines marketing-oriented public relations thus: “Public relations
to serve marketing objectives is a holistic planning, implementation, and
evaluation program process, that promotes sales and customer satisfaction,
and uses credible, reliable, informative and convincing communication that
identifies companies and their products with consumers' wishes and needs,
interests and special interests” (Göksel, Kocabaş & Elden 1997).
Betül Mardin who is one of the doyennes of public relations in Turkey,
assessed the sector in 1995, positioning marketing-oriented public relations
as a specialist and leader in companies, providing consumer confidence,
promoting consumer happiness, introducing new products, reviving old
products, re-launching new markets, reaching secondary markets, and
supporting weak markets, summarizing the target audience to expand
(Mardin 1995).
In Webster’s New World Dictionary of Media and Communications,
Richard Weiner defines marketing public relations as “the use of special
events, publicity, and other public relations techniques to promote products
and services” and also underlines that the term was popularized by Thomas
L. Harris (Harris 1998).
Ehling, White and Grunig (2005), in their article titled “Public Relations
and Marketing Practices”, state that both marketing and public relations are
important for an organization. However, they argue that excellent public
relations departments should be separated from marketing departments. In
order to explain this view in detail, Tunçel (2009) compiles the literature
search by Philip J. Kitchen and Ionna Papasolomou, and lists the features of
public relations in the following way:
• Public relations is not part of marketing; marketing is not a part of
public relations.
• PR can be used in the marketing communication mix from public
relations; however, this does not mean that public relations will be
under the control of marketing.
• Public relations is an independent discipline, it has its own system.
• PR is an independent department, within marketing, and co-located
with departments.
• PR is not only a side function consisting of tactics and supporting

techniques. It is a strategic management consultant responsible for
senior management. It is effective in high-level general decisions.
• Public relations cannot be confined within a marketing department
that ignores the broader corporate communication role of public
relations.
• Marketing, regardless of a dominant position in the face of public
relations in an organization or institution, while in a slippery and
risky environment, needs to rectify problems and needs with non-
marketing marketing methods and approaches. For example, media
relations, crisis communication, financial communication, internal
communication, subject management, governmental and non-
governmental organizations, and relationships with local communities
cannot be managed efficiently when they are controlled by
marketing.
• Public relations should act independently of marketing and use its
own communication methods.
• Public relations, in contrast to marketing, informs a wider group of
social stakeholders, not only those groups in which it has a
commercial relationship, and also establishes interactive
communication based on mutual persuasion.
• Marketing identifies markets for suitable goods and services, and
creates demand. However, public relations tries to establish a long-
term lasting understanding, trust, appreciation, and reputation
within the business, and among target groups and stakeholders.
• Public relations managers (also called corporate communications
managers) can advise marketing communication programs, but not
under the direction of the marketing manager.
• If an enterprise makes public relations only a marketing function,
public relations employees become technical supporters, and the
enterprise loses a valuable mechanism and competitive advantage
to manage its long-term, non-purely interactive communication
with its strategic stakeholders.
• While maintaining the reputation of the institution as an
independent management function, public relations tries to prevent
and balance the negative situations that marketing can
inadvertently create.
• Both disciplines should be seen as separate but equal functions.
Both aim to achieve corporate goals.
According to the results of a survey conducted by marketing managers,
three-quarters of enterprises use public relations for marketing purposes,
and this practice is very effective in creating awareness (Peltekoğlu 2010).

Again, according to research conducted by New York City research firm,
McBain Associates, nine out of ten brand managers benefit from public
relations to support their brands (Harris 2009). According to another study,
customers who receive public relations services also demand integrated
communication services related to management and marketing functions as
well as classical services (Saydam 2000). Another example of the value
added to the marketing mix by public relations is also accepted by marketing
professionals; Herbert M. Baum, CEO of Dial Corporation, emphasizes the
importance of long-term brand value, advertising, and marketing efforts, for
brand construction, sales promotion, immediate sales and profit in the short
term, but emphasizes that the secret weapon for public attitude change is
public relations (Harris and Whalen 2009). Marketing also aims to orientate
public relations with the target groups determined in line with the
objectives, and to guide them in the direction of functional and general
business objectives. Communicating with target groups is an important
point for both disciplines. However, the communication objectives and
strategies used differ, according to the characteristics of the target audience
(Tosun 2010, Başar and Erciş 2013). The target audience on the internet is
an expandable and interactive participant, and connects communities with
each other, using online channels called social media. In other words, "as
directed by the user to share media, and is the only media encouraged in this
direction" (Kalafatoğlu 2010).
Public relations, stepping into the digital world with the use of the
internet, also uses digital channels in a very effective way to reach the target
audience. It is a fact that social media usage is widespread, and increases
the interaction with different consumer groups in terms of marketing public
relations.
Today’s consumers: Gen X, Y, Z or Generation C

Consumers are changing, and firms and brands must read them well. As we
discussed above, marketing public relations is preferred to advertising, and
brands prefer to use marketing public relations.
Today's consumers are themselves, individually a media. The power of
social media, and its prevalence, are particularly effective. Brands or
companies aim to work with influencers in the media whom they designate
according to their target audience. While the target group is separated by
age at this point, generation marketing is discussed.
First of all, it is necessary to explain what the ‘generation’ is.
Generational experts William Strauss and Neil Howe agree that generations
are shaped by a particular span of time: “A generation is a group of people

who share a time and space in history that lends them a collective persona”,
but, says McCrindle, “even beyond these developed countries, young people
are logged on and linked up. … We have a generation accessing the same
websites, watching the same movies, downloading the same songs and
being influenced by the same brands. Today we have the world’s first global
generation. Therefore, we define a generation as ‘a group of people born in
the same era, shaped by the same times and influenced by the same social
markers – in other words, a cohort united by age and life stage, conditions
and technology, events and experiences’” (McCrindle 2014).
The generations are classified as ‘Y Generation’ and ‘Generation Z’, and
Generation Z is also identified as Alpha (Strauss & Howe 1991, Strauss &
Howe 1997, McCrindle 2014, Morin 2017).
The main distinction when trying to understand generations is, of course,
related to the technology they are born into, and how they use it.
As we all know, history consists of repetition. McCrindle (2014)
explains the pendulum-like cycles of history with the words of famous
novelist D H Lawrence: “Men fight for liberty and win it with hard knocks.
Their children, brought up easy, let it slip away again, poor fools. And their
grandchildren are once more slaves.”
Strauss and Howe (1997) made a classification for the Anglo-American
generation. McCrindle (2014) extended this classification and worked in
this field. Morin (2017) focuses on these two studies and makes the
following classifications:
The Silent Generation (1928-1945) - The Artists: They knew the Second
World War. They were over-protected by their parents, quickly fell back on
themselves, and developed new universes to escape the situation. After the
war, these ‘artists of the soul’ took advantage of the social climate and
economic recovery of the post-industrial era to restart families, giving rise
to the most important ‘boom’ in births in the 20th century.
Baby Boomers (1946-1962) – The Prophets: They were born after the
war, in full economic recovery, and they experienced the great changes of
the post-industrial era. They are moralists, relentless, they live through their
values, and are ready to fight to defend their ideas. … Very early in their
youth, they also developed relational qualities that favor them today,
compared to younger generations, who communicate essentially solely
through new technologies.
Generation X (1962-1978) – The Nomads: They were born at the time
of great technological change; they experienced the first computers and cell
phones. … They become more pragmatic, but at the same time more
adventurous. They seek, above all, the balance between family and work.
Generation Y (1978-1994) – The Heroes: This is the generation which

is also known as the first children of the new millennium. … They have
experienced the early years of the internet, and the emergence of new
information technologies. They are energetic and curious; they have always
positioned themselves at the centre of their environment, and they aim for
personal success above all else. Their freedom of expression is precious,
and it is the era of the ‘selfie’ and of ‘ego casting’.
Generation Z (1994-2010) – The Digital Natives: This generation is the
first-time cohort of digital natives born with the world wide web. They are
more voluntary and serious than millennials, and are more enterprising.
More concerned about their autonomy and the future of society, they
consume more frugally, and focus on utilitarian goods. For them, mobile
technologies are an extension of personality, and they can easily perform
several tasks at once.
After these classifications, Morin (2012) mentions a generation of
globalization in marketing. This refers to generic customer generation as
multi-generational marketing. This generation is ‘Generation C – the
Customer Generation - or Consumer C’, covering a 15 - 75 age group. What
connects them is their ability to use new technologies and social media to
meet their needs.
Generation C is found among all social classes, and is active in every
age group. Social networking is now used by baby boomers, who use it to
maintain contact with their relatives and prolong their careers; by
Generations X and Y who use it at work; and by Generation Z, which has
just entered the labour market. And, in less than 15 years, there will be a
new Alpha generation who will take over and introduce their own rules to
the game.
Referring to Turkey in particular, the young age groups constitute a large
part of the population of about 87 million. Looking at the above
classifications; the Silent Generation in Turkey represent 3% of the
population (2,679,865); Baby Boomers account for 14% of the total
population (12,056,657); Generation X accounts for 18% of the total
population (15,832,599); Generation Y accounts for 22% of the total
population (19,139,056); and 22% of the total population fall within
Generation Z (19,248,875). (http://www.tuik.gov.tr/PreIstatistikTablo.do?
istab_id=1632).
It is clear that social media is actively used by all age groups. Marketing
public relations is also actively using social media. Hereby, it is possible to
indicate that messages reach the target audience with higher quality
interaction. “Social media has helped give consumers a power they did not
have before. These are the users who spend the most time on social media
for all sorts of reasons, and where they are heard regularly, tweeting,
relaying, or blogging. Sometimes these ‘voices’ talk about products and
services, they ‘like’ or tell of a bad experience, others seek the advice of
their subscribers on certain products or services” (Morin 2017).
Today, consumers are often better informed than salespeople or brand
reps. Before buying, they conduct research, find and evaluate the best
options, and compare recommendations, conditions, prices, and warranties.
If they’re not satisfied, they’ll opt for a competitor’s product or service, no
matter where it’s located. And now, thanks to the web and social media,
these connected consumers create and distribute their own content and take
advantage of their network reach to influence their community. This further
increases their power over brands and organizations. In this context,
users/consumers become real ‘prosumers’. They now take an active role at
each stage of the purchasing journey and reveal themselves to be potential
influencers. They demand to be heard, and that the persons responsible meet
their expectations (Morin 2017).
While age influences behavior and attitudes, greater impact is made by
the culture in which one lives out one’s youth, as well as by social markers
– significant events during one’s formative years (McCrindle 2014).
Multi-generational marketing appeals to the unique needs of individuals
within more than one specific generational group. Marketers will need to
respond to the trend of multi-generational marketing and branding by
adjusting their marketing mixes and strategies accordingly (Williams, Page,
Petrosky, Hernandez 2010).
Theaker (2004) says that Stone (1995) quotes research from the 1970s
which identifies six main zones of influence within families when making
decisions about buying various products, as: the man’s influence, the
woman’s influence, the children’s influence, man and woman together, man
and children together, and woman and children together. This was followed
by research in 1991, which found that children were the main influence on
the purchase of video games (61%) and that women were dominant in the
purchase of dishwashers and food processors (69% and 67%). Only one area
was male dominated – satellite television aerials (72%). Kitchen (2001)
mentions that the information on buying decisions can inform the public
relations practitioner when devising campaigns, and selecting the
appropriate tactics to carry messages about particular products to specific
publics (Theaker 2004).
Today, the sharing of personal data on social media corresponds with
the emergence of fake accounts, with the result, according to Edelman’s
2018 Trust Barometer Report, that 60% of people no longer trust social
media companies. Users have grown distrustful of many media and
celebrity influencers (whose followers, it turns out, are often bought or

fake). In a major pendulum swing, trust on social media has reverted back
to immediate friends, family, and acquaintances (Hootsuite Social Media
Trends Report 2019).
It would not be wrong to say that brands are more interested in
influencers’ cooperation because of this loss of trust. For example, brands
using celebrities have also started to use micro influencers, and have had a
positive effect: “Progressive companies like Adidas and The New York
Times, for example, are working to develop intimate, meaningful dialogue
with smaller, more valuable, audience groups. They’re creating
communities and sharing insightful and researched content—then getting
out of the way and letting passionate users talk to one another. Rather than
relying on celebrity influencers, brands are leveraging their own internal
experts and employee advocates (Hootsuite Social Media Trends Report
2019).
Social media usage is very common in Turkey. According to the
published report by We Are Social and Hootsuite, “Digital 2019 Turkey”
(https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2019-turkey), our country which
has a population of 82.4 million, of which 59.36 million are internet users;
72% of the population. 52 million active social media users constitute 63%
of the population. There are 44 million active mobile social media users
who make up 53% of the population.
If we look at the use of electronic devices in Turkey in 2019, while 98%
of adult people use mobile phones, 77% of them use smartphones. The
proportion of people using a desktop computer or laptop is 48%, while the
ratio of tablet users is 25%. Almost everyone has television, the rate is 99%.
The ratio of wearable technology products is 9%.
People spend an average of seven hours a day on the internet, most of
their time. The average is two hours 46 minutes per day on social media, an
average of three hours and nine minutes per day watching television, and,
on average, they listen to music for one hour and 15 minutes a day.
In Turkey, there are 59.3 million internet users, corresponding to 72%
of the population, and 56.3 million of them are connected to the internet via
their phones. There is a total of 52 million social media users in Turkey with
44 million mobile users and devices connecting to social media. As can be
seen, the most active social media platform is Youtube (92%). Instagram
(84%) and Facebook (82%) follow. Twitter (58%), Snapchat (31%) and
LinkedIn (30%) are the most commonly used social media platforms.
In this report, for the first time, gender and age distribution is made, but
it does not exactly match the above-mentioned generation classification.
However, it is seen that those in the Gen Y and Gen Z groups use social
media more. Turkey, however, is noteworthy, in that in 2019, the

distribution of social media users shows more men in each age group. In
general, 1/3 of the social media users are in the 25-34 age group.
Institutions attach importance to the use of influencers in order to sell
their products and strengthen their reputation in the context of marketing
public relations. These influencers are not always famous names. Big Cat
Research, an influencer company with the perspective of the young
population in Turkey, has carried out a survey. According to the report,
"Turkey Influencer Marketing Research 2018", 51% of users buy products
with the help of an Instagram influencer, suggesting that 73% of them start
to follow the influencers because they find them sincere, and 92% of them
recommend the influencer to their friends. Turkish followers find brand
partnerships attractive (71%) and reliable (72%). 57% of users say that if
the influencer has a product or brand under his/her own name, they will buy
it. They see infection as a profession (54%). Of the 62% of those who want
to be influencers, (50%) are among the 13-17 age group. 61% of
respondents interact with an influencer by typing comments. If they receive
a response to their comments, they may purchase the product.
Let's distinguish today's consumer as the Silent Generation, Baby
Boomers, Gen X, Gen Y and Gen Z, or, as Morin points out, a Generation
C, defining the 15-75 age range, and today’s institutions as using marketing
public relations for their brands to reach their target audience; publicity,
press releases, press conferences, interviews, executive statement releases,
feature articles, events, lobbying, sponsorship, product placement, cause
related marketing, and character merchandising tools are all reached.
Here are some successful examples of using these tools: OMO entered
the Turkish market in 1985. In the 2002 economic crisis in the country, the
promise of a similar brand built its strategy on the need to establish an
emotional connection. In 2001, messages such as ‘modern parenting work’,
‘when laundry is soiled, children learn ’ demonstrate the importance of
child development, which the brand has brought to the fore. Since 2004, this
brand has achieved a highly successful emotional connection with its ‘dirt
is good’ strategy. In the ongoing study, the brand has adopted a
communication platform that is completely different, bold , positive, and
beneficial to society, creating a revolution in its own history, and in the
detergent sector. In this way, an important step has been taken towards
branding by avoiding the risk of commodification. The campaign continues
with the messages about ‘Active Play’, ‘Handicrafts for Children’,
‘Games’, ‘Cheerful Plates’, and ‘ Babies’. The primary target group of the
campaign is families with children, members of the press, and young people
who are potentially the mothers of the future. In the messages it’s
emphasized that getting dirty is not a terrible thing. Children need to share,
explore, learn and have fun, for their healthy development. The OMO brand
says that children getting dirty when playing is a natural result of their
personal development. The message of the campaign is “Don’t worry about
the dirt, because with OMO, dirt is good” (Suher and others 2013).
For the children who grew up with the campaign, which started in 2004,
i.e. Generation Y and Generation Z, getting dirty is not a terrible thing, for
them if something becomes dirty, it can be washed, so there is no worry.
This campaign uses Instagram (4,056 followers,) Facebook (794,768
followers), twitter (16.4 K followers) and Youtube (22,893 subscribers)
actively to reach its target groups.
As an example of a current campaign, Cif, one of the brands of Unilever,
has a campaign: “Share the Load (Hepimizin Elinde)”, to support social
equality. Cif examined the data by browsing the speeches in many social
networks, like Ekşi Sözlük, Twitter, and Instagram, and forums, between
January 2014 and September 2018. In addition, for a different perspective,
Cif used the research results of the Ipsos report "Gender Equality in Turkey"
to draw the campaign strategies. According to the data of this survey, 86%
say work within the home is ‘women’s work’. 77% say cleanliness, 79%
say laundry, 69% say dishwashing, and 72% say cooking falls into this
category. In addition, 72 households expected housework to be shared
equally among the spouses. With these facts, the brand that handles the
campaign speaks to all generations, in other words, Gen C. Arzum Onan
(actress and sculptor born in 1973, Miss Europe in 1993) is the face of the
campaign, and a statue of a woman with six arms and four legs made by
herself represents a woman of surreal power trying her best in terms of
household duties (Kabaoğlu 2018, Akın 2018) https://www.unilever.com.tr/
news/press-releases/2018/turkiyede-toplumsal-cinsiyet-esitligi.html).
Social media accounts are also actively labelled with the brand
#hepimizinelinde and #merhabagüzellik.
Conclusion
In the research, it is understood that in marketing, public relations are
preferred. It is seen that confidence in advertising is less than in public
relations activities, and that public relations are more cost-effective. The
main reasons for public relations in marketing are the versatility of public
relations, taking satisfaction as its basis, taking into consideration the
requests, needs , and special interests, including reliable information, and
using interactive communication. Generations represent changing consumer
models in today's consumer culture. When the postmodern consumer profile
is mentioned, there are still changing consumer profiles. The concept of

marketing-oriented public relations becomes more effective in our lives
with the aim of changing the marketing approach and reaching the new
generation consumers more and more effectively than public relations has
done.
This is true whether we are connecting with the generations X,Y,Z, or
C; Age ranges are used to define generations, but each of these generations
actually contains different cultural characteristics. Therefore, it is important
for marketing content.
Today’s consumer uses every kind of media, and consumers influence
each other more than celebrity influencers do. So, for reputation or sales,
etc., marketing public relations must read all the generations' cultural
background as well as their environments. Social structure using technology
is changing fast, and shows how firms and brands will need marketing
public relations more and more.
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DISCOURSE OF COMMUNICATION
IN THE DIGITALIZED WORLD
MERVE GEÇİKLİ
Introduction
Globalization is a matrix with multi-layered facets, proposing a rapid
diffusion of political, cultural, social, and economic ideas, images and
information. Each terminal is in a robust transaction of human-driven
‘everything and anything’, with isolation of border lines, both on paper and
notional. In fact, globalization is not only an all-inclusive occurrence, but
also a subsumed phenomenon to some extent, because all the parties of the
process are, “causes, course, and consequences” of globally interwound
human acts spanning time and place (Al-Rodhan & Stoudmann 2006). As a
consequence of these interpenetrating roles across terminals, and
globalization, the dichotomies on globalisation are multiple, and the
perspectives on these roles are diverse as well; that networked society yields
a ‘global culture’ and the world transforms into a ‘global village’ is still in
question, and, as put by Zembylas and Vrasidas (2007, 66), ‘myth’.
However, despite this ongoing debate, globalization is still a transparent
attempt to create, and actually a force for, a ‘borderless world’ initiated by
human-oriented synchronic or diachronic moves, and extended via
information and communication technology (ICT). At this point, Lelliott,
Pendlebury, and Enslin (2000) suggest that ICT, the underlying theme in
this myth, is both a feature of globalisation and the very condition of
possibility for the process of globalisation; globalisation and the digitalized
platforms provided by ICT are in a reciprocal investment in regard to
creating and creative, constructing and constructive, and shaping and shaper
exchanges involved in the complex of relational intertwinements. Then,
taking a pragmatic stance, digital communication, through ‘online’ and
‘offline’ spaces, would be the monitor of any linguistic (standard or non-
standard orthographies) and non/para-linguistics (e.g. emoticons, emoji,
graphics interchange format (GIF)) efforts situated in these online and
offline spaces. Thus, it appears that there is apparently a discourse managing
174 Discourse of Communication in the Digitalized World
digital communication, and, to put it precisely, there is digital discourse

behind the preceding digital communication, which is breeding and bred by
globalisation.
On this basis, under the title of “Discourse of Communication in the
Digitalized World”, I intend to focus specifically on how non/paralinguistic
topographic items, as segmental and supra-segmental units in online and
offline communication, are operated and manipulated, and thus, to outline
the structure of digital discourse in a globalized world. Here, the position I
hold would be to look through the lens of ‘multiperspectival work’, which
Jorgensen and Philips (2002, 4) suggest in the study of discourses, because
“different perspectives provide different forms of knowledge about a
phenomenon so that, together, they produce a broader understanding”. The
other, and very obvious, logical ground for this multiperspectival standpoint
is the pose globalisation adopts, or to which it is adapted, regarding digital
discourse. Kellner (2000) calls for the analysis of globalization critically as
both product and process of globalizing. The digital discourse offers spaces
in which production and processing work simultaneously in an immediate
environment, so it is both a globalizing trivet in an iron sheet, and the iron
sheet itself is the trivet of globalization. What is more, the very elaborateness
of digital discourse is evidently ensured through the debate on the mission it
carries under three theories (Mosedela 2015); traditionalism, globalism, and
transformationalism of globalisation, in terms of, for example,
homogenization, marginalization, or colonization. Thus, in this dynamic
context, it seems highly possible to observe traces of discursive struggle
among discourses, as in Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe’s discourse
theory of change regarding identity, relation and ideology construction,
which Fairclough asserted as the focus of critical discourse analysis, and
discursive psychology, which basically refers to individuals as products and
producers of discourses (Jorgensen & Philips 2002, 6-7). Ultimately, this
dynamic context calls for a pluralistic approach to the study of this context.
Systematically, text, as the medium of communication, with its own
unfixed registers, will be my main concern in this chapter, in order to present
the unconventional ways embedded in conventions for the construction of
digital discourse, moving on the three-dimensional model of Fairclough
(1992, 72) where text is not only spoken and written, but also involves
images, and combinations of all.
Merve Geçikli 175
Figure 13-1. Fairclough’s Three Dimensional Model (Fairclough 1992, 73)
With regard to consumption and the production of text, I will handle

non/paralinguistic text construction in online and offline communication
through the theoretical approach and maxims of conversation of Paul Grice
(1999), moving the discussion about the pragmatics of digital
communication, regarding maintaining maxims versus flouting maxims,
forward. Here, the multiperspectival role drives the chapter against the focus
on textual pieces of the digitalized world from merely looking at the nature
of text, text consumption, and text production, to embracing these two lines
of sight, rather than questioning what is, or is not, acceptable, because
discourse is a way of talking about, and acting upon, the world which both
constructs, and is constructed by, a set of social practices (Candlin & Maley
1997, 202), and in digital discourse of communication, flouting maxims is
seemingly as conjectured as maintaining maxims. In point of fact, regarding
flouting maxims, Crystal (2010) signals the probability that “an alternative
mind-set about the nature of acceptable conversation is in evolution”
(Crystal 2010, 126).
In this chapter, accordingly, under the first sub-title: “Quantity and
Flouting Quantity” in the production and consumption of text, how
informatively it is operated and manipulated will be presented through the
relevant literature on certain digital discourses. The second sub-title:
“Manner and Flouting Manner”, will cover two conflicting issues,
ambiguity and intelligibility of texts produced and consumed, with samples
from studies. As for the third one: “Quality and Flouting Quality”,
truthfulness of the texts will be covered. Within the last part, “Relevance
and Flouting Relevance”, relevant texts are will be mentioned, with the
textual practices exemplified in academic papers.
Quantity and flouting quantity

In his discussion on logic and conversation, Grice (1999) outlines that there
seems to be a link to establish what is said, and what is implied, through, in
his own terms, some ‘cooperative efforts’ (Grice 1999, 68), which, to some
extent, are oriented intentionally. Grice basically calls these efforts ‘a
Cooperative Principle’, with four distinguished maxims which he suggests
are “unconventional conversational implicates, as being essentially
connected with certain features of discourse” (Grice 1999, 67). Quantity is
the first category he presents, where he states: (1) we expect a text involved
in an exchange to be informative as is required within the immediate context
and for the purposes of social practice; and (2) a text should not be more
informative than is required, as “over informativeness may be confusing”
(Grice 1999, 68) due to the immoderate information flow.
Figure 13-2. Is Information Flowing? (Ducoff 2011)
So, some points put in the studies, according to the samples in digital
discourses, will be given to put the informativeness and over-
informativeness of texts consumed and produced.
Networked online and offline spaces have created alternative
topographic non/paralinguistic languages as communication facilitators,
with their own unique cultures. Emojis are among these supra-segmental
units and are welcomed as a universal language of digital platforms (Ai et
al. 2017) with increasing popularity and use; in fact, they become a
fundamental part of communication in some specific digital discourses, as
in the digital discourse of marketing.
The digital context of marketing discourse is driven to go beyond the
use of texts, by integrating other modes of communication such as emoji,
GIF, emoticons, etc. (Brown 2004) because of the emergence of a new
Merve Geçikli 177
rhetoric domain which differs from the traditional marketing discourse,

where persuasion is designed on the basis of orthographic rhetorical
categories; scholars emphasize the need for effective marketing rhetoric
where customers will be satisfied in terms of the services they get (Hackley
2003, McQuarrie & Phillips 2008, Simmons & Mason 2014). In this regard,
Brown (2004) and McQuarrie & Mick (1999) suggest that, to satisfy the
demands of customers, the use of figurative language would have the
potential to significantly strengthen the content of messages on services by
leading to elaboration. Furthermore, Herring and Dainas (2017) strikingly
remark on the increasing integration of figurative languages (such as emoji,
GIFs, etc.) into the discourse of consumers. Thus, the engagement of this
consumer discourse calls that the other discourse, digital marketing, should
re-formulate its communication modes in order to get messages across with
an expected influence on customers.
Therefore, the digital marketing discourse has been re-shaped on the
basis of a focus on designing rhetorical strategies, which Nilsson (2015)
points out, should be the ones building up trust, with the use of other options
that online and offline spaces have provided. On this basis, as the most
common figurative language used in digital platforms, emoji has also been
integrated into the discourse of digital marketing, thanks to their
pragmatically, semantically, and rhetorically-driven richer content. So, this
elaborate design allows for ideas and emotions to be conveyed vividly (Lu
et al. 2016), addressing the concerns of digital marketing discourse in
several respects, which then accomplishes the maxim of quantity, as high-
power illumination. To the nature of the supply-demand context and the
purpose of the marketing practice, emojis, as figurative and paralinguistic
systems, re-structure intercourse among attendees of the process by adding
a further relational aspect to the information, and this, seemingly, enhances
the comprehension of the message shared with a raised degree of
informativeness (Aldunate & González-Ibáñez 2016). Emojis in exchange
transmit information in a persuasive way, as they encode a tangible aspect
into messages, with factual correctness of the service being provided, and
to be provided (Danesi 2016, Njenga 2017, Riordan 2017a, Yakin & Eru
2015). This is purely due to the capacity of this figurative language in
appealing to the multiple and complex tasks which digital marketing
discourse implies, in data flow across parties of the process (Herring &
Dainas 2017).
However, although the underlying argument is that emoji is an important
tool to maintain conversation (Kelly & Watts 2015), through the link
between the indicated and the implicated , addressing the request for
satisfying information, digital marketing discourse probably faces the threat
of over-informativeness, incidental to excessive use of emoji, which would

then violate the expectations of the customer who is there just for the service
s/he would like to get, and so indents upon the facts fixed to that service,
not others. But, to get back to Grice’s logic and conversation discussion, we
would immediately catch his remarks that the effect of one maxim might be
secured by the other maxim (Grice 1999, 68), and so the assertion that an
increase in the frequency of emoji would raise the issue of flouting quantity
required for further evidence regarding whether the ‘be perspicuous’
principle is flouted or not (Grice 1999, 68).
Manner and flouting manner
Figure 13-3. The Sales Killer is Ambiguity (Byrd 2017)
In his comments in “The Sales Killer is Ambiguity”, Byrd (2017) highlights

online and offline spaces’ constraints regarding continued ambiguity due to
the lack of lucid description of services supplied, by pointing out that, in the
digital discourse of marketing, ambiguity should be avoided, because “It
does not move the sales forward.” Digging into the issue, Byrd, then,
suggests combining all forms of communication. He calls this combination
‘Unified Communications’, where any linguistic and non/paralinguistic
items, such as voice, texting, videos, etc., would be included. These
comments obviously evoke Grice’s list of maxims expected to avert any
confusion under the category of Manner: “1) Avoid obscurity of expression;
2) Avoid ambiguity; 3) Be brief (avoid unnecessary prolixity); and 4) Be
orderly” (Grice 1999, 68). Evidently, the yields of the digital world might
confront the discourses with the lack of transparency in communication.
However, these yields of digital world are instinctively context- and culture-
bound systems, and so variation across inter and intra- discourses shapes the
relation between ‘implicature’ and ‘implicatum’ (Grice, 66); that is, they are
not only shapers of discourse, but also shaped by the discourse they are
involved in.
Merve Geçikli 179
To return to the use of emojis in the digital discourse of marketing,

despite the potential ambiguity of emojis (Herring & Dainas 2017), it is
commonly mentioned that they can disentangle communication from
ambiguity (see Riordan 2017a). A communication rich in emojis is more
attractive, informative, and persuasive (Njenga 2017, Riordan 2017a, Yakin
& Eru 2015), because emojis semantically address the social purpose of the
digital marketing practice, that is rhetoric, (Danesi 2016) by increasing the
visibility of texts in the eyes of the community targeted. Scholars agree that
emojis are more appealing, more nuanced, and more meaningful
(Rodrigues, Lopes, Prada, Thompson, & Garrido 2017) as colourful visual
icons (Pohl et al. 2017).
Semantically, emojis settle the complex side of communication
regarding the share of emotions with the emotive function (e.g. hungry face
, smirking face ); hence, emojis reduce probable misinterpretation
of the ortographic parts in an exchange. Namely, emojis are apparently a
powerful recourse against any risk that the linguistic pieces carry in terms
of any deceptive semantic modification. For this semantic depth that emojis
add in communication, Danesi (2016) notes that this figurative language
operates the expressiveness of texts shared from the connotation logic
through more intractable and nuanced extent than denotation. In digital
communication, to make it clear, he exemplifies the use of the clock icon
, the implication of which is “ an important and inevitable event is fast
approaching.” Thereby, emojis debunk any myths behind what is implied,
through releasing the lock of denotative meaning seen as the hurdle that
digital marketing discourse would expect to clear for rhetorical purposes, as
stated in Danesi’s remarks:
“ …In other words, the choice of icons involves much more than conveying
information or sprucing up the written text visually; rather, they add specific
connotative nuances to its meaning, most of which are derived from the
culture-specific symbolism. … They (connotations) are always present,
according to some semioticians, are even the basis upon which our common
ideas and concepts are formed and utilized.”
Consequently, for the discourse of digital marketing, the maxim of quantity

is apparently strengthened, thanks to the semantic notions which emojis
assigned to the ortographic items included in communication, in other
words, thanks to the maxim of manner ensured with eliminating the
probable twilight zone among the interlocuters of the discourse. It appears
that the social practice in digital marketing discourse tends to orient the
discursive practice to the aim of determined sales people, determined sales,
and determined customers; that is, the texts to be produced and consumed
are constructed with a cogency and persuasiveness, so the persuasive

potential of emojis (Yakin & Eru 2015) as data bus and semantic
components suggest that this iconic/topographic language should be an
essential part of digital marketing discourse as a sort of cognitive genre to
be produced and consumed.
Still, despite ensured informativeness and perspicuity, digital discourses
can encounter another issue that, if not dealt with, may endanger these two
maxims; according to the Cooperative Principle, texts are also expected to
cover factual correctness of information pieces.
Quality and flouting quality

Quality dimension is another maxim that Grice (1999) looks for in written
and spoken human-to-human transmission of information. Basically, the
quality maxim, in terms of Grice, requires attendees ‘try to make their
contribution one that is true’. Specifically, it connotes: 1) do not say what
you believe to be false; and 2) do not say that for which you lack adequate
evidence’(Gric 1999, 68). Therefore, besides elucidation and intelligibility,
texts should also be ‘genuine and not spurious’ (Grice 1999, 69). In instant
messaging (IM) discourse, another typographic way of communication,
emoticons are also integrated into exchange by interlocutors; however,
although emoticons enrich the content of texts and accelerate the
information flow (Huang, Yen, & Zhang 2008, Luor, Wu, Lu, & Tao 2010),
the statistical analyses, surprisingly, report low frequency of use (Rezabek
& Cochenour 1998, Riordan & Trichtinger 2016, Tosell et al. 2012). The
underlying reason behind this low frequency is outwardly not related to
flouting of quality and manner, but rather another issue is raised; is the
emoticon used here genuine or fake? Accordingly, in this section, and the
following one, “Relevance or Flouting Relevance”, the focus of discussion
will now be on the social practices of IM discourse through discursive
practices where the so-called war between two typographic forms of digital
communication – emoticons versus emojis- is on stage.
Merve Geçikli 181
Figure 13-4. Fake or Genuine (Web2Tech solution: Experience creativity with

technology 2013)
IM discourse is an online context where the intercourse among locutors is a

series of synchronic acts with hands-on experience of discursive practice
(Garrison, Remley, Thomas, & Wierszewski 2011), so, for IM spaces, the
situated production and consumption of texts would be constantly alert to
the risk of misleading information or misinterpretation, as a result of any
semantic or pragmatic loss during networking, just because of the paralysis
that a linguistic or non/paralinguistic item leads to. Considering the
painstaking charge given by IM discourse on this basis, scholars’ concerns
about emoticons, such as :-), a visual representation constructed through the
use of a series of keyboard symbols (Garrison et al. 2011, 112-113) point to
some momentous aspects that would critically and conversely kick the
discourse out of the social practice purpose identified to some extent in
advance.
In his discussion, Crystal (2001) puts it that emoticons are “a potentially
helpful but extremely crude way of capturing some of the basic features of
facial expression, but their semantic role is limited” (Crystal 2001, 39).
With regard to the results of their study, Riordan and Trichtinger (2016)
argue that this semantical constraint violates the quality of the messages
because emoticons are not processed enough in the fusion of signifier and
signified (see Saussure 1960). Indeed, studies on emoticons clearly outline
how the employment of just one emoji into the exchange flouts the veracity
of the messages due to the emerging semantic shifts (e.g. Dressner &
Herring 2010, Sarkar, Shetty, & Humstoe 2014, D. Thompson & Filik 2016,
P. A. Thompson & Foulger 1996), and taking account of this, Carey (1980)
suggests the integration of more than one emoticon to eliminate semantic
barriers which result in a pseudo effect in text. Consequently, emoticons are
obviously believed to lack added nuances, which would actually strengthen
the processing of data in digital communication, and so the IM discourse
apparently builds intensely and increasingly in the use of emojis as the
channel of text consumption and production, that is, “more emojis, less :)”
(Pavalanathan & Eisenstein 2016).
Yet, emoticons are, on the other hand, one of the most welcomed, even
innovative, ways for some scholars (Garrison et al. 2011), because of the
relevance reinforced for emotional work, which then apparently predicts
the quality emoticons add to the conversation.
Relevance and flouting relevance

The relevance maxim is the last principle of cooperation, according to
Grice (1999), who presents the formulation as raising lots of questions
regarding kinds and focuses of relevance (Grice 1999, 68). For IM discourse
on the agreement on emoticons about a compensatory strategy addressing
the limited aspects of text-based digital communication (Crystal 2001,
Krohn 2004), the contribution of emoticons is noticeably appealing to the
instant demands of communication, which is also proved by neuroscientists.
Figure 13-5. Relevance (Emotive Brand, February 28 2019)
Through several techniques such as Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI),

electroencephalography (EEG), and event related potentials (ERPs),
neurological processing in the brain has been examined during synchronic
intercourse, of which emoticons were an integral part, among attendees,.
The overall results of these studies conclude that certain regions of the brain
involved in perception and comprehension of verbal and nonverbal input,
are more actively operated in association with emotional discrimination at
the times when emoticons intervene in the transaction (e.g. Barton &
McCulloch 2018, Kanwisher & Yovelm 2006, Shin et al. 2008, Yuasa, Saito
& Mukawa 2006, Yuasa et al. 2011). Besides, it is also observed that the
employment of emoticons may lead to the activation of specific regions in
“integrating the shape elements into a meaningful whole” (Shin et al. 2008,
303). It is also known that the use of emoticons shapes the intensity of the
Merve Geçikli 183
messages, strengthening positivity or softening negativity (Luor et al. 2010,

Sarkar et al. 2014, D. Thompson & Filik 2016) , which is seen as related to
the activation of motivational and attentional brain systems during the
processing of affective information (Cuthbert et al. 2000).
Thus, for online spaces where there is a lack of contextual cues or face-to-
face interaction, emoticons seemingly enable semantic comprehension of
texts, through enriching information flow with typographic facial
expressions, and reducing uncertainty, which actually ensures how
emoticons respond to demands of immediate social practices relevantly, and
accordingly, provides adequate evidence for what is implied in the messages
shared.
Conclusion
The efforts for a borderless world have critically constructed discursive
practices, and in turn, social practices, which clearly highlights a sort of
diffusion across contexts, but on the other hand, leads to a sort of isolation
in specific contexts. Accordingly, the drive to move up with the dynamic,
and to some extent the aggressive, acts and forces accompanying
globalisation, and has also caused a sort of transformation in text production
and consumption through the innovative ways that online and offline spaces
have facilitated. So, today’s world is becoming a sort of context where
human-to-human interaction is free of the physical, spatial, and temporal
phenomena we are traditionally used to in natural face-to-face
conversations, maybe thanks to, or maybe due to, technology. Thus, the
goings-on in everyday discursive, as stated by Jorgensen and Philips (2002,
20-21) are shown in Figure 13-6:
Figure 13-6. Everyday Discursive
The practices of people while using discourses creatively for social purposes
are in contact with larger societal, or abstract, discourses, which are limiting
in nature but created, maintained and changed in everyday consumption and
production. On this basis, in this chapter, the discursive acts operated
through two typographic linguistic items, emojis and emoticons, in the
digital discourses of marketing and instant messaging as samples, are
mentioned before moving on to the Cooperative Principle theory of Grice,

in order to outline how the discourse of communication in a digitalized
world is constructed through, or shapes, social practices. The production
and consumption styles of these figurative languages with regard to the four
maxims of Grice’s theory openly show that digital discourses are not only
maintained for the social purposes of the attendees, but also, via the
innovative ways they have created, change the discourse of attendees and
orient attendees’ purposes, and so correspondingly, the course of text use,
discursive acts, and finally, social practice.
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A NEW GAME AREA IN COMPETITION
OF BRANDS BY MEANS
OF DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION:
THE APPROACH OF E-SPORT AND ITS
IMPORTANCE FROM THE POINT OF
MARKETING COMMUNICATION
GONCA KÖSE
Introduction
Developing the e-sport industry by combining game and sport, is a recent
agenda subject and a new investment field within the digital marketing
strategies of global brands, and it cannot be ignored that e-sport will be a
center of interest in local brands in the medium and long term. E-sport is
based on online gaming within the digital and mobile game sectors, which
presents game playing by digital means without considering any physical
and geographic borders. In this regard, it can be mentioned that deepening
and spreading e-sport activity constitutes supplementary and connective
features within the marketing communication activities of brands.
In this section, information such as the definition of e-sport, which is a
recent attention-grabbing field, due to its importance and actuality, the
current place and significance of e-sport in digital gaming, and what e-sport
represents from the point of view of marketing communication of brands,
etc., will be mentioned.
Games and digital games

One of the most basic needs of humans, who are social creatures by nature,
is to interact with others. One of these interaction tools is a game that has
universal features. A game is a social and cultural action which has a history
almost as long as the existence of humanity, and it is possible to observe
that both humans and animals play games anywhere. Growing, learning ,
190
trying to explain the world and the universe , and establishing social
relations, with games, appear as enjoyable experiences which are
instinctively made in every phase of life throughout the ages. At this point,
it is considered useful for this study to focus on the conceptual structure of
the game before it evolved into digital gaming, to mention the historical
development of the game briefly, and to refer to views about gaming in the
literature.
The game is the most common physical and biological activity of
humans, which existed before culture and will exist afterwards (Huizinga
1955). Games are actions performed by two or more players to achieve
various goals, in a formal system of playing actions (Salen & Zimmerman
2004, Abt 1987). In addition, the game is defined as something without
stressful factors or external threats (Aamodt & Wang 2013).
Based on definitions, it is possible to say that games are a cultural
reflection. The beginnings and the ends of games are based on individual
decisions, they are learning and interaction based, and they have a
competitive nature, they develop the cognitive and emotional processes of
players, and they are attractive and highly voluntary. When the literature
was reviewed, various classifications were made about games. According
to Smith (1997), games are classified as mental-intellectual, solo, informal
social, simulated, performance-based games, those which involve playful
behavior, celebrations and festivals, sports competitions, and games of risk.
However, due to technological developments, traditional games have been
replaced by computer-aided games, and the game industry has entered a new
era.
The development speed and diversity of digital games have
independently created an attraction sector. This attraction sector has further
developed due to the fact that everyone has a computer and access to the
internet, and tablets, smart phones, and social media are widespread for the
use of anyone.
The digital game industry is mostly dominated by American and
Japanese companies (Ankara Development Agency 2016). In particular, the
game industry has been growing rapidly since the 1990s, and has caused the
rapid consumption and release of different types of new digital games to the
market. When we look from the 1970s to the present, we can see that very
different and exciting games are released rapidly (Yalçın et al. 2016,
Bozkurt 2014).
Digital games which are programmed with various technologies and
provide users with a visual environment to log into (Çetin 2013), write their
own stories, interactively include the player with cinematic features, and
give the feeling of interaction (Binark & Sütçü 2008). These games, which
Merve Geçikli 191
are programmed with different software and use various technologies, are
classified as digital console games, computer games, and online games,
according to the technology used (Gökçearslan & Durakoğlu 2014). Digital
game types include action, platform, adventure, role-playing, simulation,
strategy, race, puzzle, sports and social games (Salen & Zimmerman 2004).
Both digital and traditional games are similar in terms of the definition
and basic structural features of the game. The differentiated basic elements
are the game area, the number of players, the game equipment, and the game
format and content (Hazar et. al. 2017).
From the information obtained so far, the power of the internet, which
has become widespread all over the world and is one of the most
indispensable needs of today, has also changed the game industry entirely.
The concept of gaming, both structural and contextual, has given a place to
internet-based and digital games played with electronic devices, instead of
conventional games. At this point, the statistics of the digital game market
around the world explain to a great extent why digital games gain strength
in the global economy. According to the Report of the Global Game Sector
for 2018 from Newzoo, the total endorsement of the game sector around the
world for 2018 was 137.9 billion dollars. While Asia and Pacific countries
have 71.4, North America has 32.7, Europe, the Middle East and Africa
have 28.7, and Latin America has 5 billion dollars’ endorsement. When
considering the ranking for game income on the basis of countries, China
takes the top place with 1.386 billion people. America, Japan, South Korea,
and Germany are included in the first five countries after China. Turkey is
18th in the list with its 878 billion dollar endorsement (Newzoo 2018 Global
Games Market Report).
E-sport (electronic sport)

Games which are played in the street, at home, in school, etc., have moved
towards digital media through digital technology entering into human life.
Even though games are played in the virtual world nowadays, the meaning,
learning, discovery, curiosity, fun, and especially the sense of competition
for games, have never lost their significance for individuals, such that the
fact of competition, which is included in the nature of games, has created a
new industry within the game sector in the digital world. This industry is
electronic sport. E-sport is a synonym for expressions such as ‘electronic
sport’, ‘cyber sport’, ‘virtual sport’, and playing computer games on the
basis of contests . E-sport athletes are also implied, as virtual athletes or
cyber athletes (Yükçü & Kaplanoğlu 2018). Prior to moving on to the
definitions made in literature, it would be beneficial to mention the
192
historical background of electronic sport. E-sport is classified according to

two historical periods; the gaming arcades period and the internet period
(Lee & Schoenstedt 2011). E-sport, which began in gaming arcades in 1972,
can now be played in all living quarters of individuals, utilising the no-
limits characteristic of the internet. The first recognized video game in the
time of gaming arcades was Spacewar. The great prize in the Intergalactic
Spacewar Olympics, a Spacewar tournament organized by Stanford
University, was a magazine subscription to Rolling Stone for one year
(Hiltscher 2015). Eight years after the Spacewar tournament, the Space
Invader tournament, hosted by Atari, a video game company, was held.
Over 10,000 people participated in the tournament in America (Hiltscher
2015). In 1982, 1.5 million Atari machines operated in 24,000 Atari saloons,
all around the USA (Borowy & Jin 2013). Atari, which was established in
1972, began to produce video arcade games, and Atari games were included
in the people’s everyday lives . Atari made arcade designs in smaller
versions to be used in homes in the 1970s (Wolf 2008). The Twin Galaxies
company was founded in 1981. The company contributed to the
development of e-sport by recording top scores for many games in game
arcades. At the same time, the company became known as a referee which
evaluates dream scores and competitions offered by computer players,
console players, and game arcades around the world (Twin Galaxies 2017).
Although the appearance of competitive arcade games and consoles takes
an important place in the history of e-sport, e-sport found its strength with
the rise of network games (Taylor 2015). The basis of the modern-day
computer network and the internet is based upon the Arpanet system, which
was created within the scope of the Ministry of Defence of America in 1969
(Zimmerman & Emspak 2017). Later, the world wide web, created by Tim
Berners Lee in 1989, increased the development speed of the internet. Now,
the internet offers a chance for individuals who know each other, and those
who don’t, to play games in a virtual environment through expanding local
and global limits. The development of LAN (Local Area Networks)
technology has changed the consumption of e-sport from the game mode of
human-against-machine, to human-against-human (Griffiths et al. 2014).
When e-sport is discussed, the first country that comes to mind is South
Korea. While there were only 100 internet cafes in South Korea in 1997,
this number increased to 25,000 in 2002 (Hjorth & Chan 2009). While cafes
took the place of game arcades, computers were also substituted for arcade
machines. The great interest of South Koreans in online games also drew
the attention of electronic and telecommunication companies, and these
foundations have made investments in the development of the game and e-
sport sectors. The preliminary professional league of electronic sports was
Merve Geçikli 193
created for Starcraft, which was popular in South Korea in 1998 (Jin 2010).
Hence, the interest of South Koreans in technology and new things
pioneered the development of e-sport (Grundy 2015).
The dominance, prevalence, and speed of the internet, easily spread to
living quarters by 2000, and e-sport has taken its place in computers at home
and in work environments. Through the creation of the World Cyber Games
(WCG) in 2000, e-sport was accelerated some more. The WCG have
developed into a competition similar to the Olympics for those who play
video games. Supported by Samsung and Microsoft, they have also played
a fundamental role in naming professional competitive video games as e-
sport. In WCG competitions, many games, such as Age of Empires, Counter
Strike, FIFA, Quake III Arena, Starcraft, Halo, Dead or Alive, and Guitar
Hero, etc., gained a place, and the WCG published online videos related to
these. Gold, silver and bronze medals were distributed. When Cologne
hosted the World Cyber Games in 2008, 800 participants from 78 countries
were included (World Cyber Games 2017). It is foreseen that the income of
global e-sport, which amounted to 1.5 billion dollars in 2017, and 1.6 billion
dollars in 2018, will increase at the rate of 26% until the year 2020, and it
will reach more target audiences (Superdata: A Nielsen Company 2019).
When its historical development is considered, it is possible to state that e-
sport has turned into a growing market which has the potential to contribute
strength to the global economy.
When the literature is analyzed, e-sport is described as an area of sports
activities where people develop mental and physical skills by using
information and communication technologies (Wagner 2006). Electronic
sports, which are sports of the 21st century, appear before us with many
names in the literature, such as electronic, cyber, computer, online, video,
and virtual games, as well as electronic sports, etc. (Argan et.al. 2006). E-
sport, which is a competitive game in a league or activity format (Newzoo
2018) makes a distinction between competitive players and teams for the
chance of specific goal attainment (for instance, monetary reward or
winning a tournament), and is organized by third persons as a struggle
where different teams or individual players compete with each other and try
to become the best at a specific game (Hallmann & Giel 2017). According
to another description, e-sport is a sports type in which the primary aspects
of the sport are facilitated by electronic systems, and which mediates both
inputs of players or teams and outputs of the e-sport system with human-
computer interfaces (Hamari & Sjöblom 2017).
E-sport may be summarized as a sports branch which is played by
individuals or teams, at amateur/professional levels, in leagues, and
activities where technology is used competitively, This includes exclusive
194
game rules, stakeholders such as game developers, individuals, teams,

organizers, sponsors, and an audience (Yükçü & Kaplanoğlu 2018). E-sport
contains many different types of games within itself, including MOBA
(Multiplayer Online Battle Arena), FPS (First Person Shooter), RTS (Real-
Time Strategy), Collectible Card Games, Fighter/Beat ‘Em Up, and Sports
Games (Ströh 2017).
E-sport which is competitive in focus, offers participants the opportunity
to be active and passive, as both player and audience in a virtual
environment, and has converted into a multiple structure extending its
sphere of influence day-by-day. In this sense, it will be misleading to see e-
sport as a sector that pursues a goal of solely passing time, or entertaining
in the digital game sector, because e-sport which has turned into a
phenomenon on a global scale, does not require a very huge financial
source, and has both professional players and a large audience. It is
strengthening its economy day-by-day on the axis of global brands.
E-sport in terms of marketing communications of brands

Increasing their potential day-by-day, brands in the digital world are
improving their competitive capacity and brand equity by introducing
digitalization, and the extent to which they use the most effective digital
instruments will bring them into the future . Brands are supposed to adopt
digital transformation in less than no time, provide much more value from
the present digital data, and determine a digital way for sharp and
sustainable growth.
Compulsory transformation in the processes of digital development and
marketing have obliged brands to accord their platforms with digitalization.
Especially, integrating digital technologies to the tools and materials of
marketing communications underpins the digital processes of brands.
Herein, even if its importance has only been considered recently, electronic
sports provide an important communication opportunity for brands.
To invest in e-sport with greater economy day-by-day, above all, brands
have to read the industry of e-sport in the game industry in addition to the
digital world, since digitalization and digital games have succeeded in
taking hold of all the life spaces of the present and potential target group.
This affects the content that the target group, as game-lovers, expect from
brands. According to Google data, 83% of target groups prefer entertaining
brand content, 75% of them prefer content appealing to their passion for
games, and 70% of them prefer brand content which shares convenient
information. On the other hand, according to the conducted research, it has
been determined that brands which back up and contribute to the
Merve Geçikli 195
development of e-sport are perceived positively, by 82%, in addition to

increasing the rise in brand assurance and purchase frequency (Thomson
2015). For this reason, e-sport presents an advantage for brands. By
producing proper content, which appeals to the expectations of the target
groups via e-sport, brands can provide constant and consistent
communication, and make themselves much more visible and memorable.
On the other hand, for brands to consider e-sport merely as a market for
which they can be a sponsor, is a mistake, since e-sport can create a new
value chain, not only in terms of product placement, but also by being a part
of the organization. To illustrate, Mercedes-Benz positioned itself with
GrowUp and RiseOn for the e-sport tournament ESL One 2018, where the
best of Dota 2 teams competed, and while doing this, by being more than a
sponsor, and also by sharing a video giving the message that the company
speaks the same language as the audience, it embraced the life styles of the
young target groups that it wanted to reach. While Jack & Jones was the
sponsor of the team Astralis, the world-widely known cosmetic giant
Sephora was the sponsor of the Girl Gamers E-sports Festival.
At this point, it is important that brands evaluate e-sport and gaming as
a whole, and set a course within this framework. Brands are supposed to
institute their present and future target groups, to analyze the games and e-
sport tournaments that they choose, in a good way, and to plan where they
will position themselves in the present stream via the truest communication
messages.
Conclusion
The digitalization rate based upon technology has been in full flow. At the
present time, the indicators of the notion of ‘digital’ can be seen in the daily
lives of societies, their expectations and requests, and the changeover of
economic structures in the business world. Extending its scope day-by-day
digitalization has triggered digital steps in fundamental inputs and outputs
of brands which are locomotives of the business world. It is crucial for
brands, which must transform themselves from spectators to players, to
determine marketing strategies that will adapt in a fast and effective way to
the present transformation, by considering their own dynamics.
E-sport, which is one of the digital games for our modern-day consumer,
plays an active role in terms of marketing communications of brands.
Brands can give proper messages to their target groups, who are their
present and potential consumers, ensure memorability in their minds, and
succeed in interacting with them consistently, via e-sport.
196
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MELODRAMA AND NEWS
İRFAN HIDIROĞLU
Introduction
Melodrama is a genre which has emerged after two hundred years of
adventure, and can still maintain its existence today, not only in films, but
also in many other forms of media. It can be said that the features of
melodrama have leaked into each form - from films to television series’,
news programs to competition shows. As Peter Brooks states (1976)
‘melodramatic imagination’ has infiltrated every aspect of daily life and
positioned itself as a viewpoint. Brooks investigates why melodramas are
still written, rather than drama which is easier to match with modern life.
The main reason for this, is the concentration of melodrama in the world of
emotions. As the modern world forces the individual to live only by reason,
the value of emotions becomes even greater. The structure of melodrama,
which is oriented to emotions, actually includes an ideological formation.
Melodrama, which appeals to a capitalist bourgeois taste, offers ideological
patterns and perspectives to people who wish to live in harmony with it.
This ideological perspective gives people hope, and teaches them to tolerate
harsh conditions in an overly emotional form. It can be said that even in a
serious and vital area such as news, melodramatic characteristics are
dominant. This situation causes news to become more and more tabloidized
and promotes the expansion of tabloid journalism. This study attempts to
reveal the similarities between the characteristics of melodrama and tabloid
journalism. The effect of the melodramatic perspective on the production
and presentation practices of the news is discussed. This study, based on the
assumption that the melodramatic point of view has infected every area of
life, focuses on the effect of the melodramatic perspective on tabloid
journalism in particular. In the first phase, the emergence of melodrama in
the historical dialectic process, and its dominant characteristics, is revealed.
In the second part, the basic concepts, the development of tabloid
journalism, and its similarities with melodrama, are discussed.
200 Melodrama and News
Theoretical thoughts on the genre concept

Literary criticism dates back to Aristoteles. The concept of genre entered
into cinema criticism in the mid-1960s, and early 1970s, emerging from the
dual requirement of the cinema industry and the studio system to reduce
films into monotypes, and differentiate between them. The distinctive
features of the genre gave the cinema industry the ability to predict the
expectations of the audience (Gledhill 1992).
The concept of genre, which has a close relationship with popular
cultural products, can be defined as ‘similar, a group of assets and objects
with common properties’, or ‘a type of art in terms of content, form and
purpose’. Genre allows the collection of works in various arts branches as a
group, and allows them to be classified and analysed regularly. Its close
relationship with popular cultural products, has facilitated application of the
concept of genre to the art of cinema. Films are more prone to emotional
participation than other popular cultural products. The excitement caused
by knowing the conventions and the obscurity of the differences gives
pleasure to popular film viewers. Genre films are easy to understand and
repetitive. These are works that are classified in their own way with these
repetitions, and differentiated from other genres. The common features of
Turkish films do not meet the criteria of being ‘unique’ (Abisel 1995).
Todorov states that the concept of genre increases with a few questions.
The first question is whether it is necessary to examine all the works of the
genre. Todorov, as one of the proponents of the scientific method, indicates
that it is not necessary to observe each sample to be able to define the genre.
Another question is whether the works that do not bear unique value are
considered worthy of examination (1975). The idea that works which can
be brought together to form a genre with similarities to others are worthless
when combined with the contemptible view of the works that represent
everyday life, means that a popular distinction has emerged (Abisel 1995).
Stating that the concept of genre is taken from natural sciences, Todorov
notes the difference between the terms ‘genre’ and specimen’. The
emergence of a new sample does not make an absolute change in the
characteristic of the genre. The situation is the same in linguistics; an
individual sentence cannot change the grammar of the language, whereas,
in the fields of science and art, each new work changes the sum of possible
works (Todorov 1975).
Todorov has devoted much of his critique to the classification of
Northrop Frye in his book. Frye states that readers have expectations from
novels, and there are levels about the heroes that the authors consider as pre-
tools. The heroes take actions with the characteristics determined on these
İrfan Hıdıroğlu 201
levels. In Frye’s work, heroes are classified by their powers, not ethics. Frye
divides heroes into five categories, according to readers’ and nature’s rules
of their superiority and inferiority levels (Frye 1973).1
Todorov, who divides the genres into historical and theoretical,
discusses the work of Frye within the efforts of creating a theoretical genre.
According to Todorov, there is no definite number of genres because most
of them have not yet been examined, and the rule of the system is forcing
this number. From this point of view, Todorov argues that Frye’s
classification of the five can be increased by adding new ones. According
to Todorov there are things missing from Frye’s list which explain the
evaluation of the character in fiction (Todorov 1975).
Steven Neale states that genres do not solely consist of films, and sees
genre as a system that conveys audiences’ expectations and conventions.
These conventions make films more understandable and explainable, and
explain why special events and actions take place and why characters are
dressed, talk, and behave, in that way. For example, when the audience sees
a character in the film beginning to sing without any reason, they think the
film is probably a musical (Neale 1990).
Neale draws attention to the changes of the status of films. The Great
Train Robbery, which was produced in 1903, was initially perceived as an
example of a crime genre, but was later included in the western genre. The
popularity of the film, which includes criminal elements like the great train
robbery itself, is related to the high rate of crime at that time, and reflections
on the news. In this respect, the film promotes not a Western narrative, but
a crime one. Besides, the audience of that time had not yet met the term
‘Western’. As a result, Neale indicates that each period has its own genre
system. Genres do not exist on their own, they are positioned and named by
their genre systems and hierarchies. In addition, each system is defined by
references of members of the system (Neale 1990).
Nilgün Abisel indicates that film genres should not be seen as a ‘fixed
formulas list’. Genres need to be handled in a changeable process. There
may be changes from time to time within the conventions of film genres,
some disappear, while others may take new forms by differentiating (1995).
The problem here is to determine where one gender ends and another begins.
1 In Frye’s work, Anatomy of Criticism, the classification of the characters is as

follows: (1) myth, in which the hero’s superiority is different in kind from that of
other men and their environment; (2) romance, in which the hero’s superiority is one
of degree; (3) high mimesis, where the hero is superior in degree to other men but
not superior to nature; (4) low mimesis, in which the hero is more or less equal to
other men and not superior to his environment; and (5) irony, where the hero’s power
of action is inferior to that of ordinary men (Denham 1978).
So, what should be done when determining the characteristics of genders?

Gledhill (1992) evaluated the discussions on this topic. According to him,
Andrew Tudor states, while dividing films into genres and putting them
aside, the main features of films should be considered as basic. There is a
temporary frame here that is created in the mind about what constitutes a
genre. However, there is a risk that this temporary frame is associated with
certain films or a particular period of genre construction. Lawrence Alloway
indicates that genres highlight the temporary character of any period.
Alloway refers to periods, rather than handling definite aspects of certain
genres. Another name which contributes to this discussion is that of
Anthony Easthope. Easthope claims that Todorov’s evidences are invalid.
Todorov perceives a particular genre as abstract, theoretical, and transient.
This structure is embodied in certain examples and transformed with each
new structure. Therefore, the sample of the genre is already seen in a
different structure. Whereas Neale, unlike Easthope, does not agree that
genres are definite, differentiated systems.
These differences, which are seen in the handling and identification of
film genres, show that there are no specific, exact dimensions of the genres,
because developments in social life make it impossible to establish the exact
criteria to examine the examples of the genre. Studies on film genres prove
that previously, films were gathered by considering the points and replicas
they were similar to. Then they were considered as structures that could be
examined systematically. Progressively, the focus began to be on the
differences, and the interaction of the genres within the cinema industry,
and the audience was also added to the process (Abisel 1995).
At this point of the topic, before moving on to the characteristics of the
melodrama genre, it would be appropriate to summarize historically the
theoretical approaches to film genres. There are two approaches that are
effective during the initial development of the critique of film genre; the
auteur approach, and the approach which shows films as social documents.
The first highlights the importance of the artist who created the work, the
second highlights the social reality. Both benefit from the linear model of
the relationship between the art-making sources and the audience (Gledhill
1992). Collecting the works under the names of film genres, believing that
the artist who is within the boundaries of the genre does not have free
creation, and seeing popular works as a divergency from art, all delayed the
understanding that popular films are worth studying. This continued until
the end of the 1940s. In the 1950s, an attempt was made to identify the films
which represented the turning points of the genres, and the directors who
made these films. Thus, besides art films, there may also be auteur directors
through popular films, and the idea of unique films can be raised. In the
following period, this was seen with the help of semiotics, from which the
audience and the artist were excluded and which dealt only with the
problems related to the construction of the text. Such an approach caused
the concept of genre to lose its critical function. It is seen that, in the mid-
1960s, a new type of critique emerged. The points which semiotics could
not explain were emphasized, and ideology and the internal dynamics of the
system within social life were included in the study of film genres. Until the
1970s, by placing film genres into a closed and stationary world,
unchanging genre structures through common symbols and patterns could
be formed. In the 1970s, three main approaches emerged. One of them was
the approach that drew similarities between myths and popular films. This
approach provided the audience with an important activity space during film
viewing. A second approach focused on ideology by bringing up the
problems of identification and representation, and pointed out the
orientation of the audience. Another approach is the feminist approach,
which sees the reflections of patriarchal power in films. Along with these
approaches, film genres became an independent study of culture, ideology,
and discourse. Marxist and feminist film critics tried to open up the question
of how a world is represented through popular films in this plane, whereby
the techniques of studio system created the illusion of formal conventions
and objectivity. In these films, while individualism, capitalism, patriarchy,
and racism are discussed, on the other hand, the legitimacy of institutions
and the concealment of ideology are achieved through the illusion of being
objective. In short, it is desirable to create a psychological tendency that
aims to adapt the audience to the system of exploitation and oppression by
providing their consent while empowering the ideology (Abisel 1995).
Melodrama
A short history of melodrama
The end of the 18th century is considered to be the birth of melodrama. In
Britain, melodrama, composed of the words ‘melo’ and ‘drama’, handled
the melodramatic elements within novels and gothic in literature , in France
these elements were shown through costume drama and ballads , and
melodramatic situations were encompassed in opera in Italy (Elsaesser
1985). Rousseau used the term ‘melodrama’ in the early 1770s to
distinguish the play Pygmalion from the Italian opera, and to highlight a
new relationship between verbal and visual elements. In the play, the
emotions of a character are explained through music (Drotner 1991).
Melodrama, which is a storytelling style represented by actions, was created
with the desire to resurrect the classical Greek tragedies of the 17th century
in Italy. However, the emergence of melodrama as a genre was carried out
by the French. The conditions of the period seen in the last quarter of the
17th century provided the demand for, and popularization of, the melodrama
genre. In melodrama, in France, music was replaced by action and violence
.
Melodrama can be regarded as a popular reaction to the revolutions in
Europe, and especially in France, and reveals the apprehension and the
excitement of the challenge to traditional society and culture. Melodrama,
which conveys its message directly, with a rough, good-bad distinction in
an easy-to-understand language, in periods when revolution was reaching
the masses rapidly, aims to eliminate the environment of uncertainty and
unrest that is formed by changing class balances (Güçbilmez 2002).
With Goethe and Schiller, gothic elements were added to the melodrama
genre; mysterious castles, scary ghosts, intrigues and murders, interesting
events that need to be solved, and so on. The bourgeois morality in the 19th
century affected the development of melodrama. A bourgeois conservatism
prevailed in England, although there were womens’, workers’, and similar
movements during this period, when the bourgeois class dominated the
aristocracy. Özdemir Nutku (1983), who has tried to establish a formula of
melodrama in history, determines melodrama as a state of sensuality, and
the usual bourgeois measures of the period in which it was established.
Martha Vicinus views the 19th century English novel and the theatre as a
cultural community therapy. According to her, melodramas presented the
dilemmas between home and work imposed by the capitalist economy,
while the workplace was the symbol of the movement, and the home was
the symbol of dedication, passion and suffering (Tunç 1996).
Features of melodrama
Melodrama is a genre which is very easy to identify but also difficult to
detect. This can be attributed to the complex nature of melodrama that
evolved in its nearly two hundred years of adventure. At this stage, the study
will try to determine some features related to melodrama which will be the
basis for the examination of tabloidization in the news, based on the
thoughts of theoreticians and critics of melodrama.
Kristen Drotner states that melodrama carries a sudden change in
narrative chronology that removes us from consensual ideas about time and
place. In such a change, for example, the true identity of a hero can be
revealed during his journey to the gallows. In melodrama, there is an
exaggeration in incidents and emotions. Visible icons are used to create the
moral stance of a character. Drotner indicates that another key feature of

melodrama allows the representation of the unusual, the unexpected and the
unlike. This has an impact that can be explained by psychoanalytic effects.
Melodrama which refers to fears and desires that are tabooed, marginalized,
and deeply entangled in modern society, constitutes ‘the return of the
oppressed ‘in Freudian terminology. One of the most important reasons for
the survival of the melodrama genre is the existence of these extremes.
According to Drotner, melodrama depends on making the world morally
legible, rather than being tied to the victory of the virtue (Drotner 1991).
Drotner states that moral polarization in melodramas does not only
provide for the realization of moral explanations. The audience ultimately
gets the reward for their participation; in melodramas, the good always win,
to give pleasures to the audience (Drotner 1991). In the 18th century, with
the period of enlightenment and the development of trade, changes in social
life influenced art and theatre. Now, in theatre, instead of superior heroes,
ordinary people, and ordinary events- such as family relations- began to take
place, and new genres were formed for the demands of the time. Again,
instead of rewarding and punishing, staying virtuous till the end was being
honoured. The reward of a virtuous character who is suffering on the stage,
is the audience’s sympathy, the sharing of his/her pain. Through the creation
of sympathy and pity among audiences, the bourgeois theatre of the period
tried to eliminate the sense of guilt caused by injustice in the society of the
time (Şener 2000). In tragedies, although the audiences were rewarded with
this kind of pleasure, the bad often won on the stage. However, in
melodramas, along with the feeling of pleasure, the good wins; virtue is
rewarded, and crime is punished. In order to justify the winning of the good,
the bad must be portrayed as bad as possible.
In melodramas, characters are always either good or bad; they seem to
be detached from the social context. Therefore, melodrama evokes the
feeling/appearance of passing through a place-time and time-out in an
abstract moulded environment. In Pixerecourt’s words, melodrama, as a
means of moral, sensual education of the people, serves to validate the grace
of God and to expel evils (Çalışlar 1993). When the question of what must
be driven out of the subconscious by this ‘exorcism’ is raised, the answer
appears to be hidden in melodramas, being the art of revolution. Elsasser
defines melodrama as an unstable form, neither progressive nor reactionary,
and its continuity depends on this feature (Elsaesser 1985). Melodrama is
destructive in terms of being the art of revolution, but it can also be seen as
an escape literature. Melodrama, which was directed to the old traditions in
order to eliminate the chaotic, uncertain, atmosphere of unrest after the
revolution, has a contradictory structure in itself; folding and giving hope is

originally included in its nature (Güçbilmez 2002).
Melodrama, which diverges from tragedy with its depthless, popular,
and easy-to-understand form, deals with the ethical conflict between the
good and the bad, instead of tragic conflict. The essence of melodrama is
pathetic, not tragic. In melodrama, crime is seen as a consequence of
uncertainty in society, instead of being born or quilted from the destiny of a
person, such as Antigone who was born from the marriage of Oedipus with
his mother, in tragedy.2
Another feature that distinguishes melodrama from tragedy is that it
features ordinary characters, instead of noble people. Melodrama, which
deals with class moving up the social ladder as a subject, does not truly
comprehend the traditional moral. Elsaesser states that, by the
internalization and individualization of the dominant ideological conflicts,
non-political special solutions are offered (Elsaesser 1985).
According to Elsaesser, the family melodramas of the 1940s and 1950s
were the re-emergence of post-revolutionary French dramas and fiction.
Among the features of the melodrama mentioned by Elsasser are the
following: extreme feelings and behaviours of external pressures on
characters; aggression and rape attempts are seen from noble traitors coming
from political-economic forces, and these attacks leave no option to the
virtuous girl hero but to commit suicide. There is an emotional and moral
struggle between the bourgeois worldview and those left out by feudalism.
The innocents suffer sudden turns of fate, bad luck, and coincidences, while
virtues are rewarded. The only thing that changed from the 18th century
French drama to the 1950s was the bitter twist to the happy ending
(Elsaesser, 1985).
Elsaesser states that the world in which the characters play is closed in
melodrama films, unlike the use of open space in Westerns. In family
melodramas, unlike Westerns, the hero cannot change the oppressive social
environment. The hero even fails to shape events or affect the emotional
environment. Melodrama creates a negative identity based on the suffering
of the characters, and ends with the hero sacrificing himself/herself, giving
up, or understanding the facts. In short, in family melodramas, it is not
2 Oedipus, who learns from the prophet Teiresias that he has committed a great sin
(he married his own mother without knowing), blinds himself, and sets off on a
journey. His people and his sons curse him. Only his daughter Antigone helps him.
She arrives at Colonus with her father by begging from one city to another. She
manages to excite pity among the public there, and defends her father before the
king, Theseus. She finds a home for her father Oedipus, and so provides a
comfortable death by getting rid of the Erinys.
possible for the hero to take strong action under the weight of social pressure
(Elsaesser 1985).
Apart from the hero not being able to take strong action, in some
American family melodramas, the characters are inadequate against the
troubles which happen to them. In the films, things that the hero does not
realize are shown to the audience. This type of melodramatic element
stimulates the participation of the audience. A primitive desire to warn the
hero is created in the audience (Elsaesser 1985).
The creation of a closed world in family melodramas is highlighted by
the functions of the decor and the symbolization of objects. In films, a
middle-class house is shown through objects and furniture. The arrangement
of the house exhibits a certain hierarchical order that causes the suffering of
the character. Women are forced into passivity, waiting at home is portrayed
with belongings stuffed into the house; more goods means a more closed
world (Elsaesser 1985).
Marcia Landy (1991) states that the main problem in family drama lies
in the representation of the nuclear family and domestic relations. Family is
considered as an institution. Individual conflicts are thrown into second
place behind the family unit. Landy, who presented many melodrama films
in her work , states that these films usually tell the story of several
generations of the family, especially during the war in the 1940s, and at that
time, the image of ‘the ghost in the house’ is also processed. The ghost in
the house, which in fact, has a function of eliminating the crimes committed
in the past; the impact of the war on the family, and the problem of the
reconstruction of the family relations in the post-war period, is discussed.
In the family melodramas of the 1950s, it is seen that there is a
compromise in creating the images of the roles of the family among the
audience. For example, for a stable family image, women are presented as
accepting the obligations of marriage; if not, they are usually removed from
the story. Men need support to gain power and authority; they gain personal
power with the help of women. Bossy men become miserable (Landy 1991).
Tabloid journalism
The news media shows a more intense tendency to tabloidization each day
and is getting away from the concept of journalism. While social and
political problems and responsibilities are not questioned in news content,
events are personalized by highlighting personal interests.
It is not possible to adopt or demand the wide range of reporting styles
that focus on sensational, private lives and make individual situations and
experiences visual, expressing them with economic dynamics and interests.
The issue is a political/cultural problem, and should be questioned ethically

in the social context. The first step to understanding this problem is to take
a broader and more comprehensive view of the news and news stories.
There are basically two main approaches to what news is, and what kind
of activity the making of news is. The first is the liberal approach, in which
pluralism is approved, and freedom and objectivity are highlighted; the
second is the critical approach based on Marxism.
Liberal approaches advocate that power is undivided in the hands of a
single group, and dissipated among competing interest groups and elites.
They see the press as the watchdog, the fourth power after legislative,
executive, and judiciary. In the liberal approach, elements such as timeliness,
intimacy, importance, results, and human interests are considered as news
values. The concepts of neutrality and objectivity are codes of professional
journalism.
According to the liberal approach, the stories of the events which were
mentioned above have basic news values that are considered as objective
and impartial professional practices which reflect the truth and are presented
to the reader/viewer in this form (Tokgöz 2006). The way in which
journalism is organized determines the general journalistic norms, such as
the fact that the news is impartial, objective, balanced, and separated from
the interpretation, and the journalist feels the responsibility of the
ombudsman. In an environment dominated by a pluralistic social structure,
media institutions can achieve objectivity and impartiality (İnal 1994).
The understanding of the liberal approach of news and journalism is a
target for many criticisms. The first of these is that the media is a
commercial enterprise, which has an impact on news values that dominates
the news selection and production, considering such issues as advertising
revenue and circulation.
This approach criticizes the role that the liberal approach attributed to
media and journalists. It questions the assumption that media and journalists
are independent, and does not agree with the fact that journalists can present
the news in an objective way, in a professional manner. The priority of the
critical approach is to discuss the concept of objectivity itself, rather than
presenting the news objectively (Hackett 1985).
The critical approach also emphasizes that ideological production is
made in the discourse of news because of the formation of media institutions
through political structures and certain reliable sources in the news
production process (İnal 1995). The reason for this, is that the news is the
product of a structured process, and is isolated from social, political, and
economic contexts. The language used in writing the news is claimed to be
objective, but pre-structured in the system of power. It allows the journalist
to construct a particular power relationship within that structure, using that

language. Therefore, the practice of writing news, in addition to including a
selection of the process, also creates a problem with its structured language,
grammatical rules, and narrative features. The structured language of the
news cannot be seen as independent from the reproduction of all kinds of
power and sovereignty in the social structure (Dursun 2005). There is an
ideological and cultural atmosphere in the nature of structured news that
points to some things being emphasized and others being ignored (Bennett
1982). The language of the news, the style of expression, the framing, and
the writing, all point the direction from which the subject is viewed. In terms
of the language used, the most implicit news is actually a text of fiction
framed by ideological and cultural values, which cannot often be recognized
by the reader/viewer.
From the truth itself to tabloidization

In the early 19th century, the transition from exclusive journalism to public
broadcasting provided the basis for the change of news content. After the
1830s, mass newspapers - called the penny press - began to evolve with the
transformation process of the media, turning it into an industrial structure,
and organizing it as a market actor. In parallel with these developments, the
ethical codes of journalists shifted in the context of the commercial concerns
of the sector. With cheap newspapers, or in other words the penny papers,
the readership of newspapers followed a trend towards the ordinary citizen
from the elite; this transformed news content and news value metrics
(Schudson 1978). The tabloidization of the content due to the competition
between Pulitzer (a two- day old newspaper) in New York, the New York
Day and the New York Journal of Willam Randolf Hearst to increase their
sales rates is considered as the historical beginning of this process.
Interesting and exaggerated news stories, with sensational content, prepared
the ground for the tabloidization of journalism. That was a period in which
consumption was promoted, when news came out as an entertaining
narrative, and differentiation of the news content that contained information
and entertainment occurred (İnal 2010a). Although the aim is to inform the
public, the emphasis on the entertaining elements of the news has led the
content of newspapers to become tabloidized (Tokgöz 2006). With the
magazine discourse that facilitates mass marketing, an easy- to- consume,
simple, and superficial narrative content style suitable for the target
audience was created.
In this process, based on the historical background of the penny press,
newspapers contributed to the market economy in two ways. The first was
the expansion of the potential market for serial goods by spreading

advertising to large number of consumers. Secondly, the newspaper itself
became a consumable commodity. The increase in the cost of news
collection, printing, and distribution, against the decline in newspaper
prices, increased the dependence of newspapers on advertising and
advertisers. The press was thus articulated in the commercial system. Those
who did not fuse with the commercial system began to come under the
patronage of some institutions (Curran 1978).
With the development of the penny press, the purpose of information
changed to the second plan. The content of the newspaper was organized
according to the interests of workers and the middle class, instead of the
political and economic interests of the elites, and, within this frame, the
value of the news was shaped according to the interest of the broad masses.
In the newspapers and magazines, sensationalism was emphasized in issues
related to police, justice, as well as in issues of economy and politics.
Journalism has become increasingly popular, and this interest in sensation
and populism in terms of news value has been the source of ethical problems
discussed today.
Stretching financial control over newspapers has led to the emergence
of newspapers that are easily accessible to everyone in a cheap and
economic way. This process has transformed many stages, from the content
of the news, to the presentation, and the way journalists work. On the other
hand, the transformation of the ownership of newspapers has led to the
organization of newspapers as a capitalist enterprise, and has made it
compulsory to be an expert in all stages from the collection of news to
writing, from the preparation of the newspaper contents to the publication,
from the collection of advertisements to the distribution. As Ward says,
newspapers have now become gears of economy (2004). In this period, non-
media capital entered the sector, and set new kinds of editorial rules in
accordance with this understanding. Circulation and advertising in
newspapers organized in a large capital spiral, prevented the public’s right
to obtain information. Of course, this transformation in newspapers also
affected the professional roles and positions of journalists who produced the
content of newspapers. The ‘fourth power’, which is the guarantor of
democracy, controls the hegemonic group on behalf of the public, and has
followed a line of development that is more prone to reach the economic
targets of capitalism, rather than its political goals, which are shaped by
liberal pluralist dreams.
The news topics evolved from the interests of elites on political and
social issues to crime, sports, gossip, humour, fashion, and familial issues
of interest to the masses. This change in the audience has not only affected
the news subjects, but also, a striking style has been created by considering
the socio-cultural nature of the new reader. The headlines’ large visual
elements and short paragraphs covering entire columns removed the
monotony of old newspapers. Sensational style in the news patterns has
dominated, with the intense use of subjects such as crime, and gossip in the
news content. All of this has resulted in the fact that the criteria adopted by
journalists as news value in news gathering and writing practice, have been
shaped in an increasingly commercial context.
The relationship between melodrama and tabloid

journalism
When we look at Arnold Hauser (2006) and Peter Brooks (1976), it is seen
that melodrama is a mechanism of creating meaning that offers exaggerated
emotions and allows spectacular ones. Melodrama is one of the efforts to
fill the gap left behind traditional beliefs in the modern world. It is structured
to show the underlying existence of the universe created by absolute values.
Melodrama, which provides an explanation to the world from a more secular
point, tries to present an absolute order instead of this gap. Moral forces
create a conflict within the individual. There is also a clash of forces and
values within society, where the equality of melodrama comes into play; if
the characters are bad everyone gets punished and these fines are absolute
and fatal. Elsaesser (1985) looks more ideologically at the problem.
According to him, although there is a democratization, it is seen that science
has established its own power in the absence of an absolute power after the
bourgeois rise and secularization.
After such a development in the modern world, the individual became
atomized, singled out, and unable to intervene in the public sphere as a result
of this fear of security. In melodramatic imagination, individuals’
viewpoints on life become more popular and they can approach everything,
and every situation within such an imagination. Events and situations are
perceived and personalized with an exaggerated sensuality. It is seen that,
as a result of the pressure on the individual, the public is left aside. The
answer to the question of why the popular is in demand, is that the individual
does not participate in the public sphere, and is not interested in the public.
Dealing with dilated situations and events is at the forefront. It is clear that
since cinema is cheaper and reaches more people, it represents a world that
creates intense emotional impact on the audience and creates conflicts that
shake them (sexuality, violence, death, murder, suicide, etc). Melodrama
establishes a socially harmonious universe by presenting complex things
and then resolving them. Melodramatic aesthetics establishes a world ruled
by moral and emotional forces; it creates the perfect and stone-hearted

traitor of such a universe. In short, melodrama tries to say that the modern
world is not a chaos, but a moral mythic universe.
The situations and the events in film are given through an exaggerated
sensuality and personalization. Even a set of problems in a film is seen to
be examined, almost everything is given separated from its social context.
In an abstract-moulded environment, events are simplified and diluted by
exaggeration and over-sensuality. The audience’s perspective of the world
has been changed by melodramatic imagination, and with this perspective
they can watch a film without questioning. For example, the conflict
between the rich and the poor can be solved with the sentence that ‘the rich
can also be good’. It is not discussed how such a thing as pure good, or pure
evil, can be possible. The conflict between the lower and upper classes is
solved by combining the representation of two fathers who studied at the
same school. Despite all the wickedness done to a female hero, she is not
able to stand upon her rights and is shown as desperate. She bears everything
and ends everything with pure goodness, while in the public sphere, she
should stand upon her rights by taking action.
Tabloid journalism, also referred to as magazine journalism, or yellow
journalism, dramatizes and presents all kinds of content in order to create a
link with the target viewer/reader. The concept of tabloid journalism,
although formally describing small-size newspapers, represents magazine,
sensational, and diluted journalism. The main purpose of tabloid journalism
is to arouse the interest of the audience, which is mostly related to the
personal lives of celebrities, stories of individual crimes, or striking,
catastrophic, and exaggerated events. However, it should be noted that
tabloid journalism does not only contain magazine news. The most
important feature of tabloid journalism is that it transforms serious issues
such as politics, the economy, or social events, into a theatrical narration by
organizing them in a magazine-style way. It is possible to say that this
understanding has turned into a dominant narrative form of journalism
nowadays. This situation frees the reader/viewer from the concern of
developing a political stance, and alienates them from themselves, and the
world (İnal 2010b). Thus, the reader/viewer judges by watching the lives of
others, perceives their suffering as a game, and does not bear responsibility
for the lives of others.
In tabloid journalism, which means less text, less political or economic
news, and more images, entertainment, and interesting news, the content of
the news on serious issues is also tabloidized. In this context, tabloidization
can be explained by the concept of ‘info-tainment’. Info-tainment defines
tabloidization in two dimensions: the first is about its lesser attention to
politics, the economy, and society, and greater attention to sport, scandals
and popular entertainment. The second is related to the shifting of the
priorities in the communication tool from news and information to
entertainment (Sparks 2000).
The practice of responsible journalism involves the background and
context of the events being mentioned. In other words, the isolation of
events from the social contexts, and the separation of the personal from the
political and social, are problematic. While making the tabloid news,
storytelling methods such as emotionalization, simplification, personalization,
and giving moral advice, are used (Voss 1999).
Emotionalization: This tries to address the feelings of the reader by using
cultural and semantic anomaly, from the headline of the news to the body.
In this context, adjectives, descriptions, and frameworks, are used to affect
the reader/viewer and to increase the emotional atmosphere.
Simplification: Simplification and vulgarization of content. Slang words,
aliases, and adjectives, are often used.
Personalization: Personalization of the events and phenomena isolated
from their social contexts. Presenting the character, who is the subject of the
news, as a monster or angel by ignoring his/her social background.
Moral advice: In tabloid news, while the topics are being prepared, the
moral acceptance of society is used as an element of news value. It aims to
attract attention, especially by choosing the topics which are unethical and
not welcomed by the society.
There are also some distinguishing features, such as layout, news value,
language, and style of tabloid journalism.
Layout: Less text, more visuals. Especially in newspapers, striking page
layout is determined. Large and thick headings, intense colour, large size
pictures, and photographs, are the basis of the layout in tabloid journalism.
News value: The most important element considered for communicating
events and facts is quirkiness. The more people are interested and surprised,
the higher the value of the news.
Language: The language used in tabloid journalism is usually adorned with
adjectives, and therefore, often leads to ethical violations.
Style: News is made by using storytelling strategies, and events are
dramatized as much as possible. For example; in news of a traffic accident,
in order to increase the news value, the accident is personalized to the
deceased or survivor, instead of the people responsible.
Conclusion
Melodrama, which is a capitalist bourgeois taste, offers ideological patterns
and perspectives to people who live in harmony with it. This ideological
perspective gives people hope, and teaches them to tolerate harsh conditions
in an overly emotional form. It can be said that, even in a serious and vital
area such as news, melodramatic characteristics are dominant. This situation
causes news to become more and more tabloidized, and facilitates the spread
of tabloid journalism. Tabloid journalism dramatizes and presents all kinds
of content in order to create a link with the target viewer/reader. The concept
of tabloid journalism, although formally describing small-size newspapers,
represents magazine, sensational, and diluted, journalism. The most
important feature of tabloid journalism is that it transforms serious issues
such as politics, the economy, or social events, into theatrical narration by
organizing them in a magazine-style way. It is possible to say that this
understanding has turned into the dominant narrative form of journalism
nowadays. In tabloid journalism, which means less text, less political or
economic news, and more images, entertainment, and interesting news, the
content of the news on serious issues is also tabloidized. The isolation of
events in the news from social context, and the separation of the personal
from the political and social, are problematic. While making the tabloid
news, storytelling methods such as emotionalization, simplification,
personalization, and giving moral advice, are used. As a result, the choice
of topics in tabloid journalism is structured in such a way as to ensure
emotional exploitation of content production. The news, which is a
reference in the definition of the world in which people live, is sacrificed to
commercial concerns.
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USE OF DIGITAL MATERIALS IN EDUCATION
ASİYE ATA
Introduction
Briggs and Burke (2011) reported that societies change according to their
principal communications technologies. The eras that are named based on
the progression of their communications technologies can be listed as the
railroad age, the radio age, the TV age, and - with the emergence of the
internet - the internet age. For today, a broader term that encompasses all of
the above may be used; the ‘digital age’.
According to James Beniger, the capability of the computer to digitalize
the output of all other tools of communications and information has made it
the generalized device of the 21st century. The reason for this, is that
computers, with their tangible method of communications, operate in the
same manner. Therefore, the numbers, images and sounds encoded by the
computer can be stored, or can be transmitted to be re-manufactured as
digital copies on demand. Lev Menovich, who conducts research on new
media theory, asserts that new tools now emerge via the power of the
computer to transform both the presentation and the distribution of the
device. According to him, web pages, virtual worlds, virtual reality,
multimedia, computer games, and computer animations, make up those new
tools and, as a result, they reshape the visual language that is used by today’s
culture (Crowley & Heyer 2014).
Media technologies have also been transformed into digital technologies
evolving from pen and paper. The existence of mass communications tools,
photography, cinema, newspapers, computers, and mobile technologies,
have critically enriched the visual culture space. The area of interest of
visual culture encompasses the visual quality which has been changing,
thanks to new technologies and imagery being digitized (Çakır 2014).
Thanks to new media, images can be generated rapidly, and can swiftly be
made available for circulation.
The ‘what’ part of the media environment can be listed as digitalization,
interactions, hyper textuality, multimedia formats, user derived content
generation, sense of availability, and dissemination (Binark 2014). The most
underlined characteristics of digital systems are their ability to convert the
218 Use of Digital Materials in Education
information down to binary groups containing 0’s and 1’s which can be
stored, transmitted, or processed (Alioğlu 2011). One of the important
concepts in digitization is the term ‘convergence’. The word convergence
has been in use since the 80s, for expressing the advancement of digital
technologies, and meaning the merging of texts, numbers, images, and
sounds. Digitalization or digitization, which can be traced back to 19th
century mathematics in a historical context, is a process that began with
computers and has not yet been completed (Briggs and Burke 2011). In
education, it is seen that the process of digitalization has accelerated in
recent years. Presentations, slides, videos, computer programs, multi-media,
etc. are all digital materials with visual aspects. It is seen that the
contribution of computers and digital technologies to visual quality have
increased the importance of the visual elements in education (Seferoğlu
2014).
Today, the environments of the digital materials used in both
conventional and digital educational spaces are highly varied. Those
materials, used as support elements in traditional education, can also be
employed in open and distance learning, via institutions that provide their
services via the internet, such as massive online open classes (MOOC).
Amongst these, materials are used most by the open and distance learning-
based universities, and they are published in various mediums, one of which
is LMS (Learning Management Systems), as dubbed by universities . In
this system, activities which are prepared in relation to courses, such as
texts, video, audio, animations, and pilot tests, are present and available.
Learners can display, watch, or download those materials in an intended
time and place. Furthermore, social media and video sharing sites are also
utilized by this type of university. In such environments, in addition to their
own systems, the aforementioned materials are shared, and learners can
carry out activities including ‘liking’, ‘not liking’ or leaving comments over
their accounts. In this section, educational opportunities, which are
changing along with the ever-moving communication technologies, are
discussed, and information regarding digital education materials, in which
audio, visuals and motions became important, will be presented.
Digital learning environments

Words, with a general addition of an ‘e’, such as e-commerce or e-marketing
indicate commercial activity that is made convenient with internet
interaction between people. E-learning is a sub-cluster of technology-based
education, and encompasses all learning activities over the internet. It can
be synchronized or unsynchronized. Synchronized learning, which is a live
Asiye Ata 219
activity, is a real-time education environment. A learning environment with

an unsynchronized structure indicates an environment for learning that is
independent from time and space (Kossen 2001).
In communications, time is of the essence, and there are differences
between talking to a member of your family on the phone, listening to a
message on an answering machine, or listening to the victory speech of a
political leader. Synchronized and unsynchronized structures employ
different social goals and tools of interaction for communications (Jensen
& Helles 2017). Differences between synchronized and unsynchronized
communications are outlined in Table 16-1.
Table 16-1. Differences between synchronized and unsynchronized

communications
Synchronized Unsynchronized
One to One e-mail, text messages (mobile Audio, instant talk
phone messages
One to Many Books, newspapers, audio and Radio and TV

visual recordings, Web 1.0/web broadcasts
pages, downloading
Many to Many Web 2.0/wiki, blog, social Online chat

networking site
Researches focused on the benefits of e-learning to the students. Some of

these can be listed as follows: E-learning,
 Offers learning in a flexible manner in terms of time and place,
 Ensures saving of time and costs for education,
 Improves self-direction and student-oriented self-learning skills,
 Ensures that although students are physically dispersed, this
creates a cooperative learning environment with experts and peers,
 Allows access to a virtually unlimited cache of learning materials,
 Allows information to be updated for timely and effective
protection (Zhang, Zhou, Briggs, Nunamaker 2005).
According to Dabbagh (2005), online learning offers the following
advantages;
 Online learning developers can use images and graphics for further
realism,
 Online learning developers can use digital audio and video in order
to make life even more ‘real’.
The architecture of virtual environments is similar to real-life physical

environments. This architecture, by making certain methods of interaction
possible, directs individuals to interact with each other. Social sharing
network architecture is comprised of structure, design, and organization,
and is focused on those three components (Papacharissi 2009). The structure
and characteristics of each social sharing network is different.
In addition to the advantages offered by the internet, these mediums can
also be accessed, not only via a computer, but also via media devices such
as mobile phones and tablets, which are called mobile learning devices. The
advantages of mobile learning and e-learning include flexibility, cost, size,
ease of use, and timely use. The devices that are used for this purpose may
be pocket computers, mobile phones, laptops, or tablets. Thanks to wireless
use and mobile technologies, the contents can be accessed easily, and thus,
contribute to educational functions (Jones and Jo 2004).
The most important benefit of mobile learning is its potential to increase
efficiency by making learning possible, anytime, anywhere. Mobile
learning is an extension of e-learning, and the process is becoming more
widespread and accessible via mobile devices (Kossen 2001).
Use of digital materials in education

There are three main methods that people use to obtain information; visual,
auditory, and tactile. Silverman was interested in three principal learning
styles that are utilized by students to process information; visual-spatial,
auditory-sequential, and tactile learning.
 Those who learn using visual-spatial methods learn new
information via images, and the information is visualized in a 3D,
holistic manner.
 Auditory-sequential learners usually learn step-by-step.
 Tactile learners obtain information by physically touching, and via
their senses, and they can also benefit from visual or auditory
inputs (Cruse 2011).
Today, hypermedia means the digitalization and the future of education
methods. For example, digital video has become a tool which is more
flexible and easier to apply than cinema or TV. It can be used by both
students and the public, so it has an appeal for all aspects of the public. In a
changing society, contemporary methods can be utilized depending on the
current situation, in order to increase the students’ level of information.
Information and communications technologies point out two factors;
information, and sufficient management. In educational life, it is also crucial
to use information and communications technologies (Garzon 2012). The
Asiye Ata 221
digital materials used in education are highly varied. The materials to be

discussed in this section are listed below;
 Hypertext,
 E-book
 Audio
 Video
 Video conferencing,
 Digital gaming,
 Simulations,
 Virtual reality,
 Augmented reality.
Hypertext: Hypertext links usually contain texts, graphics, video, audio, and
animation videos. In the simplest terms, hypertext produces texts, audio,
graphics, video, and animation, in a non-linear fashion. Hypermedia is a
strong tool for web-based online learning. It allows learners to control the
speed, order, and depth of the content within the computer medium
(Dabbagh ve Bannan-Ritland 2005). While the hypertext is defined as an
‘information access method’ by some researchers, others consider
hypertexts as a medium. The characteristics of hypertexts in light of the
features underlined by both approaches, in a general sense, can be listed as
follows:
 Hypertexts are text-based, but are not printed materials, and they
are a digital medium, presented via computer screens;
 The content in hypertexts may not be presented in a linear fashion.
Readers can switch between information fields via links;
 Hypertexts are interactive mediums, in which the readers decide on
what information to access, in what order, in parallel with their
preferences;
 Since hypertexts are digital mediums, the content can be presented
after being enriched with visual and audio media types (graphics,
sound, video, etc.);
 Those digital mediums in which the readers are active, may not
have opening and closing pages like the conventional texts;
 Each reader may scroll through different information clusters
within the text, depending on their own preferences. In this aspect,
hypertexts are texts that are not written by the author, but are
generated as they are being read, based on user preferences
(Çakmak & Altun 2008).
Hypertexts, used in the internet environment are digital texts that offer the
readers access to a lot of content.
E-Book: Digitalization has paved the way for the rapid consumption and
dissemination of knowledge. Books, which are one of the traditional ways
to access information, are being transformed into e-book format, in parallel
with the digitization process. Due to rapid changes in information and
communication technologies, digital book technology is also under constant
change. Although various definitions have been given for digital books in
literature, it is possible to define digital books as enriching the content of a
printed book with digital strategies and opportunities. These books can be
accessed digitally through media. Armstrong, Edwards and Lonsdale (2002)
define digital books as those published by digitizing a printed version, or as
books directly generated in an electronic manner. Digital books are
electronic editions that, in addition to the written texts, contain technical
specifications such as static or dynamic images, audio, and video content,
and interactive activities, such as games and questionnaires, notes,
footnotes, etc. (Turel & Sanal 2018).
E-books are becoming widespread in schools and in homes. Many
schools make investments in this technology, such as tablet computers like
iPads, in order for their students to have better access to e-books, apps and
other online sources. According to a survey conducted in 2014, 63% of
school libraries possess e-books (Connor et al. 2019).
Audio: Oral communications have a long-standing history. In traditional
classrooms and radio programming, the effect of the voice can clearly be
seen. Various researches have been conducted on the pedagogical properties
of sound. In Britain, Open University course teams use the media resources
efficiently in order to supplement specially prepared printed materials. At
first, radio and TV support were obtained from the BBC, and after that, the
institution began producing its own content (Bates 2015). As audio can be
utilized in education as a standalone element, audio materials can be used
in pair with other texts. Long or short summaries of the courses to be
provided, or voice recordings of complete courses are among the sources
that are utilized both in traditional education and in digital learning, such as
remote learning.
Video: Digital video can be a professional tool for development, and for the
teachers, beyond the homeroom classes. Educators who use opportunities
for professional development via remote learning offer observation and
modeling skills by using remote learning resources in addition to traditional
teaching methods (Mardis 2009).
Video is usually visually focused. However, video offers benefits for
those who learn with audio, as sounds and conversations are also included,
and can present shows in classes for learners (Cruse 2011).
Asiye Ata 223
During the e-learning phase, various materials are prepared for learners
over the internet. Videos, which are among those indicated materials, can
present the information in an attractive and charming manner, as a rich and
powerful e-learning tool (Zhang et al. 2005) and for the learner, videos can
be used as both the main source and a supplemental source, in addition to
written materials.
Visuals are re-presentation (Barthes 2014). This presentation should be
performed over a pre-planned flow in compliance with the shooting and
designing processes. Compiling and using videos in the right manner is
effective in maintaining the attention of students, and in motivating them
for learning (Whatley and Ahmad 2007). Just like the information provided
with the video, preparing products which are compatible with the education
design is very important. The products should be facilitators, and correct for
the learner (Beaudin and Quick 1996).
Ata (2017) defines the indicated materials, dubbed as video, video
courses, educational video, etc., as follows: the video-course is a functional
animated audio–visual tool, which is educational in its nature, which
contains a certain subject, which has an aim, a plan, and a program, which
has undergone a shooting/designing phase with the integration of different
materials, which can substitute any other course or can be an additional
factor to another course, which can be viewed in a flexible manner in terms
of time and place, and which addresses multiple senses in a communicative
manner.
Videoconference: The videoconference may sometimes be defined as the
combination of benefits of traditional courses and TV. The videoconference
is the technology which allows interactions between students and teachers
in different venues. Thanks to its audio and visual properties, the
opportunity for students and educators to ask questions of each other arises.
Some videoconference systems are used to view the teachers’ boards,
drawings, and notes (Dabbagh and Bannan-Ritland 2005).
Digital Games (Educational Games): The current generation is growing,
along with various technologies that may have an effect on their daily lives.
Therefore, it is apparent that different pedagogical approaches may be
required to teach new generations of students. It is necessary to reach, or to
come close to, the technology that they currently have. Since they grow up
with such technologies, it is necessary to employ them for the education of
the new generation, in order not to bore them, and in order to hold their
attention. Today, the usage rates of multimedia technologies in learning
seem to increase. The generation of today spends a lot of time on video
games, and video games in turn, have become an industry. Furthermore,
video games, with their large share in the media industry, show off their
value and their impact on users. Now, many people play video games
willingly, and spend a lot of time and money on them (Shabari & Issa 2018).
Many studies in this regard have focused on three directions:
1. Sociological: the main aim of the sociological approach is to define
the effects of games on social development and relations;
2. Effects of the digital games on learning (digital literacy);
3. Learning with plays and games in schools (Gros 2007).
The positive effects of playing games can be listed as cognitive,
motivational, emotional, and social. On the other hand, addiction, a
tendency for violence, and depression, etc., can be listed as the adverse
effects of playing video games (Granic, Lobel & Engels 2014). However,
the said adverse effects rather manifest themselves when the wrong types of
video games are played.
According to Calvo, it can be said that video games heighten the
following functions;
1. Motor development: games involving action stimulate focus and
manage speed,
2. Cognitive development: games, in addition to action, involve
understanding tasks such as problem solving, forming strategies,
etc.,
3. Emotional development: the fictional nature of games has a key
function in the emotional development of an individual,
4. Social development: games also involve other people. Social
aspects play a major role in the predominant values and behaviours
of society (Gross 2003).
Video games often mean direct access to the technological world of kids
and youth. In many western societies, the contact of children with
technology is initiated via computer games. Computer games can be
introduced to schools in order to teach a certain curriculum. The presence
of this changing environment has led educational experts to design new
areas of education in a rapid manner (Gros 2003).
Simulation: Simulations have been a part of education and training activities
since the end of the 19th century. However, the idea of using virtual reality-
based simulations is fairly new. Today, VR is a term used to define a series
of technologies from 3D headsets that pull the students into the virtual
world, to systems that provide automatic performance reviews for students.
Adopting virtual reality is used to relieve the lack of duration in courses
(Towers, Field, Stokes, Maddock & Martin 2019).
Asiye Ata 225
Virtual Reality: Use of information is fairly common and widespread,

especially in higher education, as information and communication
technologies in the form of virtual learning environments. The VLEs, in
addition to being administrative tools for the communications process, in
order to provide educational content in a computer-based manner, are web-
based learning environments with online tools. Today, virtual learning
environments contain forums, chat rooms, and e-mails as content
management. These tools and functions should comply with the pedagogical
consistency. Second Life, Active Worlds, Project Wonderland and Open
Cobalt are some of the virtual worlds used in education (Bessa, Santos &
Duarte 2019). These environments are used both in traditional class courses
and in distance learning activities. For example, in Second Life, an
individual can create his/her own avatar and can carry on with his/her
education using this avatar.
Augmented Reality: Augmented reality is a kind of interaction that enriches
the real world experience of users through computer generated video, audio,
and texts. It is frequently used in fields like the construction business.
Virtual reality increases the opportunity to interact in a real or physical
manner via a 3D image, generated by computers. AR and VR have various
areas of applicability in educational materials, in fields such as architecture,
engineering, and construction (Ahmed 2018).
Sometimes, field trips made in order to strengthen and supplement what is
thought in class may not be sufficient alone (like in the construction
business). In order to complement any lack of appreciation, it may be
required to employ advanced learning methods. AR strengthens in-class
learning, and, thanks to countless advantages it has in relation to increasing
the potential of the broad learning and teaching environments, has been
established as an innovative teaching method. AR offers different
viewpoints in terms of the concepts taught in the class, and it is a known
fact that it increases the learning motivation of the students. With the use of
AR, virtual objects, as well as methods and information that may not be
readily noticed, can be easily rendered visible to the students (Bademosi et
al. 2019).
Conclusion
Today, technology is a fast-changing surprise. Education developers and
teaching technology experts continue challenging the new era with the
advent of powerful tools that support teaching and learning. Innovative
applications and the potential impact of some technologies offer some
striking examples (Spector 2010, 375). With the rise of new technologies in
the digital age, it has become apparent that new opportunities are emerging
in terms of learning and teaching. Educators have begun practicing new
applications in educational activities by using the technology depending on
the morphing educational properties.
With the emergence of multimedia, various materials such as texts,
audio, video, and simulations have been included in learning on the same
screen. The most important properties of the new communications and
digital education systems are being instant, accessible, intractable, and
usable, and being readable, listenable, and watchable, anytime and
anywhere. These characteristics have led the way for the emergence of
individual, and independent learning environments, and with the shift from
consuming to interacting, this underlines productivity as well. Therefore,
preparing digital education materials by taking on the characteristics of the
learner is crucial.
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DIGITAL DIPLOMACY
MERYEM OKUMUŞ
Introduction
The world of the 21st century has seen many areas of change and
transformation, along with technological developments, and has witnessed
the transformation of diplomacy from traditional to digital. The concept of
diplomacy, which means the duty of making treaties that regulate interstate
relations and represent the state, is as old as the history of mankind. While
Etzold (1977) defines diplomacy as “politics, strategy, an art based on
conducting everything”, Powell (2004) defines it shortly as “the art of
administering the state.” In today's world, where distances have been
reduced in every field, digital diplomacy has become mandatory for
governments and states. Digital diplomacy is also defined in general terms
as the method of dealing with diplomatic issues via the internet and the
development of solutions. While the present age has evolved into a digital
world, it is not possible for diplomatic practices to escape from this
evolution. As a matter of fact, while digitalization is dominant in every part
of life, nations make use of the digital environment when they want to
communicate with foreign governments and their peoples. The starting
point of the concept of digital diplomacy is seen as the Arab Spring (2010)
and Occupy (2011) movements. In this section, the concept of diplomacy,
the process of transformation from traditional to public diplomacy, soft
power, digital diplomacy, social media, and twiplomacy concepts are
discussed.
The transformation process from traditional diplomacy

to public diplomacy
Bull's (1997) view of diplomacy as “relations between states and other
policies in world politics that maintain behaviour with official agents and
peaceful means” is considered to be the most widely used definition in the
field of diplomacy. Watson (1984) defines diplomacy as “the process of
negotiation between political entities that recognize each other's
230 Digital Diplomacy
independence.” According to Heywood (2016) and Bull (1995), diplomacy

has five functions. Accordingly, while the first function of diplomacy is to
communicate with the political leaders of states and actors playing roles in
world politics, to facilitate communication and to carry out the exchange of
information, the second function is to carry out international agreements and
negotiations. The third function is the gathering of intelligence about
foreign countries, and the fourth is to minimize the friction in international
relations. As for the fifth function of diplomacy, it is to represent the country
of actors in the international arena.
In today's world, global and regional governments want to have greater
roles, and with the reduction of these borders, the autonomy and sovereignty
of states are more eroded. In this context, the globalization process is
accepted as one of the important developments that should be stressed,
while explaining the changes and transformations experienced in the 20th
century. International cooperation is facilitated, and the peoples of different
countries are becoming more aware of their common interests. The rise of
new actors with an international standpoint, and the gradual transition
towards a multi-centre form of governance (Scholte 2008), reshapes the
traditional diplomatic functions of representation, communication,
negotiation, and the status of diplomats (Hocking 2012). New functions
have been added to existing functions, such as representation, fulfilment of
agreements, and carrying out negotiations, and the concept of diplomacy,
has undergone changes and transformations from past to present. This
process of change and transformation has also added new tools to those used
in the field of diplomacy, and enabled a transformation to take place within
the actors directing politics. While the state is the most important actor in
traditional diplomacy, many actors, such as civil society institutions,
opinion leaders, and international businesses, have started to be present in
the new diplomacy. Traditional diplomacy, which regulates official
relations between countries and is based on elements of hard power, such as
military power, economic power, commercial power, etc., has begun to
evolve towards the concept of soft power in the middle of the 20th century.
Soft power, invented by Joseph Nye in 1990 as a result of the end of the
Cold War, is defined as the ability of a person to attract others by using
his/her beliefs, values, and ideas, and to determine the agenda in world
politics, not by military or economic coercion, but by persuasion.
The concept of soft power, which harbours elements such as the culture
and values of a country, has become one of the concepts that attract the
attention of countries in the globalizing world. The most important reason
for the evolution of diplomacy from hard power to soft power is
globalization. With developments in communication technologies, time-
Meryem Okumuş 231
space boundaries have disappeared, intercultural communication and

interaction have gained importance, and technological dependencies have
given birth to the concept of globalization. The process of globalization has
also transformed the instruments used in diplomacy, and in time, mass
communication tools and new communication technologies have gradually
been added to the diplomatic relations of ancient times, which were carried
out with the face-to-face and communication techniques of the era.
Traditional diplomacy, which was carried out by mass media tools such as
newspapers, radio, magazines, and television in the 20th century, has also
affected diplomatic processes with the emergence of the internet in the 21st
century, and its rapid presence in all areas of life, and made new media the
indispensable tool of new diplomacy. The emergence of globalization has
forced institutions and nations to be recognized worldwide, and the
challenge of global recognition has also required countries to eliminate
negative perceptions among their stakeholders forever, and consequently
gain legitimate power and a voice on the world stage (Moore and Sullivan
2011).
Public diplomacy, which allows countries to prioritize non-state actors
and public opinions in regard to influencing the public opinion of other
countries, differs from traditional diplomacy in many respects, such as
actors, targets, and tactics. Public diplomacy has targets, such as informing
foreign public opinion, increasing the impact on foreign public opinion,
correcting misunderstandings, and creating a basis for inter-communal
dialogue. Public diplomacy based on mutual communication and interaction
takes advantage of soft power elements, such as culture, education, sports,
etc., to create mutual sympathy on a large scale. Szondi (2008) stated that
recent definitions of public diplomacy give importance to influencing
foreign public opinion, no longer to affect foreign governments, but to
create an environment for promoting foreign policy goals and national
interests.
Public diplomacy, which is accepted as a tool used by states in the
international arena, has been transferred to the digital environment through
the Web 2.0 revolution. The purpose of using strategies of digital
diplomacy, which is defined as a form of public diplomacy, is to produce,
disseminate, and maintain information that helps to further increase the state
interest. The emergence of these technologies has fundamentally changed
the way a state can involve and inform foreign audiences. But, to put it
simply, reducing digital diplomacy to public diplomacy, is to miss most of
the power and capacity that information communication technologies, such
as social media, provide to states and other actors.
Digital diplomacy
Diplomacy has changed over time and the impact of communication
technologies on the circulation of information, from the development of
parchment to the click of an e-mail, has become very important for the
evolution of diplomacy (Jönsson and Hall 2005, Roberts 2009). At the same
time, with the impact of communication technologies, new actors have
acquired great roles in international relations and diplomacy. It has been
observed that the impact of globalization and digitization on 21st century
society, and these changes, have produced a new key concept for diplomacy
(Pamment 2014). This key concept is a digital diplomacy concept that can be
framed as a new and revolutionary development, replacing the top-down,
state-catered, processes of international relations with a more networked, civil
society-focused diplomacy model. Digital diplomacy is seen by researchers
as an important tool that enables direct communication and interaction with
foreign peoples to advance a nation's foreign policy (Metzgar 2012, Hayden
2012). Digital diplomacy is built upon the latest diplomatic conceptual and
empirical developments, such as public diplomacy or soft power. Digital
diplomacy can be understood as a new and practical extension of concepts of
soft power and public diplomacy and should be used in this context. In
addition to intelligent and soft power, digital diplomacy has also been evolved
from public diplomacy, a non-traditional old diplomatic form of diplomatic
practice. For this reason, digital diplomacy is defined as a mentality, perhaps
not as the best instrument in the international arena. Holmes and Bjola (2017)
have also described digital diplomacy as “the way states manage the change.”
Holmes (2017) compares the tools and barriers of face-to-face diplomacy, and
those of digital diplomacy, as shown in Table 17-1.
Table 17-1. Relative Level of Benefit and Tools/Barriers for Change

Management in Diplomacy
External shocks Incremental scrolling

Face-To-Face High Low
Diplomacy Relationship management Cognitive capacity
Understanding of intention - Drowning in data
reading
Identity building Opportunity costs
Digital Low High
Diplomacy Relatively non-personal Data collection
The bureaucratic nature Visual analysis
Relationships cannot be Theorizing correlations
converted
Source: Holmes 2017
Meryem Okumuş 233
The fact that advances in communication technologies have brought about

new media concepts such as the internet and social media, has strengthened
the power of the media, and, as one of the most important instruments in
every field, the media has become one of the indispensable tools of
international relations. In this context, it is possible to say that digital
diplomacy has become a necessity for practitioners and policy makers
around the world (Bjola and Holmes 2015). Digital diplomacy professionals
also work in government agencies and foreign ministries, and eventually
establish relationships with foreign people which are considered as part of
public diplomacy and engagement in political practice (Melissen 2007,
Snow and Taylor 2008, Metzgar 2012, Cull 2013, Hayden 2013, Kremer
and Muller 2014, Natarajan 2014). The Ministries of Foreign Affairs,
responsible for carrying out the digital diplomacy initiatives of countries,
have begun to integrate social media communication and monitoring, large
data analysis, social network analysis, and resources, into their instruments.
Hocking and Melissen (2015), also point out that digital diplomacy is
often reduced to public diplomacy, and express that digital diplomacy
includes many different components, explaining these components as
follows:
Changing the foreign policy agenda: depending on the speed issue, less
control over events and the agenda is possible, and business processes and
institutional structures can be adapted to network diplomacy in the digital
age.
Cyber agenda: digital diplomacy as a way to negotiate scenarios and
problems: for example, internet freedom, internet governance, and cyber
security.
Information management: effectively managing information problems,
including big data, and using resources to provide the best impact.
Service provision: The use of digital resources in the conduct of consular
affairs and crisis management.
Even though digital diplomacy is noted for occasionally reducing cost, or
faces the risk of frequent banning of produced content, it has the potential
to fundamentally change the art of thousand-year-old diplomacy, which has
its distinctive features. The digital platform, for example, in the hands of a
master user, such as Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, allows the
establishment of a relationship directly from person to person, which was
largely impossible with traditional diplomacy forms. In the same way,
Donald Trump, President of the United States, can be an example to
politicians who have successfully exploited the possibilities of social media,
albeit in a different way. Like any tool, digital is good for some things and
it may not be so good for others. Knowing which tool, at what time, will
work, is the essence of diplomacy. Knowing how the digital environment
affects this, is also digital diplomacy itself.
Like people's influence on others, societies have an impact on each
other. Network-based digital technologies, including the internet, and
people's ways of creating and sharing information, generating content and
establishing connection with others, have all changed dramatically. For
example, recent reports have shown an increase in the number of people
who go onto the internet to stay in touch with friends and acquaintances in
the United States and other countries. The fact that societies live in a world
where links are provided through networks whose borders are now
transparent, requires public diplomacy to adopt real cooperation with
interconnected communities, and an approach based on co-operation. With
the increase in availability of digital devices, and given their affordability,
these new transnational and decentralized social networks have taken their
place among the tools that allow the performance of public diplomacy.
New trends that have emerged in public diplomacy in the digital world
of the 21st century have provided a more dialogic and cosmopolitan
approach. At the same time, digital diplomacy can be considered as complement
and expansion of existing diplomatic entity, as well as providing new
opportunities for diplomats to have influence (Hocking 2012, Neumann
2012, Pamment 2014). Web-based public diplomacy, also known as
diplomacy 2.0 or e-diplomacy, today recognizes the inclusive nature of
public diplomacy. Therefore, these diplomatic practices are also referred to
through digital network technologies, commonly named as social media,
such as the internet and mobile devices. At the heart of digital media-based
public diplomacy efforts, lies the establishment of meaningful connections
or relationships with people around the world. Edward R. Murrow, former
President of the US Information (IT) Organization states that, once, the
“final leg in the tripod” was very important to strengthen mutual
understanding of personal contact and to establish global public opinion
networks. While face-to-face interactions are ideal, social media provides
great opportunities for public diplomacy actors to establish connections
with global public opinion and facilitate it. With the development of new
communication technologies, more emphasis has been placed on the tools
for building and sustaining relations via diplomats, and face-to-face
interviews and official channels have not been used independently anymore.
With the instant announcement that the internet provides, interaction,
participation, etc., have been among the factors that public diplomacy
practices have had to take into consideration. The internet environment,
Meryem Okumuş 235
which also provides opportunities offered to individuals and countries, has

managed to enter the field of public diplomacy with its social media
platforms. In addition to the official websites of countries, being active on
social networks like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube offers
today's most effective application areas which help countries to build
credibility . With technological developments, the new media and countries
should use mass media as well as new media tools effectively. Moreover,
new media technologies, which have become even more important in
today's information age, create the necessity of countries to be in these
digital environments. For example, how a country uses social media, its
accessibility, and its effectiveness, give an idea about the country's media
culture and media profile (Zaharna 2001).
Digital media has begun to mediate global power in interesting ways,
and international news agencies have come to trust in the content captured
by mobile phone users, such as events created by citizen journalists
emerging in different places. Also, governments have begun to use social
media to interact with international public opinion as part of their public
diplomacy efforts. For example, the US State Department actively uses
Facebook and Twitter to communicate with, and deliver messages to,
citizens around the world. Other countries, including particularly the United
Kingdom, Norway, and Sweden, are expanding public diplomacy efforts in
the digital arena. Likewise, as well as providing new ways for diplomats
and employees to reach new audiences globally, social media challenges the
way diplomatic work is carried out. As new media expands via vertical
communication channels, it also extends horizontal communication
channels among network-connected individuals. The decentralized nature
of these new participatory and communicative networks means that public
diplomacy requires productive participation with individuals currently
within these networks.
The internet, being one of the indispensables in our daily life, by
providing facilities in many fields, is one of the most important areas of
application and tools in terms of public diplomacy. In particular, the
advantages of the internet, such as facilitating the formation of public
opinion on specific issues and the instant transmission of messages intended
to be conveyed to millions of people, bring the internet to a key position in
transferring political, economic, military, scientific, and cultural developments
taking place in the international arena. The official web pages of countries,
and the web pages of public diplomacy practitioners, are also among the
tools used to reach foreign peoples. The increase in interaction with the use
of social media constitutes one of the important forces that drive countries
to take part in social media. The internet also provides instant access to all
kinds of information desired about many countries, and takes place in

environments where the experiences of those countries can be transferred.
For example, the Turkey Home website offers visitors the opportunity to
know Turkey. These interactions and opportunities also lead countries to
pursue, and use effectively, technological developments in the context of
public diplomacy. In fact, the opportunities that the internet has within the
context of building and maintaining a dialogue-based relationship between
the parties make this channel indispensable in terms of public diplomacy as
well.
Social media
The emergence of a new media environment characterized by a continuous
global flow of information has constrained the position of foreign ministries
as the only communicators of foreign policy. These changes have also
required new tools to convey public diplomacy to international civilian
audiences. Thus, the new public diplomacy is characterized by dialogue,
cooperation and comprehensiveness. It represented a clear disconnect from
the public diplomacy model based on one-way communication, and
revealed the necessity of making use of social media to establish two-way
relations with people (Szondi 2008). It is the providing of the basis for
building the two-way relationship that makes social media a useful tool for
countries in realizing their goals and targets in the field of diplomacy.
Diplomats from the past to the present have had the chance to reach
hundreds and possibly thousands of people, face-to-face. Some have, rarely,
been able to reach hundreds of thousands, or millions, of people through
newspapers, radio, and television, but in this case it has been necessary to
obtain approval from threshold watchers. Social media has changed this old
dynamic, and countries have now been using their own global media empire
effectively, finding the opportunity to reach millions of people directly,
through the social media platform.
At the beginning of the 2010s, Stein (2011) highlighted the need for
countries to use social media in the field of diplomacy, saying, “all
governments have faced an urgent need due to updating their diplomatic
tools with the emergence of partially new technologies and social media.”
Research on the use of social media in diplomacy has focused mostly on
how social media is to be used for public diplomacy (that is, relations
between nation states and foreign peoples), and on the application of
diplomatic institutions such as foreign ministries and embassies (Bjola and
Holmes 2015, Cull 2011, Zhong and Lu 2013).
Meryem Okumuş 237
Although much of the information shared through networked social

media can't be verified (sometimes even news can be produced only to
attract attention), the widespread use of digital technology shows that social
media has emerged as the most common tool to influence the political
agenda in shaping public diplomacy. Here, social media is often seen as an
environment that allows the development of a more open and cooperative
diplomacy model. On the other hand, social media is said to require
diplomats to deal with their audience in a more personal and interactive way.
However, there are also discussions about the extent of the impact of social
media both on diplomatic communication and on developments in
diplomatic practice (Bjola and Holmes 2015, Hocking and Melissen 2015,
Zhong and Lu 2013).
The implementation of social media in the field of diplomacy is seen as a
transformative development of international politics (Stein 2011, Seib 2012).
Social media not only transcends the hierarchical chains of diplomatic
communication and provides the ground for ordinary people to get into the
light of political life and announce their voices, but also enables diplomats to
incorporate foreign societies directly into a continuous dialogue.
Digital diplomacy has taken place in the assurance of ‘new’ public
diplomacy to maximize interaction with the increasingly interconnected
foreign public, and to move away from the one-way information flow,
dialogue, and engagement (Melissen 2005). In this context, it is possible to
say that social media functions as a platform for web-based public
diplomacy as well. Although there is a lot to discuss on its function and
impact in international communication and political mobilization, the
Iranian case, for example, has shown its enormous potential for influence
on e-government diplomacy. Opposition groups and Western supporters
have not only provided support in and out of Iran through the micro-
blogging service Twitter and social networking sites, but also directed large-
scale protests in time. Again, protests around the world constitute a lot of
examples of the extensive impacts of social media. In April 2009, more than
10,000 Moldovan youth groups gathered to protest against Moldova's
leader, using social media tools, such as messaging, Facebook and Twitter.
In September 2007, information on protests in Myanmar was increasingly
disseminated through photos, videos, and audio files, which were rapidly
conveyed by technologies, including the internet, and which the government
failed to silence (Mydans 2007). Soon, this information was able to produce
significant support from the Western world. In November 2005, young
French Muslims organized a series of riots using text messages, blogs, and
e-mail (CBS News 2005). Similarly, in the 2008 Zimbabwe presidential
election, despite restrictions on media freedom in the country, new
technologies have become powerful tools for political campaigning,

communication, advocacy, and mobilization.
Twitter diplomacy (Twiplomacy)

Digital diplomacy enables individuals, governments and institutions to
interact and communicate differently from traditional diplomacy through
web applications. This difference in new learning models, by introducing
new networks of communication, enables communication to change its size
and transform itself. The new interaction network in question is provided
by social communication applications. These networks also enable states to
maintain their presence on digital platforms. The most widely used of these
applications are Twitter and Facebook, of course. This rapid transformation
in digital has enabled the concept of Twitter diplomacy, ‘twiplomacy’, to
enter the literature. According to Lüfkens (2017), world leaders use social
media extensively for a variety of purposes, including developing
relationships with other world leaders and foreign public opinion.
According to many indicators, the most popular social network used by
world leaders is Twitter. In this context, according to 2017 data (See Figure
1) US President Donald Trump has become the most followed world leader
on Twitter. Trump has also been considered to be the most influential world
leader on Twitter, based on interaction with followers, and the second most
influential leader in tweeting, with regard to the number of retweets per
tweet. According to the data from May 2017, Trump has 137 world leaders
among his followers on Twitter (Lüfkens 2017).
Figure 17-1. The Most Followed World Leaders on Twitter

Meryem Okumuş 239
Conclusion
Diplomacy, one of the basic concepts in the field of international relations,
has undergone significant transformations in its methods and practices in
parallel with technological developments in the communication world. It is
seen that, with the digital age, individuals and societies have also become
involved in diplomatic relations, which were formerly maintained only on
an interstate level. These changes and transformations have taken place with
the appearance of new actors, new methods, and new issues, on the stage of
diplomacy, and have revealed that countries must take into account the
digital field.
As a multi-stakeholder field, digital diplomacy has transformed the old
public diplomacy into the new, characterized by communication that builds
a two-way relationship (Zhong and Lu 2013). Especially, social media has
been the main tool of these transformations. In this context, it will be
important for practitioners to finish the chapter by giving ten proposed rules
for successful digital diplomacy. The rules in question are:
1- Each digital dispatch and action must tell an attractive story, or
there should be a purpose and a target of the dispatch.
2- Digital diplomacy should not only be seen as an information store
and should not be the single focus point, even though it is an
important element in the field of diplomacy.
3- A successful digital strategy is shaped around communicating with
the target audience. This includes responding to messages, actively
calling people, and participating in conversation.
4- It is important to be careful as to with whom, and whether or not,
to enter into a digital war. Masters of the digital environment
should not be ignored.
5- It is necessary to take risks. This doesn't mean you have to be
careless. Mistakes will always happen, and this is not limited to the
digital arena of diplomacy, but one should not be afraid of pushing
the limit and trying new things.
6- It is important to avoid boredom. No one wants to see the notes in
your capitals, or bizarre handshake pictures of local politicians and
officials. Being fun and creative as a human being will increase the
effectiveness of digital diplomacy.
7- It should be short, concise and clear. For example, just because
Twitter has increased the number of characters does not mean that
each of them must be used.
8- Visuals must be included. To make messages more aesthetically

attractive, some images, emoticons or GIFs can be used to ease the
writings.
9- Reality is important even in the digital environment. Honesty,
giving accurate information, and taking into account incoming
messages, can offer an opportunity to communicate more
effectively by increasing reliability.
Digital diplomacy should not be used in place of face-to-face diplomacy. At
the end of the day, digital diplomacy remains as only one of the tools in a
diplomat's kit, and must be complementary to, rather than a substitute for,
face-to-face diplomacy.
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study-2014/
DIGITAL MEDIA LITERACY AND CONTENT
PRODUCTION IN SOCIAL MEDIA
SAİT SİNAN ATİLGAN
Introduction
Together with the transition from traditional to digital media, it has become
necessary to raise awareness of individuals in every layer of society, and
create awareness in terms of reaching qualified information. In addition to
the opportunities provided by digital media, its ability to influence
individuals of all ages, as well as their diversity, have all made the concept
of digital media literacy important. Nowadays, digital media literacy has
taken its place in international documents as an indispensable life skill.
The most important factor in the transition from traditional media
literacy to digital is the emergence of the social media concept as an
extension of the developments in information technologies. Social networks
are online tools that allow individuals to express themselves, to merge their
social networks, to establish connections with other users, and to maintain
these links. In general, social networks have become important tools for
sharing daily events and news.
In a survey conducted by Hootsuite and We Are Social in 2017, it was
revealed that approximately three billion people are active social network
users, and about five billion people use mobile technologies (Cassidy 2017).
Assuming that information is obtained through the internet and internet
technologies, it is natural that the information gatherer, under the hegemony
of knowledge, thinks all kinds of news are real. It should be kept in mind
that information produced on the internet, and in particular, in social
networks, can only protect the individual if he/she is literate. One of the
main tasks of educators is to take into account the risks that social networks
present to young people, and to provide necessary support in this context.
244 Digital Media Literacy and Content Production in Social Media
The basics of digital literacy

Today's youths are called ‘digital natives’ by their elders, since the young
deal with everything technological and apply technologies effortlessly. The
main reason for this is that they live in an interactive and digital culture
where they are accustomed to accessing the media, wherever and whenever
they want. Instant messaging, photo sharing, social networking, video
broadcasting, and mobile internet use are examples of the new online
interests of young people.
Members of this new generation, intertwined and coordinated with
internet technologies, continue to be the users of information and
communication technologies without guidance. But it is not enough to
assume that young people have all the skills, knowledge, and understanding
they need to use these technologies.
It is a reality that they need help to develop digital cultures, and to make
sense of a rapidly changing world of technology (Alexander 2016).
To be literate in today's diverse media, young people need to develop
knowledge, critical thinking, and communication and knowledge
management skills, in the digital era. By transferring the increasing number
of businesses, services, and even democratic processes, to an online
environment, citizens who do not have digital literacy skills are at risk of
being disadvantaged when it comes to access to health care, government
services, employment, education, and civic engagement opportunities
(Hobbs 2012). In this sense, digital literacy includes a wide range of ethical,
social, and reflective practices, including work, learning, entertainment, and
everyday life, and suggests more than conceptual technological knowledge.
Use, understand and create

Qualifications for digital literacy can be classified according to three main
principles. The first of these shows the technical fluency needed to connect
with computers and the internet. The skills and competences included in the
field of use cover more complex skills, from basic technical skills to access
to information sources such as e-mail, search engines, emerging
technologies, online databases, and cloud computing.
Understanding the second principle of digital media is necessary to
enable us to critically evaluate each event around its own context and make
informed decisions. This understanding includes seeing how network
technology affects our behavior and our perceptions, beliefs, and emotions,
about the world around us.
Sait Sinan Atilgan 245
Finally, creation is the ability to produce content and communicate

effectively with various digital media tools. Producing content in digital
media environments requires more than knowing how to use a word
processor or write an email. It requires communicating effectively and
responsibly, using rich media such as images, video, and audio, with the
user-generated content of Web 2.0, such as blogs, discussion forums, video,
and photo sharing, social games, and other types of social media.
New media and digital literacy

According to Van Dijk, new media, unlike traditional media (newspapers,
radio, television, cinema), is a collection of multi-layered, high-speed,
digitally coded systems, on the basis of simultaneous and high capacity
communication processes among the actors. It is a multimedia form of
communication where interaction takes place (Van Dijk 2004).
New media, which has widespread practice in every aspect of everyday
life, also radically transforms it. Due to some of the requirements of the
social life of new media, the intensity of use is increasing, and new media
tools become an extension, or part, of the human body. Accordingly, all of
the digital technologies that are interactive, and multimedia, such as PC
games, console games, online games, and especially smartphones,
computers and the internet, which we frequently use in everyday life, are
defined as new media (Binark 2007).
To better understand new media, it is necessary to know its basic
features and principles. According to Rogers, new media has three main
features, and these three main features distinguish new media from
traditional media (Geray 2003).
Figure 18-1. New Media Diagram

The interaction is explained as turning the source into the receiver, and the
receiver into the source, and this is the most fundamental difference that can
be distinguished from the traditional media technologies (Törenli 2005).
Demassification: New media can be too mass-liberating to allow a
private message exchange with each individual within a large group of
users. New media can provide data, information, or news, to multiple
recipients from a source, as well as receiver-specific information, and data
flow. As such, the new media created by developing communication
technologies is a mass-liberator, so that it can exchange private messages
with each individual within a large group of users. This feature of the new
media is caused by its computer-based feature (Geray 2003).
Asenkron is one of the main differences between new communication
technologies; the necessity of concurrence between the receiver and the
source. Thanks to the new media synchronism feature, the individual can
send and receive messages at the appropriate time.
Individuals who follow technological developments in order to achieve
digital literacy skills, and integrate into new communication technologies in
the context of being updated, have priority competencies to be achieved
outside of this process. We can present these competencies under five
headings (Balaban 2012).
Figure 18-2. Priority Competencies
Access can be regarded as the ability to effectively access media content

with the support of different media, to use this content effectively, and to
become a shareholder in this process. Analysis and evaluation is the ability
to effectively analyze this content by developing a method for measuring
the quality, reality, and reliability elements against the media content that
we can come across in every environment. Therefore, it is a significant skill

element for digital media literacy. Creation is the ability of new media to
have the technical skills needed to prepare the content to be distributed to
both the user and the distributor, and to produce content in accordance with
these skills. As the existing digital technologies develop, this skill element
constantly revises itself. Ethical issues come to the fore in the reflection
element. In fact, this requires the ability to reflect a strong image within the
social process on the axis of attitudes, behaviors, and experiences.
Actionality is acting on the part of the individual in order to find
solutions to current issues as a part of the social structure (Hobbs 2010).
Apart from this, digital literacy is important in terms of providing a common
language to theorists and educators, and guiding teachers in a rapidly
changing technological field. Whatever the topic, tool or platform, the aim
of digital literacy education is to communicate these key concepts to
students in a way that is appropriate to their age and context. From this point
of view, the characteristics of digital literacy can be grouped under five
headings.
1. Digital media is network dependent: Unlike conventional media,
there is no one-way to connect in digital media. In digital media, content
can be recreated and deployed, unlike single-sided content in traditional
media. Even if you are not aware of the ways in which you send data from
this aspect, these links are always at least two-way. This means that
everyone and everything is connected. All users can publish content and
find viewers. This can contribute to the versatility of prepared content and
can be active at the point of transformation.
2. Digital media is permanent, searchable, and shareable:
Everything that is digitally transmitted is stored somewhere, and is
permanent because it can be searched and indexed. When considered
together with the concept of connecting to the network of digital media, this
means that most of the content can be copied, shared, or disseminated at an
insignificant cost. You can find information produced at different times, and
this information can be shared on any digital platform.
3. Digital media has unknown and unexpected audiences: Digital
media is connected to the network, so things you share online can be seen
by people you don't expect to see them. Content-generating users have much
less power to control what happens after it is produced. We may be sharing
content that we don't know (such as cookies and other monitoring tools)
with the masses.
In addition to these unexpected situations, the importance of digital
literacy arises in terms of the development of the necessary mechanisms of
resistance against such problems, which will be created by these elements

that make our lives easier.
4. Digital media experiences provide a virtual reality perception as

well as real: Digital media connected to the network is interactive, users are
not only passive trackers, but active elements of ongoing processes. Because
it is interactive, we respond to online users as if we were actually there, but
this can sometimes mislead users. Some of the behaviors we are forced to
carry out in real life can be made easier in virtual environments. Laws,
morals and rights still apply online. The norms and values of our online
communities can also affect our own personal norms and values, as with the
values of our offline communities.
5. Our reactions and behaviours in the virtual environment are
influenced by those who design digital media platforms: One of the most
basic concepts of media literacy is how a form of media affects how we read
a text. While this is true in digital media, it shows that the design of a
platform does not affect the meaning and message of digital media;
everything we interact with, via the user interface, gives us content from
algorithms that determine how (Danah 2010).
As can be seen in traditional media, there is often an interaction between
users' own needs and the impact of platforms. For this reason, technological
developments, and the generations that continue to develop according to the
effects of social life, are determined. In this respect, it is seen that social
media platforms which respond to different contents and needs are used
within their own objectives. For example, individuals who grow with digital
cultural codes evaluate two different platforms, according to their intended
use, and are influenced by the structure of these platforms, so they can
choose to send ordinary photos, and more official images, on Snapchat.
Digital citizenship
Conceptually, digital citizenship is character education in a networked
world. In addition, with the development of technology, official
transactions, social communication, education, and production, such as the
fields of information technology, are appropriate and accurate for the use of
people who have the ability . As technology develops, problems with its
use are also increasing. Therefore, it is clear that the behaviors, values,
ethics, and consciousness about technological behavior or technological
citizenship, should be established.
Being a critical user and media consumer is an important element of

active and conscious citizenship in the 21st century. It is inevitable that
digital competencies are necessary in order to follow the media which has
taken its place in our lives with its new identity, and to integrate it into our
vital processes.
Media messages that have an impact on the choices in our lives also
affect our political stance. As tools such as Facebook and Twitter are used
to organize activism and political movements in the world, it is becoming
increasingly important for young people to be able to critically view the
media, and to take care of the contributing digital citizens in order to achieve
a conscious level of participation. To do this, users need all the skills
associated with digital literacy in order to know and use their rights.
From this point of view, digital citizenship, which emerged as a
contemporary concept, is closely related to citizenship in the traditional
sense. Understanding and using digital media is now a vital part of active
citizenship. Digital citizenship is often framed around elements such as
rights and responsibilities, participation or civic participation, norms of
conduct, and a sense of belonging and membership (Collier 2011). There
are many dimensions in the concept of digital citizenship. These dimensions
are outlined below:
Digital Access: This is the accession of all individuals to digital media
and technology from anywhere, in a safe and quality way.
Digital Trade: To be able to sell or buy goods or services in digital
environments, and to protect banking information during shopping.
Digital Ethics: This represents respect for the rights of other individuals
in digital environments.
Digital Law: This means being aware of the laws applied to ensure the
order of digital environments, to comply with those laws, and to warn those
who do not.
Digital Rights - Responsibilities: The rights of individuals to access
information through digital devices and to disseminate it via other media
channels. This is the phenomenon of transferring the behavior and attitudes
towards the digital process, which are the right of every individual, to the
next generations, within the framework of certain responsibilities by
individuals.
Digital Health: To be aware of the health conditions to be found in
digital environments.
Digital Security: This refers to the provision of personal information,
hardware and network security (Ozkan 2019).
Changing communication practices

The rapidly changing media reveals new opportunities and challenges for
users. Communication, which is one of the functions of the internet, has
become the most important tool among digital natives by replacing the
phone. According to a survey conducted with 6,700 young people and
parents in 2002, 81% of young people between the ages of 12 and 17 use
the internet to send e-mails to their friends and relatives, while 70% have a
quick messaging system from both their computers and wireless devices;
56% of the youth aged 18 - 19 prefer the internet to the phone (Hobs 2010).
Along with the change in communication technologies, it is essential to
integrate digital literacy, and media literacy training, to adapt to the
changing nature of communication technologies. Based on the changing
technologies framework, alternative education models should be developed.
Various multi-faceted studies in this field are being carried out all over
the world. For example, in the European Commission's Image Education
and Media Literacy program, a decision was made to expand the scope of
media literacy to include new media environments. As Renee Hobbs
pointed out, educators, who traditionally concentrated on the process of
analyzing news, advertising, and entertainment media, should expand their
original viewpoints to include new media (mobile phones and handheld
devices), and new message forms (Atar 2016).
On the other hand, the necessity of discussing new media in interactivity
comes to the fore. There are interactions between user-user, user-
documents, and user-systems. Digital media, the interactive form of the
media, should be approached in this respect.
User-user communication, which is one of these approaches, should not
be confused with face-to-face communication. Here, a transformation is
discussed and seen. Since new media contains multimedia text (audio,
video, animation, video, etc.), a different literacy is needed (Livingstone
2002).
It is seen that there is a message flow from one person to many, due to
the change in producer and consumer positions. In contrast to face-to-face
communication, the necessity of being in the same time and place and the
ease of reaching the masses by using various tools comes to the forefront.
In addition to this, the structure transformation from the passive
audience to the pro-consumer in the process of change has caused the
necessity for media literacy which is different from traditional media
literacy. In addition, the confusion that may arise as to whether the
information is accurate and reliable, along with the advantages brought by
new communication technologies, is accompanied by some negative
situations. Livingstone (2002) points out that the internet may cause
disappointment. In his research, it is stated that libraries are safer, because
it is difficult to understand what is right and what is wrong with the
information on the internet.
These frustrations also require a new form of media literacy. One of the
reasons for this is the contraction of the distance between new information
technologies, but these technologies constitute the central and
environmental relations that will open up new areas (Binark & Bek 2010).
Content generation period

In today's world, everyone, not just traditional media professionals, has
become a publisher, because social media provides possibilities for
everyone on the internet to produce content by means of their own methods.
The process of producing content consists of writing, uploading photos or
videos, and then pressing the ‘publish’ button. With social networks and
various blog software, multimedia publishing has become possible for all
users (Kawasaki, Fitzpatrick 2015).
The production of the user with effect in the content can be seen in three
stages of the media; consumption, participation, and production, and these
have a mutual dependence on each other. Individuals start their relationships
with the user production media primarily as consumers or observers. In
other words, people visit sites that contain user-generated content in the
search for information and entertainment, and consume the content there.
However, at this stage, individuals are not participating or contributing.
After some obstacles are overcome in the process, individuals start to
interact with other users, and the content is produced.
Such interaction also helps to establish and maintain a social connection,
along with the creation of virtual communities. At the end of this process,
the stage in terms of individuals is the participation of the direct or indirect
user in the production of content in the media. Production here is, in essence,
almost always manifested as the act of self-expression and self-
actualization, directed towards the goal of building personal identity
(Bekiroğlu 2017).
Figure 18-3. User-generated content (Shao 2009)
User-generated content is not only considered by ordinary non-professional

citizens or amateurs. At the same time, traditional media and internet media
are increasingly thinking about how to use this content, and what kind of
mechanisms they can use (Bekiroğlu 2017).
Another important issue in this regard is the accuracy of the content
produced. The importance of media literacy in this sense is increasing,
because we need to be confident about the accuracy of the internet
environment, and thus, a true learning-teaching process must be realized. In
this direction, it is very important to have a number of skills in order to make
sense of the messages correctly. Digital media literacy allows individuals to
be well equipped for the risks they will face in using these online facilities.
The development of digital technologies facilitates access to news and
content, increasing both user-focused news and content production and the
spread of this content and news. The speed brought about by digital
technologies causes the production of a large amount of news and content
(Binark and Bayraktutan 2018). In particular, social media has become the
medium of information and news for users, as it becomes the medium that
can respond to the rapid and widespread communication needs of today.
This makes it more attractive for individuals who feel the need to reach and
share news through more than traditional media.
The main feature of these environments is that they can be shared
without an editorial filtering according to the traditional media, because
they can spread rapidly (Köktener 2018).
This raises the problem that, sometimes, realistic or manipulative flows
of information cannot provide valuable or necessary information. Thus, for
the subject exposed to a stream of intense information, the order of
importance of the information is shaped by those who produce the content.
Again, the information pollution in the content increases the suspicion of
the audience regarding the source and the tool.
This is an important problem, of sharing definite news, unconfirmed
information, and user-related content on social media, using misleading
visual materials in content, and the fact that this content can contain hate
speech against a group, race, or gender, and spread rapidly without any
control mechanism (Binark and Bayraktutan 2018). Social media
environments with extremely fast content growth require individuals to create
self-defensive control mechanisms against false news or misinformation.
Anyone who has the ability to access and use the internet can read and
edit false news content about any topic, and thousands of people may
believe it. Media consumers who do not have sufficient equipment for
media literacy believe that most of this news does not have the accuracy
they find on the internet and which contributes to the formation of public
opinion.
In this case, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), in a study
conducted by social media on the news, spread six times more rapidly.
According to the survey, the possibility of sharing incorrect news on Twitter
is 70% more than that of disseminating the right news. In one of the most
comprehensive researches ever conducted, researchers covered more than
126,000 news items shared on Twitter, and it is seen that stories are
spreading much faster on Twitter and reaching far more distant geographies
(iktibasdergisi.com 2019).
Conclusions
It is already very difficult to predict what digital technology will offer us in
the future. It is obvious that no matter how far you take the boundaries of
these surprises, technology is now irreversibly penetrating every aspect of
society. The internet and social media have brought a horizontal, vertical
and multifaceted diversity to our social relations, with structures that enable
human-human communication beyond human-machine interaction.
The content produced due to the possibilities of interaction of social
media can reach hundreds of thousands of millions of people. For example,
content produced by the hashtag method, which can be expressed as tagging
on Twitter, can cause a topic to trend across the country, and sometimes on
the world agenda. A new kind of newsreel function, which can be seen in
the main news bulletins in the form of WhatsApp notification lines, can be
considered as a kind of content production function. Individuals can earn
serious money in exchange for offering such content.
In this text, only information about digital media literacy and social
media content production has been presented. Many negative impacts of
social media on people have been revealed, in many studies. These include
stress, low mood, anxiety, depression, insomnia, addiction, loss of self-
esteem, disruption of relationships, loneliness, and so on. At this point, there
is a need for literacy, which can keep the relations with digital media in
balance.
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163.
COMPARISON OF FEEDBACK GIVEN
TO SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS
OF NEWS AGENCIES IN TURKEY
İBRAHIM SENA ARVAS
Introduction
People's daily life practices continuously change in accordance with
developing communication technology. There is no doubt that the internet
is the most powerful technological development that has triggered this
change. Today, in line with this technology, people are abandoning or
updating their habits, definitions, and even the feelings they had before the
internet. The internet technology has such a limitless effect that many
revolutionary inventions developed in the wake of it have been built. An
example of this situation is Web 2.0 technology, which has ended the
passive status of internet users, enabling them to interact and lead an active
online life. In addition to providing new communication opportunities,
social media platforms developed with Web 2.0 have provided a basis for
creating new characters, new values, and new identities. Although it might
sound like a very assertive definition, social media has changed the
definition of many values of humanity which are thousands of years old.
Nowadays, actions that are valuable for people have changed into actions
that are ‘liked’ by other social media users. The instant and measurable
feedback offered by Web 2.0 has become the new benchmark of what is
valuable for humanity. Today, the value of an artist, a work of art, a novel
or a newspaper is determined by the number of followers or the feedback
rate in social media accounts, not by the awareness or benefit they have
created for society. The forms and quantities of feedback in the social media
directly affect the value of the sharers and the shared alike in real life.
McLuhan's statement "Now the medium is the message” (McLuhan 1967,
March 19) has turned to "Now the feedback is the message", so to speak.
Feedback from social media has become so important that many people are
now looking at the feedback below the message before checking the content
of shared news. Nowadays, people waste many minutes of their time
İbrahim Sena Arvas 257
reading the feedback underneath a news item on social media, that would
not take even five minutes to read, to find out whether it is worth reading or
not.
The main purpose of this study is to examine how the feedback
phenomenon discussed above, which has become the new value judgment
of users, has reflected on the social media posts of news agencies operating
in Turkey. In addition to the literature review method, a quantitative content
analysis of feedback was conducted in the study. In this context, studies
included the posts of news agencies owned by two different companies that
have Facebook and Twitter accounts, which are quite popular media in
Turkey. These posts were limited to the most popular social media accounts
of the Anadolu Agency (AA), the Ihlas News Agency (IHA), and the
Demirören News Agency (DHA). The posts of the news agencies included
in the study were limited to the news regarding the terrorist attack against
some mosques in New Zealand. The posts were limited to those posted on
March 15 and the next day. Reposts from other accounts were not included
in the accounts during the two-day period. Only the statistics of the original
posts in the accounts were considered. Data on feedback statistics for posts
in the accounts were collected 10 days after the post was shared. For
example, the number of feedback of the posts made on March 15 was
collected on March 25, and the number of posts on March 16 was collected
on March 26. This period was applied for each post. The period of 10 days
was determined as a result of daily observations. It was observed that the
level of feedback of a post started to be fixed only after 10 days. This period
of 10 days was set as a reasonable time for followers to see the posts and
give feedback.
The data consisting of the statistics of the feedback regarding the
contents that the news agencies shared was mainly expected to answer the
following two questions:
1- Which news agency's posts received the highest feedback?
2- Do feedback rates differ according to Facebook and Twitter?
The study also mentions the types of feedback on these social media
platforms and includes assumptions about the situations in which they are
generally preferred. In the light of the data obtained at the conclusion of the
study, the change in agency journalism along with social media will be
discussed.
Nowadays, most of the studies on social media and communication
generally focus on social media posts. The number of studies including
content analysis and discourse analysis is quite high. In other words,
researchers are working with Web 1.0 logic when analyzing social media
content. These sender-oriented studies should now be in line with the spirit
258 Comparison of Feedback Given to Social Media Accounts of News
Agencies in Turkey
of Web 2.0. In the studies, receivers should not be seen as consumers only,
and they should be examined as active content producers with the feedback
they give. This study is expected to contribute to the literature in terms of
measuring the reactions and interactions that are generated by feedback, in
accordance with the structure of Web 2.0.
Social media and feedback in the context of reporting

Social media is a communication medium that is covering more and more
people every day. When Manuel Castells stated that most of the daily
activities on the internet were done through social networking sites, the
number of people using platforms like Facebook and Twitter was a little
higher than a billion. Social media today is a medium where billions of
people interact. This is a very high rate, and gives enough information about
the size of the content that users contribute (Kıyan & Törenli 2018). Social
media, in which users contribute to content production, allows journalists
and news organizations to establish an interactive relation with their readers
and audience. However, these developments do not mean that all journalists
have blessed social media. For example, in a study conducted among
American journalists at the end of 2013, the idea that feedback made social
media more accountable to the public came to the fore. However, only about
a third of the journalists also thought that social media has a positive
influence on the journalistic profession overall (Weaver & Willnat 2016).
The news, which is the only product of journalists, has taken a new form
after the introduction of social media to the profession. The meanings and
functions of the headings within the news concept have changed with social
media. The basics of the news values were introduced and developed by
Galtung and Ruge (1965). Another noteworthy study regarding news values
was published in 1987 (Shoemaker, Chang & Brendlinger 1987).
Shoemaker et al. determined the contents of the news values as follows:
Timeliness; importance; impact or consequence; interest; conflict or
controversy; sensationalism; prominence; novelty; and oddity, or the
unusual. Many researchers later increased the number of these titles or
summarized them in certain categories. However, it can be said that the titles
listed above are generally accepted in journalism literature. Specifically two
of these titles, content and importance, which are still valid, have been
updated with social media. The first one is impact. Social media is a channel
that provides journalists with instant and measurable impacts. Feedback on
social media can give ideas to journalists about the quality and quantity of
the impact. These impacts which are formed thanks to feedback can cause
exaggerations in terms of prominence in the news. For example, today, the
reasons for using sensational news headlines in the news on social media
are impact and prominence.
As the profession of journalism has been integrated into social media,
the method and meaning of many practices within the profession has
changed. News items carefully prepared for publication in the newspaper
the next day have been replaced by news that must be written and shared
quickly. Among journalists, the most familiar with this situation are the
news agency employees. News agencies, by their nature, are obliged to
provide instant and uninterrupted news flow to their subscribers. This
situation has caused news agencies to adapt to the structure of social media
that produces non-stop content more easily. The timelines of social media
platforms are quite similar to the flow of news pools in news agencies. In a
short period of time, a strong competition has occurred between news
agencies which have adapted to social media on this medium. The news
agencies that earn money with subscription systems are trying to increase
their recognition and reputation by effectively managing their social media
accounts. The statistics of the number of followers, and the feedback from
shared news on the social media accounts belonging to the news agencies,
are very important. Agencies are aware that they should use social media
accounts as a showcase to market their news to other media outlets. In this
respect, news sharing on Facebook and Twitter accounts of news agencies
continues without losing momentum. Both social media platforms offer
measurable feedback to journalists.
The feedback of shared content on Facebook is also varied. These are
‘like’, ‘comment’, ‘share’, and ‘number of video viewers’. Among this
feedback, the ‘like’ option has other options in itself. Thanks to this named
reaction feature, instead of just having the option of ‘liking’ a post, users
can now interact with a status update, article, or photo, using one of six
emotional reactions: ‘like’, ‘love’, ‘ha-ha’, ‘wow’, ‘sad’, and ‘angry’ (Brink
2016).
Posts shared on Twitter accounts are referred to as tweets, and tweets
which are shared again are called retweets, in Twitter jargon. On Twitter,
just like Facebook, there are four different feedback options. These are
‘like’, ‘comment’, ‘share’ and ‘number of video viewers’.
The Anadolu Agency (AA)

The AA is the first national institution established in the Turkish Republic
in 1920 by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the Republic of Turkey,
against the monopolized structure of international news agencies. The AA
is Turkey's oldest news agency, and has provided a continuous flow of news
Agencies in Turkey
to the media since its inception (Girgin 2012). With the development of
social media, the AA has also created its own social media accounts on
certain platforms. The AA offers all users free access to the news that they
have selected for social media.
The Facebook page of the AA, https://www.facebook.com/
anadoluajansi/, was created on February 8 2011. As of April 2019, the page
has 5 million, 500 thousand followers. Users click on the link on a social
media post and are directed to www.aa.com.tr, where all the details of the
news are available. The daily average number of news articles shared on the
page by the last week of March 2019 was 38. The AA also includes news
videos on this page. The terrorist attacks in New Zealand on March 15 2019
were also the subject of many news stories on the AA's Facebook account.
Table 19-1. Statistics for the AA's Facebook page
Likes /
Headline Date/Time Reactions Comments Shares
1- In New Zealand... Mar 15/07.59 325 51 43

2- In New Zealand, two... Mar 15/09.50 945 156 191
3- President Erd... Mar 15/10.29 626 120 60
4- President Erd... Mar 15/12.10 1570 150 670
5- From Kılıçdaroğlu... Mar 15/13.02 343 266 20
6- From Bahçeli, New Mar 15/13.29 171 13 4
Z...
7- In New Zealand, two... Mar 15/15.29 360 99 100
8- Terrorist's weapon ... Mar 15/17.29 309 113 36
9- New Zealand's Prim… Mar 16/07.44 192 47 10
10- Custody until April Mar 16/09.59 639 319 24
5...
11- Terrorist's gun Mar 16/17.30 169 59 72
analys...
Mean: Mean: Mean:
News in Total 583 139 108
The AA's first news about the simultaneous attacks on March 15 2019 was
announced at 7.59 in the morning, on its Facebook account. On the AA
Facebook page, a total of 12 news items were shared, eight of which were
on March 15, and four on March 16. On average, 583 likes/reactions, 139
comments, and 108 shares, were made to these 12 news items by the
followers of the page.
The AA's Twitter account, @anadoluajansi, was created in January
2012, approximately one year after the creation of its Facebook page. As of
April 2019, this account has 2 million, 130 thousand followers. The number
of followers of the AA's Twitter account is half the number of followers of
the Facebook page. However, the average number of daily news items that
the @anadoluajansi account shared in the last week of March 2019 was
close to 80, which means that the AA gives more importance to Twitter than
Facebook. This inverse proportion is also reflected in the news of the attacks
in New Zealand.
Table 19-2. Statistics for the AA's Twitter account
Headline Date Likes Comments Retweets
1- In New Zealand... Mar 15 169 8 85
2- New Zealand's Ch... Mar 15 49 6 38
3- In New Zealand, two... Mar 15 43 40 24
4- President Erdogan... Mar 15 180 8 60
6- Presidential Spokes... Mar 15 61 1 26
7- During worship the… Mar 15 352 5 114
9- Minister of National… Mar 15 106 2 20
10- 4 people caught in… Mar 15 274 21 78
12- Mosques in Europe... Mar 15 78 3 19
14- Organization of Isla… Mar 15 57 12 15

Agencies in Turkey
15- Australian Senate... Mar 15 15 2 8
16- American politicians... Mar 15 34 1 6
17- United Nations... Mar 15 52 2 16
19- By pretending dead... Mar 15 22 3 4
20- From Trump: "New Mar 15 12 13 0

Z...
22- Directorate of Relig… Mar 15 82 6 18
24- A massacre occurred... Mar 15 76 3 41
26- President of the Tur… Mar 15 47 1 10
27- Industry and Mar 15 43 3 11

Techno…
30- I express my feelings... Mar 15 58 2 10
31- AK Party Spokes… Mar 15 45 4 8
32- Minister of Foreign... Mar 15 67 2 18
33- General President Mar 15 41 2 8

of…
35- Terrorist's weapon ... Mar 15 30 2 17
36- Future hopes... Mar 16 169 5 84
37- Terrorist's weapon Mar 16 321 30 143

a…
38- Wheelchair... Mar 16 95 4 39
39- Photo of the attack... Mar 16 126 7 27

40- In front of Haghia S… Mar 16 229 3 47
41- Minority communiti… Mar 16 44 0 16
42- CHP, New Zealand... Mar 16 28 28 3
43- Pope, the terror Mar 16 24 35 19

attack...
44- Vice President... Mar 16 94 2 10
45- Terrorist's weapon ... Mar 16 53 3 26
47- Netherlands and Ne… Mar 16 80 1 14
49- Future hopes... Mar 16 29 1 10
50- USA Press New Z... Mar 16 29 8 12
51- The terror attack... Mar 16 39 4 5
52- Hate manifest... Mar 16 21 1 6
54- BBC terrorism... Mar 16 55 11 34
57- With his father Mar 16 56 4 19

going…
61- In New Zealand m… Mar 16 21 5 14
62- In New Zealand… Mar 16 61 26 20
63- New Zealand's Pri… Mar 16 30 5 4
Mean: Mean: Mean:

Agencies in Turkey
It was observed that the AA, which uses the @anadoluajansi account very
actively, shared a total of 63 news about the New Zealand attacks. On 16
March, the amount of feedback on the 35 news items shared on March 15
and 28 was quite low, compared to Facebook. The followers of the account
gave an average feedback of 98 likes, eight comments, and 32 retweets to
the AA's 63 news items. When the Facebook page of the AA was compared
to its Twitter account, the number of followers and the feedback rate were
quite low on the Twitter account. Despite these data, it is not understood
why the AA insistently used the Twitter account more actively.
The Ihlas News Agency (IHA)

The IHA, founded in 1993 within the body of the Ihlas Holding Company,
produces 260 videos, 2,000 written and photo news items, and 3,500
photographs per day (Şahin 2012). As of the end of 2017, the number of its
subscribers consisting of television, newspapers, websites, magazines, and
other institutions, reached up to 1,900 in Turkey, and 200 in foreign
countries (IHA 2018). The IHA has social media accounts that it uses
actively on Facebook and Twitter. Thanks to these social media accounts,
some news that is prepared by the IHA is shared with social media users
free of charge.
The Facebook page of the IHA, at https://www.facebook.com/
ihacomtr/, was created on August 15 2011. As of April 2019, there are 1
million, 20 thousand followers of the page. Users click on the link of a
shared item on social media and are directed to the www.iha.com.tr address,
where all the details of the news are available. The IHA also releases news
videos on the Facebook page. The terrorist attacks in New Zealand on
March 15 2019 were also the subject of many news stories on the IHA's
Facebook account.
Table 19-3. Statistics for the IHA's Facebook page
Likes /
2- British Prime Mini… Mar 15/23.51 49 18 4
3- New Zealand... Mar 16/00.44 31 9 2
4- New Zealander… Mar 16/09.00 56 4 9

5- New Zealand terror... Mar 16/10.00 77 18 16
6- New Zealand attac… Mar 16/10.39 51 39 2
7- The old woman's… Mar 16/11.00 313 18 87
9- Here is in Ekşi Soz… Mar 16/22.00 8 1 3
10- From Ricky Marti… Mar 16/13.50 386 4 19
11- New Zealand's Pri... Mar 16/14.46 19 15 1
13- Christian terrorist… Mar 16/18.00 20 1 6
14- The killer in the m… Mar 16/19.00 49 10 9
16- From İbrahim Kalı… Mar 16/20.45 6 1 0
18- Martyred Muslims... Mar 16/21.05 46 0 2
19- TGRT News Team... Mar 16/21.54 26 7 4
20- New Zealand attac… Mar 16/22.00 27 1 2
Mean: Mean: Mean:

As can be seen in the table, the Facebook page of the IHA shared 20 news
items about the attacks in New Zealand in two days. The IHA released only
two news items on March 15, and 18 news items on March 16. The average
feedback given by the followers of the page to the news stories shared by
the IHA was 82 likes/reactions, 11 comments, and 12 shares.
The IHA's Twitter account @ihacomtr was created in January 2011,
seven months before the inception of its Facebook account. As of April
2019, this account has 655,000 followers. The number of followers of the
AA's Twitter account is almost half the number of followers of the Facebook
page. It is seen that the IHA also uses its Twitter account more actively than
the Facebook page.
Agencies in Turkey
Table 19-4. Statistics for the IHA's Twitter account
1- In New Zealand Mar 15 16 4 10

mosq...
2- Australian police... Mar 15 8 1 6
3- British Prime Mar 15 15 2 4

Minist…
4- New Zealand's Mar 15 7 0 2
Prime...
7- Bahçeli: “New Zeala... Mar 15 11 2 2
10- Minister of Foreign Mar 15 16 0 6

A...
11- AK Party Spokesm… Mar 15 10 0 5
12- Minister of Justice... Mar 15 8 0 2

Prime...
17- New Zealand Media... Mar 15 6 1 4
19- Ricky Martin "... Mar 16 21 0 3
20- From İbrahim Kalın Mar 16 8 0 1

...
21- New Zealand terror... Mar 16 7 0 1

Prime...
23- The martyred Musli… Mar 16 10 0 1
25- New Zealand attacks... Mar 16 4 0 1
Mean: Mean: Mean:

The IHA, using the @ihacomtr account more actively than Facebook,
shared a total of 26 news items about the New Zealand attacks. The number
of feedback items on 18 news pieces shared on March 15, and eight on 16
March, was quite low, compared to Facebook. The followers of the account
gave an average of 10 likes and 32 retweets to the 26 news reports of the
IHA. There was almost no comment on the news that the IHA shared on the
topic on Twitter.
The Demiroren News Agency (DHA)

The DHA is a private news agency founded in 1999 with the merger of the
Hürriyet News Agency and the Milliyet News Agency, under the name of
the Doğan News Agency (Şahin 2012). In 2018, the Dogan Holding
Company sold it to the Demiroren Holding Company, and its name was
changed to the Demiroren News Agency. The DHA is a news agency that
promises to deliver an average of 6,000 news items to its subscribers, as of
2019 (DHA 2019). The DHA has social media accounts that it actively uses
on both Facebook and Twitter, as its competitors do. Thanks to these social
media accounts, some news items that are prepared by the DHA are shared
with social media users free of charge.
The DHA's Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/dha/, was
created on May 3 2011. As of April 2019, the page has 120,000 followers.
Users click on the link on a social media post and are directed to the address
at www.dha.com.tr, where all the details of the news can be reached. The
DHA also includes news videos on the Facebook page. It can be said that
the DHA uses its social media accounts the least among its competitors. The
terrorist attacks in New Zealand on March 15 2019 were also reported on
the DHA's Facebook account, though small in numbers.
Agencies in Turkey
Table 19-5. Statistics for the DHA's Facebook page
Likes /
1- In New Zealand… Mar 15/08.01 8 1 0
Mean: Mean: Mean:

As in the table, the Facebook page of the DHA shared only four news items
about the attacks in New Zealand in two days. On March 15, the DHA
posted three news items on the topic, while only one news piece was shared
on March 16. The feedback given by the followers to the four news stories
shared by the DHA was an average of 14 likes/reactions, three comments,
and only one share.
The DHA's Twitter account, @dhainternet, was created in February
2011, three months before the Facebook page. As of April 2019, this
account has one million followers. The number of followers of the Twitter
account of the DHA is about eight times higher than the number of followers
of its Facebook page. Unlike its competitors, the DHA has a lot more
followers on Twitter than on Facebook. In addition, it is seen that the DHA
uses its Twitter account more actively than its Facebook page.
Table 19-6. Statistics for the DHA's Twitter account

Prime...
4- All political parties Mar 15 7 1 1

in...
6- In New Zealand Mar 15 1 3 2

mass...
7- Ministry of National… Mar 15 7 0 1
9- From Bahçeli, New Mar 15 5 1 1

Z...
11- Wellington Turkey ... Mar 15 2 1 0
14- From İbrahim Kalın Mar 16 5 1 1

...
15- In the mosque Mar 16 4 1 1
massacre...
16- Before the massacre... Mar 16 2 1 1
Mean: Mean: Mean:

News in Total 6 1 1
The @dhacomtr account is used more actively than Facebook, and the DHA
shared a total of 16 news items about the New Zealand attacks. The amount
of feedback on 11 news items shared on March 15, and five on March 16,
was quite low compared to Facebook. The followers of the account gave
feedback to the DHA's 16 news items with an average of six likes. The
comments and retweet averages for shared news were not more than one.
Considering the number of followers of the @dhainternet account, it is seen
that the average amount of feedback to their news is quite low. The numbers
of shares and interactions in the DHA's social media accounts are far below
their competitors’.
Conclusion
As is known, the value of an account in social media is measured by the
number of followers. The value of the posts included in these accounts is
determined according to their likes, comments, and shares. The common
purpose of all social media accounts is to receive and share as much
feedback as possible. Thus, the recognition and value of the account
increase. This also applies to newspapers and news agencies that market the
news as a product. The fact that the value of a news can be measured by the
intensity of the feedback it receives makes the feedback on social media
Agencies in Turkey
more important for newspapers and news agencies. When social media
shares belonging to the news agencies as legal entities get more feedback,
the destructive effects of fake news items, which are frequently seen on
social media today, are reduced. The numerical ratios of feedback on social
media accounts of the AA, the IHA and the DHA are also important in this
regard. All three agencies have been competing with each other for years
with the number of news pieces they have shared with their subscribers.
However, when it comes to social media, there has been a different
competition between the number of followers, the number of news stories,
and the rate of receiving feedback. In the light of the data obtained in this
study, the feedback given to social media accounts of news agencies in
Turkey regarding the New Zealand attack was compared.
Table 19-7. Statistics of news reports on New Zealand attacks that news
agencies shared on their Facebook pages on March 15 and 16 2019
Mean
Number Likes / Mean Mean
Agency Followers of News Reactions Comments Shares
AA 5.5 million 12 583 139 108
IHA 1.20 million 20 82 11 14
DHA 120 thousand 4 14 3 1
Regarding the data in the table, the AA's Facebook page was superior to the
other two news agencies’ both in terms of the number of followers and the
feedback rate. The number of news items on the IHA's Facebook page was
higher than the AA’s, but the feedback rate it received was well behind the
AA. Considering the number of followers, the number of stories shared, and
the rate of receiving feedback, the DHA does not use its Facebook page as
actively as its competitors do.
Table 19-8. Statistics of news reports on New Zealand attacks that news
agencies shared on Twitter accounts between March 15 and 16 2019
Number Mean Mean Mean
Agency Followers of News Likes Comments Retweets
AA 2.1 million 63 98 8 32
IHA 655 thousand 26 10 0 3
DHA 1 million 16 6 1 1
All three news agencies use their Twitter accounts more actively than their
Facebook pages. However, the AA and the IHA's followers on Facebook
are greater in number than those on Twitter. The feedback that the three
agencies received on Twitter was lower than the feedback they received on
Facebook. Considering the feedback rates, the efforts of agencies in Twitter
accounts were unilateral. The IHA has not been able to capture its Facebook
popularity on Twitter in terms of followers. The DHA has one million
followers on Twitter, but it has not been able to interact with its followers
in terms of feedback. The AA's Twitter account is used very actively. The
AA's number of followers on Twitter is less than half the number of its
followers on Facebook. However, the AA news shares are five times higher
on its Twitter account than on its Facebook page. The rate of feedback
received by the AA on Twitter is lower than it gets on Facebook. In spite of
all these, the AA is also numerically superior to other news agencies on both
social media platforms.
The value of the interaction between social media accounts developed
with Web 2.0 and its followers is increasing day-by-day. Nowadays, the
feedback under social media sharing is almost as important as shared posts,
and has even occasionally become more prominent than the post itself. In
some cases, it is even seen that the comment below a post is appreciated
more than the post itself. In this context, the popularity of the content and
discourse analysis of posts in academic studies in which social media
content is discussed is decreasing. It is now necessary to conduct research
in the framework of the interaction within the spirit of Web 2.0. The
statistical data and comparisons in this study are expected to contribute to
the literature in the light of these developments.
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844–855. doi:10.1080/17512786.2016.1171162
THE DIGITALIZATION OF POLITICS:
THE NEW COMMUNICATION DEVICES
AND THE ISSUE OF POLITICAL PARTICIPATION
FATİH DEĞİRMENCİ
Introduction
The subject of political participation, one of the main fields of research in
political sciences, is one of the most important pillars of democracy. The
political, whether it is defined by state activities or by power relations, has
a social content at its core. In this context, the existence and persistence of
politics is directly related to the quality and level of the relationship that it
forms with society. The indicated relationship constitutes the centrepiece of
the fields of research, called ‘political socialization’. Political socialization,
in turn, focuses on the relationships that individuals and groups initiate with
the political system, and, in this regard, the subject of political participation
happens to be the focal point of this field.
The subject of political participation is an essential sub-component in
terms of the functionality of democracy and the justification of
administration. The fact that democracy stipulates an administrative model
that is based on the public’s will, makes it necessary to take the demands
and preferences of the public into account. In this regard, political
participation, which means the vivid, meaningful, and realistic relationships
that the individuals who make up society form with the political system, is
one of the indispensable conditions of democracy.
While the most common and well-known method of political
participation is voting, the interest, impact, and decisiveness of individuals
on social and political issues at every level should be discussed within this
scope. At this point, discussing the forms that political participation, which
has a broad content, takes in practice, as well as their effects on political
life, is crucial in terms of the political system and democratization.
This section aims to dissect the issue of political participation within the
context of new communication technologies and digitalization. In this
regard, subjects such as the forms that political participation has taken from
274 The Digitalization of Politics
the past to this day, the problems experienced in this regard, and their root
causes, and the role of communication methods and technologies on
political participation, shall be the focal point of the study. At the end of the
study, the negative and positive effects of digitalization on political
participation will be analysed, and the main tendencies in the discussions
on this subject will be discussed.
Political participation is one of the main topics of political science.
While it is possible to define it in various ways, in its broadest sense, it is
possible to define political participation as the act of participation in the
formation, adoption, or implementation, of public policies (Bogdanor
2002). In such a definition, the real presence of the act of participation, as
well as its tangible effects, is implied. However, political participation can
also be defined with an even broader perspective, to include both symbolic
and actual levels. Within this scope, political participation is a concept that
determines the stance, attitude, and behaviours, of the individuals that make
up a society (citizens) against a political system. (Kapani 2001). The
relationships of citizens with the political system may manifest itself in
different forms and scales in different political regimes. Furthermore, the
issue of political participation is largely explained and analysed in terms of
democracy as a perquisite of democratic administrations.
The word ‘democracy’, with its definition of ‘the rule of the people’ that
has been acknowledged since the days of Ancient Greece, is one of the most
debated and discussed concepts in literature. Although Abraham Lincoln
defined democracy in plain and simple terms, as “government of the people,
by the people, for the people”, in his Gettysburg Address of 1864, various
different approaches have been developed on how democracy makes sense
in theory and practice. No matter which definition or approach is taken into
account, elements such as the will of the people, and the rule of the people
regarding the term ‘democracy’ intersects it with the issue of political
participation, and becomes directly definitive in matters such as the bonds
and relations that people form with the political structure, the type of
democracy, its scale and quality, etc.
The first written sources regarding democracy and political participation
that have survived to this day contain the insight of philosophers such as
Plato and Aristotle. The experiment of a direct democracy, experienced in
the city state of Athens (polis) in the 4th and 5th centuries BC, have led to
discussions in the subject matter since that time, and, as of the 18th century,
have contributed to the reawakening of the subject under differentiating
conditions.
In Ancient Greece, individuals, classified as ‘citizens’ played direct and
decisive roles in decision-making and administration processes. The
Fatih Değirmenci 275
qualification of citizenship on the other hand, encompassed male

individuals above a certain age in that era, and excluded women, slaves, and
‘aliens’ (meteikos). In a population of half a million people in Athens, a
group of about 20-30 thousand people carried this designation, and played
a role in taking policy-related decisions (Göze 2013). This experiment, in
which the citizens directed political life, is known as direct democracy, and
contributed towards bringing the subject under the spotlight in its most
radical form. This administration model, practiced in Ancient Athens, with
its ideal and problematic aspects, has been discussed by thinkers and
political scholars from that era to today (Finley 1985) It is also widely
acknowledged that this experiment is the origin of approaches in this regard.
After a long interval, starting from the 18th century, when democracy
came onto the stage once again in a theoretical and practical sense, the issue
of how, and on what scale, subjects like the rule of people and citizen
participation would come to realization, became one of the most basic
discussion points of politics and social sciences. Within the scope of the
western school of thought, various political thinkers, from Locke to
Montesquieu, from Rousseau to Mill, highlighted approaches that would
express the ideal of democracy in the modern age. Concepts and values such
as the separation of power, the general will, the rule of people, equality,
justice, and freedom, which had become a part of the discussion once again,
all came together around the issue of how a democratic administration can
be established. The fact that direct democracy became impossible for
societies that were becoming more and more populated and heterogonous,
strengthened the approach which pointed out that the closest model to the
rule of people could be representative democracy. This approach indicates
that instead of the entirety of the population, the people should take part in
the administration in an indirect manner. While such a formulation partially
ensured the rule of the people, it also led to many paradoxes. In the simplest
form, adopting a ‘representative’ democracy meant that only a fraction of
the people would actually take part in government. Determining those
people who should actually carry out the system, is only possible via
elections. Even though the issue of how fair election systems can be is
disregarded, the result is that the ruling is transferred to individuals/the
cadre, which is supported by the majority of people. In this practice, which
seems the most logical solution at the first glance, the question of whether
the minority of the same society has any rights in the administration at all,
arises. This question, as well as similar ones, has led to the criticism that
realizing democracy only in its formal sense will not ensure the absolute
rule of the people. For the solution of such paradoxes regarding democracy,
which have been highlighted from the time of Plato to the modern age, new
concepts and approaches, such as pluralism, constitutional guaranties,

negotiation, etc. have been included in discussions about democracy.
Today, in order to solve the problems experienced at the point of giving
democracies a real sense of functionality, readdressing and revising the
accumulation of the theory and practices discussed, both in antiquity and in
modern times, has become a serious necessity. In this regard, the figural
democracy approach, which considers democracy as a model, where only
the administrators are determined by the public, has been heavily
questioned. In this approach, which is based on the theories of elite
ideologues, such as Dahl, Sartori, and Schumpeter, it is underlined that the
claim of ‘the rule of the people’ is just a fiction at its core, and the public
have never been in power in any period. This is in addition to the claim that
democracy is just a model, and a method in which the public chooses the
elite to rule them. In such an approach, the main requirement is the
establishment of an open, transparent, and fair competition environment.
(Sartori 1987, Schumpeter 2014). The thesis of this approach, which can be
considered as realist in terms of political analysis, although being significant
due to some of its aspects such as underlining a fair election mechanism and
the general right of the citizens to vote, leads to the outcome that democracy
is comprehended in a formal and figural manner.
It is inevitable for representative democracy, which needs to realize its
ideal of the rule of the people only through an election (just because of this
feature), to experience a constitutional crisis. This crisis, which is
experienced by modern liberal democracies, emerges at the points where it
is understood that the mechanism of representation fails to realize the ideal
of the rule of the people, in other words, the will of the people does not mean
the will of the representatives.
The constitutional depression caused by the crisis that representative
democracies inevitably experience, has seriously come under the spotlight
as of the second half of the 20th century. The tendency to become
authoritarian, and situations such as the citizens withdrawing from political
systems, have led to the deepening of the issues. The studies indicate that
the participation rates for elections show a tendency to decrease, especially
in Europe (Bilgili 2013). Although we do not rule out the fact that this
phenomenon can be explained by various reasons, it is also clear that
citizens have a tendency to move away from political systems in a gradual
manner.
Depolitization and the problem of legitimacy

The concept of depolitization, which means being pushed out of politics, or
being left outside political systems and processes, is discussed as one of the
main issues of political participation, and therefore within the topic of
political legitimacy. Approaches that underline that political participation is
essential for a democratic regime, claim that there are some obstacles in
terms of political participation, and citizens are being pushed out of political
decision-making mechanisms. This problem, which especially made itself
felt by the western democracies of the post-WWII era, has become even
more apparent in the form of political apathy amongst citizens. The problem
of depolitization, which causes interest in politics to drop further, leads to
the fact that the political system and the government move apart from the
public, and therefore, reveals the issue of the legitimacy of government.
There is a series of causes that led to the emergence and proliferation of
depolitization and the legitimacy problem which have featured in
discussions for 20 years as among the principal issues of political theory. It
is possible to dissect those causes, with broad lines, in five categories.
The first factor that causes depolarization is the tendency for
specialization that is growing in politics. As Weber pointed out in his book
Politics as a Vocation (1919), politics is progressively becoming a
profession, and requires expert knowledge and support (Weber 2006). This
causes the citizens, whose real professions are not political, to be pushed
outside this field, which requires technical and expert knowledge. As
Habermas indicates, a science and method-based legitimacy approach is
spreading in modern societies and this leads to politics being operated at a
scientific level. This process, which generalizes the approach that indicates
that politics should be carried out by experts and professional consultants,
results in citizens moving away from politics (Habermas 1993). At the same
time, this aforementioned problem has also fuelled academic interest in
political communications, and paved the way for a tendency that considers
political communication to be the dough for political legitimacy (Köker
1998). All these points indicate that western democracies are gradually
leaning towards a political approach, in which politics is carried out by
technocrats. In such a process, the citizens can only be passive spectators of
the political course.
Another factor that has spread depolitization revolves around the change
in the class structure, which has been seen in western democracies since the
1950s, and which has the tendency to spread further. When the
categorizations made by both Weber and Marx are taken into account, it is
underlined that individuals take part in different social layers due to their
economic status and their place in the market. In classic class theory, classes
such as capitalist titleholders, the bourgeoisie and the proletariat are
mentioned, and analyses are made regarding these indicated classes, which
have relatively apparent lines. On the other hand, factors like the increase
in specialization and cooperation during the process of industrialization,
which really kicked off at the start of the 19th century, resulted in
discussions on subjects like the ambiguity of the differences that determine
classes, and the re-categorization of classes. With the 20th century came a
new and different sect, which did not exactly fit into Marx’s definition of
class, but which did not represent the capitalist entrepreneur either. This
faction, which is defined as the middle class by US sociology, in terms of
the lower, middle and upper classes, is comprised of a wide array of factions
including white-collar employees, bureaucrats, middle to top-level
executives, and educators. This middle class is defined in terms of its
income level, lifestyle, mind-set, etc., and is presented as the backbone of
society in terms of its size and activities. The case that the middle class,
which is expanding rapidly in industrialized western societies, cannot be
explained by known profiles, such as place in the market, class-
consciousness, etc., has led to the emergence of unique designations that
may qualify it. The middle class can rather be defined based on consumption
habits, living standards, and mind-set, which prioritize order and stability.
The middle class, which prioritizes an increasing level of wealth, is also
considered as a guarantee for the persistence of the political and social order.
The middle class, which will not withdraw from gains in the name of quality
of life, tends to have a distanced stance regarding politics, due to concern
that political movements and transformations may inflict damage to its
place, status, and gains. This sceptical approach of the middle class towards
politics is fuelled in the name of order and stability, and this makes it easy
for a large section of the society to adopt a de-politicized structure.
We can underline the phenomenon outlined by Robert Michaels, in Iron
Law of Oligarchy (1915) as the third factor that causes depolitization. In this
work, on political organizations such as political parties and syndicates,
Michaels indicates that such organizations tend to grow by degrees, and they
inevitably assume a more bureaucratic structure. In time, the internal
structures of such organizations, which should be an integral part of
democracies due to their logic of formation, adopt a shape that is far from
democracy. In this kind of organization, which grows and congests over
time, the opportunities to participate in rule become scarce, and the
administration begins to be monopolized by a certain sect. This situation
mainly occurs because those who are in full-time employment in executive
positions get specialized over time, and they feel indispensable within their
organizations. The intention of the indicated core within organizations to

maintain their positions and power, leads to decreases in opportunities in
terms of co-determination, and makes such opportunities meaningless. Such
organizations, where participation and influence in the administration
become virtually impossible, display an oligarchic outlook rather than a
democratic one, and this continues as a constant quality. The corresponding
effect of this process, which is explained by Michaels as the ‘iron law of
oligarchy’, is reflected in society as a distancing from democratic
organizations. In other words, such a case that is observed in democratic
organizations causes society to distance itself from the act of political
participation.
As the fourth component in relation to the increase in depolarization, it
should be noted that political rivalry has lost its former intensity, and
political parties tend to have an affinity with each other. It is observed that
strict political tendencies have been smoothed out since the middle of the
20th century, and political ideologies have begun to get closer to the center.
The reflection of this situation on the political parties with broad grassroots
is flexing their statements and ideologies, and thus, they set their primary
goal as reaching the highest number of voters. Various political thinkers,
such as Duverger and Neumann, who analyze the subject of political parties,
have dissected the political party typologies based on classical categories,
such as the ‘the Cadre Party’, ‘the Mass Party’, ‘the Individual
Representation Party’ and ‘the Social Integration Party’. In addition to these
approaches, which analyse political parties in terms of their organizations,
structures, functions, etc., the definition of a ‘Catch-All Party’, which was
developed by Otto Kirchheimer in order to outline the nature of political
parties as of the 1950s, also presents a functional framework in explaining
the nature of political parties. Kircheimer states that political parties set their
goal as increasing the amount of votes they will get in elections, and he
further indicated that parties also shape their policies mainly to reach this
goal. This necessitates that the parties address the broadest part of society
as much as possible (Kircheimer 1996). The method of maximizing the
number of votes is associated with the political parties, addressing the
entirety of society. The idea that parties which adopt strict and sharp
ideologies and reflect their ideologies on their statements, will receive votes
only from certain sects of the public, makes them keen to expand their
grassroots as far as possible. The fact that this tendency is displayed by most
of the political parties propagated the number of parties that are similar to
each other, and has erased the ideological differences. This causes
desensitization in the society against politics, ideologies, and political
parties, and paves the way for the impression that the meaning of political
participation is lost.
External and hindering factors can be regarded as the fifth element that
has increased depolitisation in terms of political participation. What is
meant by the external barriers to moving away from politics, is attempts by
the state to restrict political participation based on various grounds. Legal
regulations may bring up some limitations to the political activities of some
sectors of society (military members, some public officers, students, etc.),
within some scales. In addition, in some extraordinary situations (coup
d'etats, declaration of states of emergency, martial law, etc.), political life
can be interrupted in an unexpected manner, and thus society may largely
move away from politics. This, with similar limitations, along with the
factors listed above, leads to the result of the depolitization that is
experienced in modern societies.
The factors that cause depolitization push society away from politics in
a gradual manner. Alienation in relation to political life and the system, also
results in a serious crisis of legitimacy in terms of governments. The fact
that interest, support, and participation in political processes, are
increasingly declining, may also result in outcomes that are highly risky in
terms of democracy.
Political participation in a digitalizing world

The concept of globalization which has made itself felt across the globe
starting from the 1980s has resulted in fundamental transformations on both
domestic and international politics. This process, which has been coupled
by neo-liberalism in most of the world, has also showed itself in technology
and economic life with a change that came with sweeping speed. Without
doubt, advancements in communication technologies has played a pivotal
role in this new phenomenon, which is experienced in all fields, from daily
life to social structures, from economic relations to political systems, at
every possible level. The internet, which became available to the majority
of the world’s population from the last quarter of the 20th century, has
gradually become a main part of communications, and thus, has become an
integral component of individual and social life, in so far as it is commonly
acknowledged that one of the greatest disasters that the world could suffer
might manifest itself as the sudden absence of the internet.
The internet, which is becoming a pivotal part of individual and social
life, has made it necessary that various aspects of life should be designed in
a digital style. Digital versions of countless types of activity, from education
to art, from shopping to chatting, were launched, and a major part of society
began spending a large portion of life in this digital environment. Therefore,

it is now perfectly normal for the virtual world, which is the sum of such
widespread and effective environments, to penetrate into the political arena.
Today’s modern states transferred a lot of their fields of activity to digital
media. Applications, archives, civic procedures, formal correspondence, etc.,
which make up a large section of the primal duties of the state, are now
achieved via the internet in digital form. At this point, failure to keep pace
with digitalization creates problems and destitution in state-related
procedures, just as in private life.
Another aspect of digitalization that is more important than being a
necessary component in social and state life, is the serious transformation
caused in political actions and political practices.
Although it is hard to come up with a clear and holistic definition of
politics, it is also possible to list some of the main themes that make up the
content of this concept, as “works regarding the state and administration,
power relations, administration of the distribution process of public
resources, and conflict and reconciliation of different opinions and interests
(Heywood 2000). Most of those definitions and approaches, associated with
the concept of democracy, emphasise interactions, sense of community,
consensus, etc. The fact that politics concerns various fields in human and
social life is an indicator of how broad the scope of this concept is. Although
there is an approach in the ever-more complex and diversified social
structure of today regarding politics’ moving toward being a professional
field of occupation, politics as a matter of fact, may be acknowledged as the
sum of all activities that concern all citizens, carried out for the common
benefit of society.
The aspect of politics that is a social activity, with a broad scope, also
indicates that it can be carried out in a communications structure. In this
regard, political communications, which deals with the relations between
political processes and communications processes, has displayed a swift
improvement as a multi-disciplinary academic field. Despite the fact that
political communications, which is defined as the arena of exchange for
statements between politicians, the media, and the public, with its broadest
meaning, has a very long history. It has become an important component of
political life only after the democratic ruling approach was widely accepted.
Political communications comes to the fore when the parties in
communication, or the content of the message, has a political essence.
Therefore, political communications discusses the reciprocal process of
interaction between individuals (and society on a larger scale) and the
political actors. In such a case, the subject of political participation falls into
the research field of political communications in particular, as it falls into

the field of political sciences in general.
Media has a crucial role to play in the exchange of messages with
political content from the politicians to society, from society to politicians,
and between the individuals within society. The place of the media in
political processes is important in terms of ensuring the communications
between politicians and society, and in terms of being the arena for public
debate with regard to political issues concerning the public. In addition to
raising awareness of the public about political and public issues, and
contributing to the formation of a common sense within the scope of the
historical process that spans from the newspaper and radio to TV and the
internet, the political media also assumes a mission to ease the political
contribution, functioning as a bridge between citizens and the political
system.
New media, which offers possibilities far beyond that which
conventional media can ever offer, has opened up new horizons regarding
the way to do politics and political participation. The digitalization that is
experienced in almost all aspects of life, has made its presence felt in the
political field, and new media has been adopted by the political actors as a
fast and easy way to reach the target audience. On the other hand, the
opportunities offered by digitalization within the scope of the political
activities of citizens, and their interactions with the political system, are
used in different forms and scales. Below, the approaches that consider the
possibilities that digitalization offers for political participation as
advantages, and the main arguments of the approaches that analyze this
issue in a skeptical/critical manner, are discussed, under separate sections.
Advantages of digitalization in terms of political

participation
New communication technologies, which emerged as a benefit of internet
technology, offer important advantages to individuals and organizations in
terms of the ability to go beyond the limitations of traditional media
regarding time and place. While new communication technologies increase
the communications and interactions between citizens, by making it easier
to access information, they also present new aspects in the interactions of
the citizens within the political cadre.
First of all, new communication technologies and digitalization
prominently eased the increase in information and data, and, even more
importantly, made the information available for the majority of citizens. The
internet, which provides a relatively free environment in the generation of
information, as it provides access, seems to be an advantageous medium in

terms of freedom of expression. The internet, which allows users to be
anonymous in terms of generating, receiving, and sharing, information,
makes it possible to act relatively freely from control and the authorities,
compared to traditional communication mediums. Furthermore, the
interactivity that is in the nature of the internet, functions to make it easier
for people to interact significantly and more easily, to share their opinions
and experiences, and to express themselves in a much more comfortable
manner.
The above-mentioned advantages of digitalization are reflected upon
political life as well. The indicated opportunities show themselves
especially in the formation of public opinion, and in the efficiency of the
attempted effects and pressure on the political system.
Some of the virtual environments that new communication technologies
offer can function as platforms for discussion, debate, and consensus, where
different opinions may come together, and alternative information may be
encountered. In a sense, the public space, as defined by Habermas, can be
created thanks to communication technologies. As a matter of fact,
Habermas defined the public space as a platform of debate, formed
independently from the state and private enterprises, and within those
entities by private individuals that come together as a public community.
(Habermas 1991). Media has a decisive role in the formation of the public
space. Indeed, as Habermas conceptualized, the press of that era, which
prioritized political content, had a major role to play in the emergence of the
bourgeois public space in Western Europe at the end of the 18th century.
Discussions and debates regarding the political and social issues between
citizens from different sections of society, who got together in cafés, clubs,
and reading/discussion rooms, as well as in similar public environments,
paved the way for the formation of effective public opinion. There is an
optimistic opinion which claims that such public spaces, which are highly
effective and efficient in terms of democracy and political participation,
may be revived in the virtual environments offered by new information
technologies. This approach claims that new communication technologies
can create environments that are convenient for different parts of the
community to come together in an unprivileged way to ensure an equal
participation in public debates, similar to the bourgeois public spaces
idealized by Habermas. The possibilities that the internet, which has become
an integral part of life today, offers, are considered as a source of the
information necessary for the public and rational debates. On the other hand,
such possibilities are also seen as virtual public spaces, where public and
political issues can be freely discussed, and which give an opportunity to

the formation of public opinion on a national/international scale.
In addition to the advantages of digitalization in terms of creating new
public spaces, its role in creating an environment that makes it easier to
carry out interactions between citizens and politicians is regarded as an
important possibility. This is applicable both to politicians, accessing voter
lists in a fast and easy manner, and for citizens, accessing politicians and
the political system. It is a well-known fact that today, the internet has a
considerable position within the environments that the political parties and
candidates employ in their election campaigns. On the other hand, the
internet can be utilized as a powerful tool for citizens to communicate with
politicians during election times, or in any other non-election periods, and
to effect and exert pressure on the political system. Sectors of the public
who cannot make themselves heard via other communications environments
can make themselves visible to the political process, and to politicians, in a
faster and easier way, in an individual or collective manner. The power of
public opinion which can be formed more easily in digital environments can
be taken more seriously by politicians and governments.
The possibilities that digitalization offers to political life and political
participation, in parallel to the advances in the technology, pave the way for
various advantages, such as making it easier to participate in the decision
making process, increasing political interactions by accelerating the
formation of public opinion, directing public power towards political
participation, etc. All these possibilities presented by digitalization have
resulted in the emergence of new concepts, such as electronic democracy,
internet democracy, cyber democracy, etc., and the potential of
digitalization to be a solution for the participation and legitimacy crisis that
the liberal democracies have experienced, has been prioritized.
Critical approaches regarding the effect of digitalization

on political participation.
Apart from optimistic approaches claiming that digitalization offers
important advantages in terms of political life and political participation,
there are also critical approaches that are skeptical in terms of this
development. Critical approaches question the above-indicated possibilities
with reference to the nature of the new communication technologies, and
reveal the issues in this regard.
Critical approaches mainly discuss the aspects of the internet as a
technological advancement which should be dealt with from a skeptical
viewpoint, starting from the point of its emergence. Although the internet
has reached massive levels of use, thanks to the opportunities it presents, its
emergence was associated with security and the military. It can be suggested
that the motive behind the advent of this technology could continue to exist
in a covert manner during the processes afterwards. To make a comparison,
it is possible to say that there was a different cause (claims of a political
right) in the rise of the press, which is, and has been, decisive in the
formation of the public space of Habermas' view. In addition to the logic
behind its rise, it is possible to question the property ownership regarding
the internet in terms of the economic/political view. Just like those who
invented the internet, there are also groups who have developed, and possess
the ownership of, this technology. Because the ownership structure is
dependent on goals, targets and processes, the perception of anonymity,
security, and other issues towards digital environments may become
questionable. In addition to questions regarding the ownership structure of
the internet, issues in relation to the access and usage of the internet are too
important to overlook. Factors such as age, gender, language, and income
level, may create inequalities on a national and global scale, in terms of
access and usage levels of the internet. This makes it hard to consider the
digital environments as public platforms in which political participation can
be personalized.
Another problematic area regarding the digitalization of politics is the
nature of the content on the internet. The data and information which
citizens may need to increase their political awareness and level of
participation, can be provided by the new communication tools in a faster
and easier way. However, the level to which the internet ensures access to
accurate and true information is highly debatable. It is very hard to
determine how much of the massive scale of information on the internet is
complete and factual. While this can cause users to spend an excessive
amount of time accessing the information they need, it also keeps alive the
possibility that they may still not access complete and reliable information.
Another criticism of the claim that digitalization is an opportunity for
political participation and the public, is related to the nature of the use of
the new communication tools. The use of such technologies results in highly
individual outcomes. Socialization, and actual interactions that political
behaviour and political participation necessitate, are not really compatible
with the use of new communication technologies. On the contrary, this
type of technology may isolate users from society, and may make it harder
to socialize in the real sense. Furthermore, the high amount of information
that the internet presents may deepen the specificity of users’ interests, and
this, in turn, may lead them to matters of a personal nature, rather than
social/political subjects.
Another problematic point in relation to the impact of digitalization on

political participation shows itself in matters such as privacy, surveillance,
and security of personal data. The internet, apart from the wide range of
possibilities it provides, also contains some technological elements that
allow the users to be monitored at all times. The possibility that the personal
information of users can be made available for the use of different
commercial or political groups becomes a factor that makes it harder for
citizens to express themselves in political matters, just as in other subjects.
The fact that technological surveillance and control has gradually increased
may create a perception in citizens that their digital footprint may be
monitored, and this leads to suspicion in relation to virtual public spaces and
actions of digital political participation.
Conclusion
In the ever-digitalizing world, various fields, including the political, social,
cultural, and economic, are being reshaped and redefined. The advances that
manifest themselves in communication methods and technologies, at an
increasing pace, create large-scale transformations of structures, systems,
and networks of relations. At this very point, the social sciences should
make sense of the indicated transformations, and they should analyse and
create new perspectives. One of the most important fields that has had its
fair share of this transformation is politics, and political life has gained new
aspects during the process of digitalization.
For a long time, one of the most basic fields of political sciences has
been political socialization, and within this scope, the issue of political
participation. The roles of individuals and communities in political
processes, as well as their level of influence in this regard, determine the
way politics is practiced in its broadest sense, and also seem to be the main
parameter of the functionality of the democracy.
While activities that can be analysed within the scope of political
participation are directly related to the nature of political regimes, they are
also highly influenced by the communications opportunities of the era.
Actions aimed at influencing the political process, in a direct or indirect
manner, include communications activities at every level, from personal
communications to mass communications, and, within this scope, from the
newspapers to the internet, all kinds of communications media are being
employed in political participation. In this context, the internet, which has
become the most important environment for communications today, offers
new opportunities for political participation, and is on the way to becoming
the main component of the media, which is one of the basic actors of
political communications.
Digitalization and new communication technologies brought in new
opportunities and boundaries, in terms of accessing information, interactions,
participation, new public spaces, opportunities for self-expression, etc.,
within the context of political life and political participation. However, they
also contain problematic areas in relation to the structure of ownership,
inequalities in accessibility, the nature of use, personalization, surveillance
and control, etc. This makes the technologically optimistic approaches
regarding the influence of digitalization on politics and political
participation, debatable at best. Although it is an unquestionable fact that
digitalization and new information technologies have strong influences on
political behaviours and democracy, it should also be remembered that the
nature of politics is shaped by more ample historical, social, economic, and
cultural, contexts.
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THE COLLECTIVE INTELLIGENCE
AND ITS USE IN THE NEW MEDIA
AYŞE BİLGİNER KUCUR
Introduction
There are various problems such as poverty, hunger, terrorism, climate
change, etc., which are faced by almost all nations in the world and for
which the solutions are not very easy. The aforementioned problems, which
cannot be solved by the efforts of governments alone, have necessitated
coordinated work by universities, companies and NGOs. Therefore, a need
for different viewpoints to come together and discuss these issues, to create
a collective solution, has arisen. Various methods, such as the participation
of ordinary citizens in the decision-making process, finding solutions
resulting from tensions, due to variety, that may please everyone, forming a
common system of dialogue, and ensuring continuity of the system, stand
out first. Through open and local participation methods, based on massive
cooperation inspired by the nature and wisdom of the crowd, the
aforementioned issues can be overcome from time to time. It is clear that
this system, which is far from the conventional, will be the method to find
a solution to a number of issues, although it will also create new
technological and social issues. The world may not be at a level where all
problems would go away with the concept of participation alone, but there
is also no barrier to the creation of future scenarios via the effective use of
the technology of today. When it is considered that individuals always
contribute to the society and culture that they live in, it should be
remembered that aspects such as participation, contribution, transparency,
and creativity will not only enrich the society, they will lay out the
foundations of a cooperative, peaceful, transparent, and prosperous social
structure as well (Tovey 2008,xxı- xxıv).
As the global telecommunication infrastructure has become stronger
compared to the past, a computer-based communication network has been
set up, and thus, technological, economic, social, political, and cultural life
have become almost completely linked. An opportunity to obtain more
290 The Collective Intelligence and Its Use in the New Media
comprehensive and global information via the computer and internet-based

systems, which affect everybody on the planet in one way or another, has
emerged. A global network system, which directs individuals to different
options, through instruments such as the world wide web, blogs, wiki’s,
cooperative software, online systems, social networks, etc. beyond the
simple task of transferring information, which transforms the knowledge
and intelligence of all the internet users into a collective form, and which
ensures that the experiences are shared, has arisen. Therefore, thanks to the
internet, new forms of community, decentralized production environments,
and work environments where production and knowledge are exchanged,
and where the collective intelligence comes into being, have been created.
The collective intelligence defined by Noubel (2008) as “the capacity of a
group of individuals, who come together in order to plan a future and to
reach to that future within a complex context”, directs individuals towards
working in a participative and cooperative manner.
About the concept of collective intelligence (CI)

In literature, there are a number of definitions regarding the concept of
collective intelligence, which refers to the assembly of companies, social
organizations, societies, and nations, in a cooperation-based structure, from
different fields. Before defining the concept of collective intelligence, it
would be best to discuss intelligence briefly. On the concept of intelligence,
which cannot be observed directly, a consensus has not yet been reached.
This concept is generally defined as the ability to learn, to understand, to
cope with new circumstances, and, using the mind in a skillful way, the
ability to implement knowledge in order to manipulate one’s environment,
or the ability of abstract thinking that can be measured with objective
criteria. Gottfredson (1997) on the other hand, defined intelligence with
various skills, such as reasoning, planning, problem solving, abstract
thinking, understanding complex ideas, and fast learning, in addition to
general cognitive capacity. At this point, the disposition of intelligence to
an individual or to a singular entity is relevant. However, when the concept
of the ‘collective’ is used in conjunction with the term ‘intelligence’, the
concept is multiplied, and thus, it is defined as the intelligence of a group of
individuals or living beings. Smith (1994) describes intelligence as “a smart
organism that is able to act coherently as if it is a singular mind rather than
a group of independent individuals” and discusses the common intelligence
of the individuals that are, or are not, linked with each other. The concept
of collective intelligence, which aims to reach an individual and the
collective interest, corresponds to a positive-sum economy (Noubel 2008).
Collective intelligence is often referred to using different terms in different
Ayşe Bilginer Kucur 291
branches. For example, terms such as the ‘invisible hand’ and the ‘shared
wisdom’, which are voiced in order to express the dynamics of the free
market economy are used in a similar capacity to ‘collective intelligence’.
Collective intelligence is not a new concept, and it has been in use in
various fields for a very long time. Work groups, families, and even plants,
work collectively. In this sense, something that cannot be achieved as the
result of a single individual is achieved when working together (Ickler 2010,
27). The concept of collective intelligence has been used in numerous
disciplines, from the advancement of the science of medicine to defining the
power of people over the government. Malone explained the fact that bees
and their colonies work together to tackle the problem of finding food, using
the concept of the collective intelligence (2008). In 1906, the sociologist
Lester Frank Ward made a prediction, stating that “the advancement of the
society can be achieved via the collective intelligence.” Malone and
Bernstein, in their book titled The Handbook of Collective Intelligence state
that the oldest scientific paper belongs to psychologist David Wechsler, who
developed some of the most common IQ tests in use. Wechsler, in his work,
indicates collective intelligence as something beyond a collective behavior.
This concept was used in various fields in the 1980s and 1990s, from mobile
robotic groups to behaviors in human groups and electronically-aided
human cooperation. Around the same era, in two different books, one
written by Smits, which focused on computer-aided workgroups, and
another written by Levy, which focused on the exchange of ideas in the
cyber world, the term ‘collective intelligence’ was used. In the 2000s, the
concept was widely utilized in computer sciences as well as management
and theological sciences. The following books: The Wisdom of Crowds
(Surowiecki 2004); Wikinomics (Tapscott and Williams 2006); and The
Rational Optimist (Ridley 2010), helped the proliferation of the concept,
and also brought collective intelligence to another level (Malone and
Bernstein 2015). Regarding collective intelligence, the Center for
Collective Intelligence was established at MIT.
James Surowiecki’s book, The Wisdom of Crowds, talks of the specific
aspects of the concept using some examples. Surowiecki includes the
observations made by the British scientist Francis Galton in 1906, at a
regional fair in Plymouth. In this fair, where the weight of a selected ox was
asked, the farmer who could come up with the closest estimation would
receive a prize. The estimations of over 800 farmers were collected in
written form, in order to avoid their influencing each other. The written
numbers were added up, and their average was taken. According to Galton,
the fact that the ultimate average result was very close to the real figure
shows that the common wisdom of the farmers was superior to the
individual minds of the experts in the field. In this case, the data obtained
from a collective mechanism, presented better results compared to the data
obtained from conventional methods, or from individuals. The fact that
Aristotle, in his book Politics, discusses the possibility that the crowd, in
some cases, may be better and richer than the few, also explains the above-
given example. The crowd that Aristotle alluded to in his work corresponds
to the concept of collective intelligence.
In the 2000s, new, web-based examples regarding collective intelligence
have emerged. For example, Google hosts collective information via its web
sites, generated by using several algorithms and sophisticated technologies
for various goals. In a similar manner, Wikipedia, on which thousands of
people spend countless hours for the online compilation of data and
information, is an important example of collective intelligence (Malone
2008,1).
The transformation of the concept of the collective

intelligence with the advent of the internet
With the arrival of Internet 2.0, internet users went through a process of
transformation and change, and largely succeeded in adapting this process.
The utilization of technological devices together, as a benefit of
convergence, in addition to other factors, such as recording all kinds of
information, classifying and tagging the data, and finding required
information, has played an important role in the advancement of collective
intelligence on the internet. Within the social medium, where each
individual can create his/her own channel, the position of the individual,
who was limited to being a receiving party in the case of traditional media,
changed. Now, news coming from audiences can find airtime, even in
mainstream media, and communication lines report to all audiences.
Therefore, the individual who was a consumer in relation to media products,
has now been promoted to a producer/consumer. Users have begun showing
up in the media, in addition to comprising the audience. They have become
people who create and arrange content, who mix all kinds of texts using
editing methods, who link content together, and share it. With the influence
of users, collective intelligence has emerged in new, different environments.
So far as the concept of collective intelligence was redefined with the arrival
of the internet and social media, dictionaries and encyclopedias, such as
Wikipedia, blogs, and mobile apps, became places, where collective
intelligence found its meaning once again. Accordingly, collective
intelligence began to be known as web-based collective intelligence, with
regard to its method of use on the internet. That means that Web 2.0, thanks
to its interactivity features, acts as a key in the active use of collective

intelligence. There may be different factors in the participation of users in
this value creation system. While there are individuals who see this as a
hobby, there are participants who consider this as a way of earning money.
Sharing opinions about a product or service, sharing content, and
contributing content via tagging created possibilities along with Web 2.0.
Pierre Levy defines collective intelligence as “the new social structures that
make the creation and circulation of information possible in a network
society.” Users employ methods such as creating an information pool, and
linking to each other’s fields of expertise in order to overcome problems
together (Levy 1997).
The fact that the internet allows communications and interactions at low
cost, leads to the proliferation of group work. For example, taking the
information posted on the blogs, portals, forums, and websites, into account,
before making investments, and sharing ideas and experiences regarding
products, has become essentially important for everybody. Pierre Levy
(1997, 20) states that people use their own personal expertise on the internet
for common purposes and goals, and further adds that “nobody can know
everything but everybody knows something, so the entirety of the
information is found within humanity.”
As online participation-based systems have become more widespread,
the idea of collective intelligence has also become more popular. This is
because the value created from such online systems is more important than
the individual contributions of any one individual within that system. The
online participation-based systems aim to tackle complex and multi-faceted
problems in a collective manner. The fact that the rate of video and image
sharing has increased shows promise in terms of building collective
environments. However, turning such environments into comprehensive
collective spaces, rather than individual fields of interest, is what should
really be done, and actually, this is the hard part of the process. At this point,
the way individuals may behave in collective systems should be understood,
and, in order to get effective results, systems, interfaces, rules, and online
mechanisms should be designed for individuals (Hopper 2008).
As the internet became interactive, millions of minds all over the world,
independent from each other, succeeded in acting as if they were linked to
a system in terms of media creation and its distribution. A new media
generation and distribution environment was born, and, thanks to the virtual
communities that establish communications via social networks, exchanges
in digital media took off. As the 2000s saw an increase in the number of
media generation tools, their prices become much more reasonable, and
thus, such products automatically found their way to users. Interactive
programs in which graphics, audio, and video, were used together, were
designed, and a digital/cultural transformation, which included the
dominant media centers of the 20th century, was experienced. According to
Derek Lomas, (2008, 164), movie theaters, audio/visual recording studios,
and TV broadcasting licenses were extremely expensive, beyond the reach
of an ordinary person. However, the interactive internet changed all this,
and gave people the opportunity to broadcast their personal creations freely.
In particular, social media networks caused a dramatic change in the
typology of the media stream in society. The fact that new media tools were
acknowledged in almost all societies made them a viable alternative to
traditional media. The distribution of the information which was tied to
organizations, individuals, and authorities, was freed from monopoly and
left to the initiative of the people who used the new media devices. Another
example that can be presented for freeing the information from the hands of
monopoly is citizen-journalism. In citizen-journalism, which is heavily
connected to the contributions of the audience, the distribution of videos,
images, and voice recordings, over the internet is now an ordinary situation.
Broadcasting of news generated by people who are not employed by any
media organization via blogs, web sites, or different platforms, is called
citizen-journalism. According to Nip’s point of view, the change is to
participatory journalism when the news is sent to the mainstream media
outlets for broadcasting (2007, 2018) Although the news sent in such a
manner, may undergo some editorial control, the participation of many
people can be achieved. Participatory journalism, which is considered as
audience-derived content, has become very popular thanks to the network
technologies and even departments, which check the grammar rules and
content of this news and are set up in news departments.
With the arrival of interactivity, many users started tagging their posts,
which led to the emergence of the cooperative tagging, and this
phenomenon was named ‘as the folksonomy’. Folksonomy, in which
websites, images, news, and posts, are tagged in parallel to their content,
allows users to access their desired documents easily (Shen and Wu 2005,
2). Social tagging services, such as BobrDobr.ru, citeulike.org, del.icio.us,
mister-wong.de, Instagram, Pinterest, etc., have gained large user bases.
Tagging, which is one of the methods employed to search and organize the
information on the internet, does not require too much knowledge to
operate, and is generally free to use. Therefore, tagging increases the
participation rate of active users. Users, in addition to their own bookmarks,
may benefit from all the bookmarks set up before them. Folksonomy
resembles a pool which reflects the conceptual memory of the users who
discuss and agree upon topics (Floeck, Putzke et al. 2010). Tagging web
content and making it available for the benefit of all users indicates an
example of collective work. Using this system, internet users can navigate
through sites, social networks, and other texts. On the other hand, Web 3.0,
which will be initiated worldwide very soon, will be where the real purpose
of tagging will be achieved. With Web 3.0, it is planned to link disjointed
pages in a lexical way, and thus, to obtain a global database. In the extremely
large internet environment, neatly categorized data banks are needed. With
Web 3.0, which is also called the semantic web, it is aimed to establish
connections between data accumulated over the years in internet
environments, and to bring that research data together. It is hoped that, if
the intended information is extracted from the researched data and
transformed into new data, individuals, groups, and communities will use
the information in a productive way. The main purpose of the semantic web
is ensuring the readability of information on the internet by machines, not
by people. While Web 2.0 aims at the creation of new content by users and
producers, Web 3.0 aims to associate linked data sets with each other
(Aghaei 2012, 5).
As the participation of users has emerged as a concept, notions like
crowd-sourcing, creating interactive values, the global mind, the wisdom of
the crowd, collective consciousness, user-derived content, and other notions
with similar meanings, began to be mentioned along with collective
intelligence (Ickler 2010). In a similar manner, various terms such as peer-
production, pro-consumer, playbour, etc., have become popular, thanks to
the use of collective intelligence on the internet, and such concepts have
been frequently featured in communication work and studies. According to
Henry Jenkins, an unparalleled process of creation took off with the
interactive environment (2006). The presence of new communities and
crowds who link up with each other through communication technologies
also emerged. Due to the fact that the individual aspects and differences
become more apparent and significant in virtual communities, actions such
as thinking differently from others, showing one’s differences, looking from
a different standpoint, etc., have become important in terms of participation
in the virtual world (Bozkurt 1999). According to the definition of Howard
Rheingold, virtual communities are the social groups that are formed when
a sufficient number of people come together around a purpose. Virtual
communities have resulted from the intersection of humanity and
technology. Those groups, formed by the participation of millions of people
from all continents grow quite rapidly . An example of a societal structure,
which is accelerated by certain norms, is being experienced just as in real
life societies. The members of virtual communities, which behave like
ecosystems comprised of sub-cultures, trade and exchange information, fall
in love, play games, fight, and find friends, in the virtual worlds, therefore
they experience everything online that they experience in the real world
(Rheingold 2012).
In 2006, Time Magazine selected ‘you’ as its ‘Person of the Year’,
dedicated to internet users. The magazine glorified the active users of digital
culture, who are the subjects of concepts such as prosumption (producer-
consumer), producer (producer-user), and co-creator, in user-generated
content platforms. Alvin Toffler, in his book The Third Wave, which he
published in 1980, defined prosumers as individuals who are able to produce
the goods and services that they consume (2008). Prosumers open up their
productions via the internet and computer, or their handicrafts over digital
networks. Content generation and sharing sites, where the ‘do it yourself’
culture prevails, are important pillars of digital culture. ‘Do it yourself’,
which underlines the extraction of information through experiencing it
instead of receiving it in a ready state, places the individual in a position of
a subject which collectively produces and consumes.
Henry Jenkins (2006) states that the audience/users, by using network
technologies in order to express themselves, obtain a crucial amount of
power at the very point where the new and old media intersect. In game
shows, talk shows, reality shows, and TV shows, the audience prioritizes
the use of second screens in order to voice their opinions regarding the
subject, and they largely head towards social media, blogs, and phone apps.
However, it would also be misleading to say that all audiences participate.
As there are people who are content simply to watch TV shows, there are
also followers who comment on every character in a programme, who
present their opinions regarding the course of the scenario, who open up
social media accounts and blogs about the characters in a movie, and who
create content about the stars. Therefore, what matters is the level of
participation. The level of participation in turn, is shaped, and differs, based
on various factors, from the internet-using skill levels of the individuals to
their way of using it, from the time they spend to their areas of interest, etc.
At this point, the issue of protecting personal information is faced. Users,
intentionally or inadvertently, have to give up details such as their name,
address, gender, e-mail address, or different personal details, to the site
owners, when uploading content to the internet. Users, who leave traces or
their identity with each click, disclose information without even knowing
it. With advanced algorithms, users are introduced to a commercial aspect,
and they are even commoditized after being degraded to digital data. In
addition, the unauthorized and unrestricted use of personal data is also
within the realm of possibility. The fact that users have no power in terms
of data distribution leads to very frequently witnessed security issues.
Conclusion
Thanks to the internet, new forms of communities have emerged, and
decentralized production centres, as well as new environments of
production, have begun to appear. All kinds of environment that the internet
provides, in terms of carrying out autonomous individual actions and
creating crucial space for personal freedom, have turned out to be
advantageous. Technological transformations in media infrastructure have
influenced the style with which individuals use the media. The traditional
media, supported by internet-based production, creates low cost and free
content with the backing of participating individuals. Audiences and
readers, by compiling their own news and entertainment, affect the content
and form of programs. In the words of Castell, the creative audience has
built its own autonomy in this mixed culture (2009). If the persistence of the
participatory systems is desired, or if the end products are well liked, the
participatory systems should mainly focus on creating free space and
autonomy for individuals. Unrestricted and creative opportunities should be
offered to individuals, and common or free resources should be provided.
Advantages and disadvantages will also be presented to individuals for them
to benefit from potential opportunities. By offering a safe environment,
where they can rectify their faults and minimize their social and financial
risks, entertaining experiences can also be provided. Participatory systems
should be supported by individual notifications for personal shares to be
displayed and acknowledged by the audience all over the world. Different
participation levels, in which participation may grow and change over time,
should be made available. New and creative practices that increase and
encourage efficiency should be allowed (Hopper 2008, 248).
Considering that users are dispersed across different cultures and
geographic conditions, exchanging ideas in a decentralized way is possible
via the web. This web, which features hypertext, is also very compatible
with the humanistic way of thinking. However, the way the extremely large
scale data is accumulated in relation to the issues that are linked with each
other in a variable environment, emerges as a serious issue. Using
organizational structures, or assigning arbitrators regarding what shall be
shared with whom, may alleviate the problems a bit. However, this may
lead to the formation of an elite community as well.
While users demand more for the creation of content, they turn into
consumers, due to the data that they leave behind after each site that they
visit. This means that approaching users in a single dimensional manner,
with their digital aspect only, would not be correct. Instead, the matter
should be discussed with its social, economic, technological, and legal
aspects as well. According to Rheingold (2012), the telecommunications

and computer industries will cause a really strange social revolution in the
upcoming years. In the post Web 2.0 era, with the further advancement of
the internet, Web 3.0 (the semantic web) will take off. And this period,
according to Nova Spivac (2008), will advance collective intelligence
further and even open a new chapter for it. Individuals, groups,
organizations, and communities, will be able to access information in the
most productive way ever, they will be able to generate and share
information, and will establish links between points of information.
Therefore, Web 3.0 will enable all applications and individuals connected
to it, in a much more collective manner.
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Network
EXCELLENT PUBLIC RELATIONS CRITERIA
AYHAN DOĞAN
Introduction
The fact that technological, economic, and social developments in the world
make interaction between institutions and stakeholders unavoidable, has led
to a progressive increase in the importance of the public relations function.
In order for the demands and needs of target audiences to be accurately
determined, for their provision, and for the right products and services to be
offered, it is imperative to use the ‘public relations’ function, which is the
inevitable element of management, effectively. As one of the management
functions that will play an important role for enterprises in achieving these
goals, public relations, also called the golden child of the 21st century, has
undergone many renewal stages since its emergence, especially with the
influence of changing world balances and globalization of our century, and
it continues to find new expansions. Public relations is no longer a means
of manipulation or information transfer for propaganda purposes. It creates
new communication plans for different target audiences, and contributes to
the achievement of corporate goals by organizations, by having a say within
the framework of the strategic management approach.
The most recent example of this new understanding of public relations
is the Excellent Public Relations approach that J. Grunig and his friends put
forward as a result of long research. As an approach that targets an
organization’s whole management understanding, the communication
processes with its stakeholders and target audiences, achieving most
effectively its strategic goals, an excellent public relations approach aims to
improve the ability of an organization for strategic decision-making, and the
planning and implementation of communication programs with target
audiences.
Ayhan Doğan 301
The historical process of the Excellent Public Relations

Theory
The International Association of Business Communicators (IABC)
established the IABC Research Foundation in 1982 in order to contribute to
research activities in the field of business communication and public
relations. In 1985, the Foundation initiated the ‘excellence’ project, the
largest research project in public relations history. To carry out the project,
a team consisting of Larissa A. Grunig, David M. Dozier, William P. Ehling,
Fred. C. Repper and John White was appointed, under the direction of James
E. Grunig (J. Grunig 2005, 9).
J. Grunig (2005) stated that the aim of the Excellence project was to be
able to answer two basic questions about public relations. These questions
are expressed as:
“What are the features that distinguish an excellent public relations
department from others?” and “How does public relations contribute to the
effectiveness of an organization, and what is the economic value of this
contribution?”
When the questions that constitute the purpose of the research are evaluated,
we can see that the question of effectiveness explains why, how, and in
which scope, communication management contributes to reaching
organizational goals more effectively, and how this contribution can be
evaluated economically. From this point of view, the question of excellence
tries to guide the way in which the communication function should be
shaped in terms of institutions and programs, in order to achieve the best
possible effectiveness.
The excellence project consists of combinations of diverse research
methods. Within the framework of a literature survey, public relations
research has taken the form of performing a study on organization theory,
decision theory, and similar related concepts. In this way, a ‘theory
skeleton’ was first formed. As a result, it appeared that when establishing
long-term relationships based on trust and understanding with strategic
target groups, public relations has increased the effectiveness of an
organization. In addition, extensive empirical research has been conducted.
This research has been carried out in the form of quantitative research in a
total of 321 institutions (enterprises, non-profit organizations,
municipalities, and associations) in the USA, Canada, and the UK. For this
purpose, three questionnaires, including about 1,700 points connected to
each other, were directed to the communications manager, one member of
the senior management, and 12 other employees (on average). After the
302 Excellent Public Relations Criteria
statistical evaluation of this research, a more in-depth interview was held in

1994 with persons in charge of communication and senior executives of the
24 organizations. In these interviews, open-ended questions were answered,
and the economic benefits of public relations were addressed. The results of
the study were published by Dozier et al.
Features of the Excellent public relations department
Grunig and his colleagues conducted a literature review to determine if
organizations considered to be excellent in all respects also have excellent
communication programs, and identified 12 features, some of which show
the characteristics of excellent public relations departments, and some of
which show how communication contributes to management excellence in
general terms. They have explained these features as follows (Grunig 2005,
26-27):
1. Human resources: Excellent organizations empower people by
providing autonomy to their employees and allowing them to take strategic
decisions. They are also interested in the personal development of their
employees and the quality of work. They emphasize the interdependence
among employees, rather than independence. At the same time, instead of
partitioning, they emphasize integrity and establish an appropriate balance
between teamwork and individual effort.
2. Organic structure: People cannot be empowered by command.
Organizations empower people by eliminating bureaucratic and hierarchical
organizational structures. They centralize decisions and implement
management by reducing the number of managers as far as possible. They
also avoid stratification of employees, and make use of leadership,
cooperation and culture to integrate the organization, rather than structuring
it.
3. Entrepreneurship: Excellent organizations have an innovative
and entrepreneurial spirit. Entrepreneurship is related to other
characteristics of excellent organizations; in organizations that develop
organic structures and nourish and strengthen human resources, an
organizational entrepreneurial spirit emerges.
4. Symmetrical communication systems: Although the term
‘symmetrical communication’ is not used in organizational excellence
studies, symmetrical communication is defined in relation to all internal and
external publics. Excellent organizations stay close to their customers,
employees, and other strategic elements.
5. Leadership: In excellent organizations, there are leaders who
benefit from network relations and ‘management by traveling’ rather than
from authoritarian systems. Excellent leaders empower people, but they
Ayhan Doğan 303
minimize political power strife. At the same time, they provide the
organization with a vision and direction to control the confusion that can be
caused by strengthening people.
6. Strong, participatory cultures: Employees of excellent
organizations share a sense of mission. A strong culture that values human
resources, organic structures, innovations and symmetrical communication
brings them together.
7. Strategic planning: Excellent organizations try to uncover the
most important opportunities and limitations in their environment, to
increase profitability.
8. Social responsibility: Excellent organizations pay attention not
to overlook the effects of their decisions on both society and the
organization.
9. Support for women and minorities: Excellent organizations
show that they know the value of diversity by recruiting women and
members of minority groups, and taking steps to support their careers.
10. Quality priority: Total quality is not only a priority on paper in
company philosophy; it is a priority taken into consideration during
realization of actions, taking decisions, and allocating resources.
11. Effective operational systems: Excellent organizations develop
management systems for implementing the above-mentioned features in the
daily management of the organization.
12. A collaborative social culture: Excellent organizations emerge
more frequently in societies that have a culture that emphasizes cooperation,
participation, trust, and mutual responsibility.
Among the twelve features mentioned above, in particular, strategic
planning and symmetric communication systems are among the features of
excellent public relations practices. However, J. Grunig and his friends have
explained the features that should be found in the excellent public relations
departments, under four main headings, with a structure consisting of 17
items.
J. Grunig (2005, 39) has systematized these 17 features of excellent
public relations departments as follows:
I. Program Level
1. Being managed strategically.
II. Department Level
2. A single or integrated public relations department,
3. A separate function from marketing,

4. Direct adherence to senior management,
5. Bi-directional symmetrical model,
6. Senior public relations officer in management role,
7. Excellent public relations potential and determinants,
a) Symmetric model information,
b) Management role information,
c) Academic education in public relations,
d) Professionalism,
8. Equal opportunities for women and men in public relations.
III. Organization Level
9. The organization's world view of public relations reflects a bi-
directional symmetrical model,
10. The public relations director has power in the dominant coalition or
is in it,
11. Is not an authoritarian, participatory culture,
12. Symmetrical internal communication system,
13. Organic, not mechanical, organization structure,
14. Turbulent and complex environments under the pressure of the
activist.
IV. Effects Of Excellent Public Relations
15. Programs achieve communication objectives,
16. Legal regulation reduces pressure and court costs,
17. Increases employee satisfaction.
According to J. Grunig (2005), who indicates that excellent public relations
departments cannot exist in an isolated form, excellent public relations
departments are among the basic features of excellent organizations.
According to him, what makes excellent public relations possible is the
whole of the excellence qualifiers in an organization. In addition, excellent
communication management can become a catalyst that starts perfecting
organizations and makes them more excellent over time.
Grunig (2009: 2, Akbulut 2011, 177) stated that the criteria of excellent
public relations could be evaluated more simply within the framework of
eight dimensions:
• Authorization of the public relations function,
• Participation of the public relations function in strategic management,
• Direction of communication, bidirectional and symmetric
communication,
• The role of the public relations function or its task,
• Structuring the public relations function as a separate unit,
Ayhan Doğan 305
• Integrated communication function,

• Respect for differences,
• Ethical responsibility.
Excellent public relations variables and related criteria are summarized in
Table 20-1.
Table 20-1. Excellent Public Relations Variables and Related Criteria
Variables Criteria
Authorization of The public relations manager reports directly to the

Public Relations senior manager at the institution and takes part in the
Function ‘dominant coalition’ in the organization.
Participation of The public relations manager contributes to the strategic
the Public management process and plays an active role in strategic
Relations planning and decision-making.
Function in
Strategic
Management
Direction of The public relations function uses ethics, symmetrical
Communication, and bi-directional communication in communicating
Bi-directional with stakeholders, and, in this communication process, it
And Symmetric uses more interpersonal communication than mass
Communication communication.
The Role of The The public relations function plays a more executive and
Public Relations strategist role than the technician role within the
Function or İts institution.
Task
Structuring The The public relations function is structured as a separate
Public Relations and independent unit from departments such as
Function as a marketing and human resources.
Separate Unit
Integrated All communication practices within the organization are
Communication coordinated by the public relations function.
Function
The public relations function gives equal roles to people
Respect for in the context of gender as well as ethnic and cultural
Differences contexts.
Ethical The public relations department operates within the
Responsibility framework of ethical values and supports the corporate
decisions and behaviors to be within this framework.
Authorization of the public relations function

Unless public relations is an integral part of management, it cannot increase
the effectiveness of organizations, and for organizations to be effective, PR
must communicate with strategic elements in its environment (White and
Dozier 2005, 105). According to Dozier and L. Grunig (2005, 417) public
relations should be placed highly in the hierarchy of the organization, and
managed strategically in order to increase efficiency, and thus achieve
excellence.
There are many sub-departments connected to the top management of
organizations. It is clear that linking the public relations department directly
to the top management, in addition to ensuring successful communication
with both internal and external audiences, will provide great convenience in
the decision-making process in the organization.
The dominant coalition is at the top of the elements in the decision-
making process in organizations. According to Child (1973, fr. to White and
Dozier 2005, 107), there are groups within organizations that have the
power to make decisions about direction, tasks, objectives and functions.
Such groups, which have the power to determine their organizational
structures and strategies for a long time, are called the ‘dominant coalition’.
According to White and Dozier (2005, 107), the dominant coalition needs
information to make decisions. This information is often provided by the
bridge builders. Bridge builders are people who are in an organization and
frequently communicate with its environment. They gather information
from the environment, extract it, and communicate it to decision-makers in
the dominant coalition. According to them, communication managers and
public relations practitioners are the appointed bridge builders of
organizations.
The top management of organizations has the authority to take decisions
and implement them. For this reason, public relations departments must
work depending on this top management. In this way, the top management
can get accurate information and take appropriate decisions about the
organization.
Participation of the public relations function in strategic

management
Strategic management is a dynamic process that tries to match the
organization with its changing environment. Strategy has been an important
concept in the field of strategic management since the 1960s (Steyn 2011,
127). Managers who implement strategic management establish a balance
Ayhan Doğan 307
between the organization's mission (what it is, what it wants to be, and what
it wants to do), and what its environment wants, or allows it to be (Grunig
and Repper 2005, 133).
Grunig, while forming characteristics of excellent public relations
departments, has developed a two-sided strategic management model of
public relations in strategic management at departmental level, bringing
together on one hand, the role of the organization in the general strategic
management, and on the other hand, the role of public relations itself in
strategic management. This model consists of seven components in total.
Grunig defined the first three of these components in the form of phases, as
stakeholders, the public, and the agenda, and defined the remaining four
components as the traditional strategic management steps that should be
implemented for the first three phases.
The stakeholder phase is the first phase of this model. According to
Grunig and Repper (2005, 138) if the behavior of an organization or a
stakeholder produces results over others, the organization has a relationship
with the stakeholders. Public relations should reveal what these results are,
through researches directed towards scanning the environment and the
behavior of the organization. Continuous communication with these
stakeholders ensures establishment of a long-term and stable relationship
that manages the conflicts that may arise in the relationship.
The second phase of the model is the public phase. According to Grunig
and Repper (2005, 138-141), the publics emerge when the stakeholders see
one or more of the results that have come into being as a problem, and are
organized to do something about it. Public relations should conduct
researches to identify and departmentalize these publics. In this phase, focus
group discussions work very well. Communication to involve publics in the
organization's decision-making process helps manage conflicts without the
need for communication campaigns. Stakeholder maps consist of broad
categories of people or groups that influence, or are affected by, the
organization. The possibilities of all people in these categories to
communicate with, or influence, the organization are not equal. For this
reason, public relations practitioners, while developing communication
programs for stakeholders, can increase the likelihood of communicating
with strategic camps by segmenting categories.
The agenda is the third phase of the strategic public relations model.
According to Grunig and Repper (2005, 138), publics are organized and
create ‘agendas’ from the problems they perceive. Public relations should
be able to detect these agendas and manage the organization’s reaction to
them. This process is known as ‘agenda management’. The media has a
great role in creating and expanding agendas. Most importantly, the
presence of agendas in the media, can create publics outside the activists.
According to them, public segmentation researches should be carried out at
this stage. Communication programs should seek to solve a current issue by
negotiation, both by using mass communication and by establishing
interpersonal communication with the activists.
J.Grunig ve Repper (2005, 138) emphasize that public relations should
plan communication programs for stakeholders and publics in each of the
above phases. In doing that, it should follow steps consisting of “determining
official targets such as communication, accuracy, understanding, agreement
and complementary behaviors for the communication programs prepared by
public relations, planning official programs and campaigns to reach their
goal, the necessity to implement these programs and campaigns, especially
by technicians, and to assess how effective these programs are in achieving
their goals and reducing conflicts about the issues and agendas that have
elicited them.”
Direction of communication, bi-directional

and symmetrical communication
J. Grunig and L. Grunig (2005, 314) state that the bi-directional symmetrical
model describes the most excellent form of public relations practice as
normative, and is the model that makes the greatest contribution to the
effectiveness of organizations. According to them, this model can be
observable in real life and accurately measured.
According to Grunig and Grunig (2005, 321-326), organizations should
benefit from bidirectional symmetrical communication in complex and
turbulent environmental conditions. In order for such organizations to
implement symmetrical public relations, there is a need for a public relations
manager who has sufficient knowledge of this model of public relations,
and who is in the dominant coalition in an open, participatory, culture of
organization. The ability of the dominant coalition to use a two-way
symmetrical model, the culture of the organization, the public relations
department’s potential, and the public relations scheme in the organization,
are important.
The role of the public relations function, or its task

Roles describe the daily activities of public relations practitioners. A large
proportion of practitioners are in the role of technician, and without them
there can be neither public relations departments nor communication
programs. However, departments that do not have a practitioner in the role
Ayhan Doğan 309
of communication manager cannot contribute to the strategic management of

the organization, and cannot increase the effectiveness of the organization.
Public relations roles in practice are administrators, technicians, contact
officers and media relations practitioners (Dozier 2005, 349).
Public relations departments cannot increase the effectiveness of
organizations unless public relations is a part of management. Excellent
public relations requires the most senior practitioner in an organization to
participate in the decision-making process of the management. To be
effective, organizations must communicate with strategic elements in their
environment. Leading strategic elements are the dominant coalitions.
Decision-making in dominant coalitions depends on the information they
receive. This information is often provided by bridge builders in
organizations. The environment of the organizations is determined by the
individuals within it, and trained bridge builders are needed to do this
effectively. Excellent public relations departments carry out environment
scanning activities, assume the tasks of the bridge builder, and ensure the
taking of correct and effective decisions on behalf of the organization, by
transferring the information they obtain to strategic managers.
In this respect, if public relations are to be excellent, and their
effectiveness is to be increased, the senior public relations practitioner
should be included in the dominant coalition, function in one of the upper
decision levels, and participate in strategic management (White and Dozier
2005, 105). For the public relations departments to be excellent, the most
senior person in the department must be a manager. This situation requires
the public relations function to play a managerial and strategist role, rather
than a technician role, within the institution (Dozier 2005, 349).
Structuring the public relations function as a separate unit

Today, it is seen that organizations in many countries around the world,
while forming an organization’s structure, carry out public relations
practices by combining the public relations function with units such as
human resources, advertising, and marketing, acting as though PR has the
same function as the marketing department. The public relations function
should be structured as a separate unit, independent from others like
marketing and human resources, because the public relations function has
very different functions from those of the human resources, advertising, and
marketing departments.
Both marketing and public relations are indispensable for a modern
organization. Marketing managers define markets for the products and
services of the organization. They then create a demand for these products
and services by overseeing marketing communications programs. On the

other hand, public relations managers supervise communication programs
for publics, that is to say human communities organized as groups when
they are influenced by the organization, or when they affect the organization
themselves. If the public relations department in an organization is brought
into the marketing department, public relations practitioners will be reduced
to the role of technicians. Therefore, the organization cannot manage its
interdependence with strategic publics (Ehling, White, and Grunig 2005,
379-413). From this point of view, marketing, human resources, advertising
and public relations, all have different functions. Another criterion of
excellence in public relations is the structuring of the public relations
function within the organizational structure, as a separate unit from other
departments.
The integrated communication function

J. Grunig (2005, 31), while describing the place of the public relations
department in the organizational structure, in the context of excellent public
relations, states that the place of the public relations department in the
organizational structure should be determined in such a way that provides
easy access to the sub-system of management, instead of being attached to
such departments as personnel, marketing, or finance. All of these functions
should be put together in a single department. This means strategic
management of public relations, and can only be possible with an integrated
department. It is necessary to develop dynamic horizontal structures within
the department to be able to allocate people and resources to new programs
as new strategic publics arise, and as old ones lose their strategic
importance. According to Grunig, this department may be a public relations
department or another department with a synonymous name, such as
corporate communications or community relations.
Respect for differences

According to Gilligan (1982 fr. to J. Grunig 2005, 62-63), there are
differences between the orientations of women and men, and the place of
women in business management. Men are more concerned with
competition, rights, and justice; women are more concerned with
relationships, responsibility, and equity. These differences make men more
suitable executive candidates because of their predisposition to competition
and stiffness. However, recent researches have shown that women's
tendencies towards relationships, growing, and nurturing, are characteristics
Ayhan Doğan 311
that should be present in the managers of the future. Grunig (2005, 63)
expresses that the female world view is more symmetrical, and the male
view reflects a more asymmetric world; therefore, a female majority in
public relations can take it towards excellence, as long as most women have
the symmetrical world view that dominates the asymmetric world view in
males. According to J. Grunig, the conclusion that can be drawn from that
explained above, is that it is necessary for organizations to recruit women
in communication management roles in public relations departments, and
organizations will contribute to excellent public relations by providing the
necessary training and support to women, in order for them to advance from
the role of technician to that of executive.
Ethical responsibility
Public relations includes relationships based on mutual trust with target
audiences. Public relations work, based on trust strategies, requires clarity
and transparency. Because of the continuity of public relations programs
and applications, honesty is considered to be the principle which best gives
a sense of confidence to relevant target audiences. Public relations that is
aimed at informing, not manipulating, target audiences, must strictly adhere
to this principle of honesty, in order to maintain dignity and credibility.
Nothing should be kept secret from the public, except for very special
secrets of an organization as appropriate. Avoiding misleading, surprising,
deceiving, inconsistent, undercover policies and actions increases
confidence in the organization. It should be kept in mind that the long-term
success of the institution is based on compliance with concepts of honorable
work, reliability, and honesty. These are indispensable ethical values for an
organization. Organizations in which the public relations department
operates within the framework of ethical values, and organizations which
support their institutional decisions and behaviors in this context, fulfill one
more criterion of excellent public relations.
Conclusion
In the 20th century, due to the need to turn towards new markets and
resources, a rapidly increasing tendency of convergence and integration
among countries, in many areas, including economic, social, and cultural,
started to be observed. In this age of information and technology,
globalization and rapid changes in the business world have pushed all
organizations, especially large-scale international organizations, to make
new expansions and implement new techniques. In order to be more
powerful and compete more successfully, enterprises that have discovered

the need for improvement and change have started to implement new
managerial approaches within the framework of modern management. At
this point, strategic management emerges as the 21st century modern
management approach. This modern management approach stands as a
practice that will provide the arrangement of relations between enterprises
and their environment, and contribute to the strengthening of the
competitive position of enterprises.
With the effect of globalization, which is one of the most important
concepts of the 20th century, strategic management and strategic public
relations concepts have gained importance. As globalization affects
businesses from a political, social, cultural, and economic point of view,
organizations, in addition to national competition, have entered cut-throat
competition with their competitors in the international arena. Organizations
that want to survive this successfully need to implement the strategic public
relations approach within the framework of modern management. The
organizations that adopt the modern management approach determine
public relations policies by considering the importance of their target
audiences. The main priority of these policies is to take care of their own
interests. Today, organizations that are not open to the public, and do not
integrate with it, do not survive for long.
As a result of globalization, because the economic, political, legal, and
social structure is constantly changing and evolving, enterprises today are
in need of public relations studies more than ever in order to maintain their
existence by adapting to the competitive environment (Göksel and Yurdakul
2004, 25). From this point of view, organizations are aware that they need
to get closer to people and give more importance to relations with target
audiences. With this awareness, organizations are forced to make regular
and continuous scientific-based studies in the field of public relations,
which is now accepted as a management function. The most recent example
of this new public relations approach in organizations is the ‘excellent
public relations theory’ which was put forward by J. Grunig and his
colleagues. What should be briefly understood from the excellent public
relations theory is how the public relations department contributes to
increasing the efficiency of organizations, and that there are certain features
that distinguish this department from others. The excellent public relations
theory, which has been set forth as a result of researches involving a long
and costly process, and which is the newest approach in the field of public
relations, has been recognized today in the world, and has gained wide
coverage in world literature and practice.
Ayhan Doğan 313
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TRANSFORMATION OF THE RELATIONSHIP
BETWEEN WOMEN AND TECHNOLOGY
MUHSİNE SEKMEN
Introduction
The term ‘cyborg’, has taken off in parallel with ‘cyber-feminism’, and has
become an important factor in the liberalization of the female body in the
21st century. Cyber-feminism, as a third wave movement, places digital
technology right at the heart of the liberalization of women. Digital
technology, on the other hand, materialized with the concept of the cyborg.
This study analyses the transformation that has stemmed from the
relationship between humans and technology, starting from robots, to the
cyborg (machine-body) approach, and on to the transformation into the
sexless body adopted by the cyber-feminists. While robots are tools that
provide services to humans, cyborgs are designed to elevate the human body
to a higher level, especially during spaceflights. The cyber-feminist Donna
Haraway thinks of cyborgs as figures that spark feminist insurgency and
transforms them into sexless and fictional entities. Cyber-feminists, such as
Donna Haraway and Sadie Plant, disrupt the male-dominated notion of
technology by asserting that technology is a feminine structure at its core.
Sadie Plant sees the network-like structure of cyber-space, which does not
allow hierarchies, as an environment in which different identities may
express their existence (Plant 1998,173). From this point, the cyberfeminists
think that technology advances relations in favour of women. The concept
of the cyborg expresses the development of the human body in a better way
with technology.
The emergence of the term ‘cyborg’, which has been a centrepiece of
many films and literary works, coincides with advances in the science of
cybernetics.
316 Transformation of the Relationship between Women and Technology
From robot to cyborg

The first example of machines making daily life easier for humans was
given by Diyarbakır- born- El-Cezeri in the 12th century. El-Cezeri, who
made his mark in this era as a Turkish inventor, expressed the basis of
computers. He is considered to be the first cybernetic scholar in the world,
as the inventor of sixty machine inventions, such as robots, clocks, water
apparitions, combination locks and safes, etc. (Kuzu 2013,11).
El-Cezeri explained all of these devices, their systems and operations,
with drawings and diagrams, in his book Kitab-Ül Camii Beyn-El İlmi Vel-
Amel En Nafi-İ Fi Sınaat El-Hiyel, written in the Seljuk era at the request of
the sultan of Artuqids (Kuzu 2013, 24).
The word ‘robot’ was used by Karel Capek in a screenplay named RUR.
RUR means the Intelligent Robots of Rossum (preprints.reading
roo.ms/RUR/rur.pdf 2019). The work that had been assumed by slaves or
servants in the old days was assumed by robots as cybernetics advanced.
The operating principle of robots is the ability to undertake transactions by
self-programming, or the ability to function via an operator (Szabolsci 2014,
117).
While according to Webster’s New World Dictionary, the concept of a
robot has the meaning of forced labor, in English it is defined as a
humanoid-formed entity, or automatically controlled mechanical device
(Webster’s 1988, 1161). On the other hand, the term cyborg is defined as “a
hypothetical humanoid that has been altered for an adverse life in an alien
environment by replacing the body parts with artificial organs” (Webster’s
1988, 343). In this regard, there is a serious difference between the robot
and the cyborg. While a robot is purely a machine, a cyborg differentiates
with human organs integrated into a machine body.
The emergence of the cyborg image with a machine body can be seen in
the book, Frankenstein or the Modern Prometheus, written in the 19th
century by Mary Shelley. This work introduces some characteristics in
terms of inspiring the concept of the cyborg. Firstly; the book was written
by a female author, and secondly, an entity with a machine body was the
plot device for the first time. The fact that Mary Shelley did not want her
own name on the book at its first printing says a great deal about the fact
that a machine-based entity that was written and fictionalized by a female
writer would get harsh criticism (Shelley 2019, V). On the other hand, Mary
Shelley is the daughter of none other than Mary Wollstonecraft, a pioneer
of the 19th century feminist movement. Wollstonecraft drew attention to
herself as a representative of the liberal feminist movement in the era of the
French Revolution, with her work Vindication of the Rights of Women. Just
Muhsine Sekmen 317
like Wollstonecraft, Mary Shelley also comes to the forefront in her era in
terms of her fictional creation; the character of Frankenstein, and due to the
fact that she showed that women are also inclined towards technology. The
Frankenstein character has been frequently used in plays and cinema since.
It is determined that Frankenstein’s monster, in Frankenstein or the Modern
Prometheus is not a robot, but a cyborg, because in the book, we are told
that the monster gets tired, hungry, is injured, and has the desire to sleep
(Shelley 2019, 152). However, Frankenstein’s monster is different from a
human body, with his titanic size and unseemly figure. The fact that the
monster questions his own existence throughout the novel and asks his
master to create a mate for him, shows that he is more like a cyborg than a
robot. However, because he has a gender, and that his gender is male,
separates him from the classical cyborg image in cyber-feminism.
The concept of the cyborg was first used by Manfred E. Clynes and
Nathan S. Kline. Those two scientists, who were conducting research
activities in Rockland State in the 1950s, used the term cyborg in order to
express the increase in the capacity of the human body in terms of resisting
long space travel, and upgrading the human body by using technology.
Space exploration expanded the frontiers of the cosmos and showed humans
that they can exist outside the known environment. Clynes and Kline
claimed that, for example, a fish might have respiratory functions through
special devices under lab conditions, which is a crucial issue. From here,
there was no obstacle for a human to have a ‘new look’, thanks to systems
which could be integrated in his/her life. Therefore, Clynes and Kline
stressed the formation of a self-regulating human-machine. For this reason,
they suggested the term ‘cyborg’ for a human-machine entity that would
ensure that the body would work independently, but which would have no
conscience of its own (Clynes and Kline 1960,27).
As a matter of fact, what is meant by cyborg, is an increased human
tolerance, via drugs and artificial organs injected and/or integrated into the
human body. In this way, tolerating sleeplessness for days would be
possible. On the other hand, Clynes underlines that artificial organs
integrated into the body will not change the main characteristics that make
us human (Kline 2009, 340). Therefore, it is apparent that, while building
the human-machine hybrid, the best of both worlds are utilized. At this
stage, as the robot is free of the limitations of the mechanical shell, the
human is getting rid of the limitations of its body and environmental factors
(Wittes-Chong 2014, 6).
The concept of the cyborg, is an umbrella term used in various fields,
transformed into a figure that makes strong references to female–technology
relations, alongside the cyber-feminist movement that emerged in the

1990s.
The materialized form of cyber-feminism: The cyborg

Cyber-feminism, which emerged in the 1990s, assigns new meanings to the
relationship between women and technology, and underlines that
technology is feminine. What makes cyber-feminists think in this way is
that genders are not pronounced in cyber-space, and everybody can assume
any gender they want with ease. David Le Breton, in his book Farewell to
the Body (L'adieu Au Corps), defines the subject in cyber-space as follows;
“The subject in cyber-space is free from identity-based limitations, without
the concern to be refuted, it transforms into what it wants, temporarily or for
a long time. By disappearing in terms of corporal form, it shows itself under
many guises and turns into pure information, in which it carefully controls
its content and recipients” (Le Breton 2014, 153).
By hiding identities in cyber-space, and by assuming any intended identity,

it is seen that the internet, in other words the technology, removes the stark
borders between the genders. Donna Haraway, who became known by her
cyborg manifest, defines a cyborg as a cybernetic organism. The
proliferation of personal computers and the cyber-punk stories in the 1880s
inspired Donna Haraway to write her cyborg manifest (Plant 1998, 59).
According to Norbert Wiener, who conducted research , (Wiener 1948)
cybernetics indicates the transformation of control and communications in
animals and machines into a self-regulating system, as the result of scientific
works. Haraway’s definition of the cyborg as a cybernetic organism in this
regard underlines the information, communication, and feedback systems,
between the technological and biological organs of the cyborg (Gidding
2016, 1). Therefore, the cyborg is able to perform information processing,
communications, and feedback mechanisms via the human brain which
controls the machine shell.
According to Haraway, the cyborg, which is a machine organism, is an
entity that is fictional, but also belongs to the social reality. In this regard,
the external reality of Haraway’s concept of the cyborg is constructionally
controversial as well, because the cyborg is neither a human nor a machine.
The studies conducted in this field depict the cyborg as a machine in terms
of the body, but as a human-machine hybrid in terms of the brain that
controls the body. Within this scope, two features of the cyborg emerge.
First, its fictional nature shows that its existence is a work of fiction as well.
However analysing it as an entity that belongs to social reality, and by
Muhsine Sekmen 319
prioritizing its power to create changes in the world, it is indicated that it is

the cyborg which will ensure the breakdown in social reality (Haraway
2010, 46). Haraway claims that the line between social reality and the fiction
is nothing but an optical illusion (2016, 16).
On the other hand, the cyborg image challenges social genders. Roles
and behaviours that are not given by birth, but are rather socially assigned
afterwards, start changing along with the cyborg. According to this theory,
the cyborg carries on its existence in a post-gender social society. The
cyborg, which is a product of third wave feminism, is a technological
innovation produced by feminist science for women’s issues within a
historical process. In this way, the cyborg, which has been discussed in films
and literary works, is considered as a strong figure for female salvation by
cyber-feminists.
Haraway’s cyborg image stands against the consubstantiation of the
nature of woman because, while woman is identified with nature, man is
associated with the mind and technology. Therefore, for Haraway, the
cyborg disrupts this dual contrast (Gidding 2016, 2). The male-dominated,
capitalist, technological, focus began shifting in favor of women, and the
polarization of woman-nature-emotion showed change as women became
involved with technology. The cyborg causes women to challenge nature
while opening the door to question its ontology.
The increasing realization of the body in the cyborgs that we can
consider as human-machines in the science-fiction world, leads to the rise
of the creation that is based on the machine-human-animal change.
Equipment that is integrated into the human body in medical sciences,
especially at the end of the 20th century, and the investment made in artificial
intelligence, which is a machine body, with advancing technology, should
all be seen as the rise of the cyborg entity. This becomes clear with
Haraway’s statement that is “We are all chimera” (2006, 4). The chimera is
a beast from Greek mythology which is described as a fictional entity with
organs from several different animals. It is reported that this animal has “the
head of a lion, the body of a female goat and the tail of a dragon, and it
breathes fire”. However, in Greek, the chimera is also known as the young
female goat (ozhanozturk.com/2018/01/28/chimera-kimera-mitoloji/,
2019). The reason that Haraway used this term is that she wants to make a
reference to a machine-human-animal combination, just like a cyborg.
Furthermore, the Chimera, having a female body, indicates that, just like the
cyborg, it too has a female origin. While Haraway dreams about a world
with no gender or social gender, with the cyborg, she also outlines a world
in which the human race is about to become extinct. In this world, where
reproduction with the machine bodies is out of the question, this refers to
socialist feminist culture and theory with no end (Haraway 2010, 47).
Socialist feminism acts on the premise that the base of the oppression of
women is the patriarchy and the capitalist system. In this regard, socialist
feminism does not consider challenging only the capitalist system, as
Marxist feminism does, or merely combating the patriarchy, as radical
feminism does. While socialist feminism asserts the necessity to challenge
both the capitalist system and the patriarchy, in terms of the oppression of
women, Haraway presents the cyborg as a techno-based figure. According
to Haraway, capitalism, colonialism, and patriarchy, impose social genders,
racism, and social class, onto women (2010, 55). According to Haraway,
this type of structure, which justifies all kinds of exploitation between
women, makes women establish racist domination over one another.
According to her, the category of women including socialist feminists,
involves only white females, thereby excluding all other races. Therefore,
according to Haraway, by establishing close ties with technology, exploiting
women, and establishing domination by women over each other, can be
prevented. The blurring of the lines that Haraway refers to here is the
erosion of identities and the incompleteness of the structures (2010, 59). As
a result, the cyborg is a fluid and experimental figure that is devoid of an
origin, and which is undergoing constant change (Caronia 2015, 135).
According to Haraway, the cyborg is not an entity that establishes a
common ground by excluding differences. Rather, the cyborg refers to
singular existences that bear the traces of differences. Therefore, by
excluding the holistic and unifying side of these entities, it ensures that the
differences exist (Haraway 2010, 11-13).
According to Haraway, the cyborg emerged at a time when people
needed the independence to focus as a resistance mechanism (2016, 15).
However, the striking point here is that the cyborg emerged from within a
socialist-feminist structure. In this regard, it is apparent that the cyborg
represents what would provide a breakdown in social-feminist structure.
Haraway, in her cyborg manifest, lists the characteristics of the cyborg as
follows (2006, 6):
 The cyborg is an opponent and utopianist,
 The cyborg is not based on the idea of forming an organic family,
Unlike Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein’s monster, the cyborg doesn’t
want a mate created for it,
 In the cyborg’s world, hierarchies and domination are controversial,
 Cyborgs are the illegitimate children of militarism and patriarchal
capitalism.
Muhsine Sekmen 321
As a matter of fact, Donna Haraway, although she is well aware of cyborgs

from science fiction, which are loaded with sex appeal, still has hopes that
the cyborg may fulfil utopian dreams (2010, 9). In a construct that she
devised based on dual contrasts; the representation and the simulation,
Haraway shows a transition to a new construct, away from white capitalist
patriarchal relations, which is called domination informatics (2010:64).
Table 21-1. Haraway’s Domination Informatics
Representation Simulation
Public privacy Cyborg citizenship

Nature/Culture Areas of difference
Sexuality Genetic engineering
Labor Robotics
Consciousness Artificial intelligence
World War II Star wars
White capitalist patriarchy Domination informatics
Domination informatics indicates the exploitation of the women within the

production/reproduction and communication systems. The areas that are
located within the representation part of the table define the pre-cyborg
world, while the areas on the simulation side indicate the post-cyborg world.
It is considered that the cyborg shall be the one to bring salvation for women
within social life, via socialist feminist policies. According to this, the
cyborg is seen as a kind of post-modern collective and individual
consciousness which is disassembled and then reassembled (2010, 67).
Sadie Plant: Zeros and ones

The cyberfeminist Sadie Plant’s book, Zeros and Ones, dissects the
relationship between women and technology, using Ada Lovelace, the
mathematical prodigy from the 19th century. Ada Lovelace was the
daughter of Lord Byron, the English poet. Since childhood, Lovelace was
interested in mathematics, and in her youth, she met Charles Babbage, a
Professor at Cambridge University. She contributed to the design of
Babbage’s automation, which was called the ‘Analytic Machine’, by
forming a programming language. The Analytic Machine is regarded as the
first computer in history (Akbulut 2019).
However, this automaton was never fully completed, for reasons
unknown, and was known to be a source of inspiration for modern
computers which were to come at a later stage. Sadie Plant tells of

Lovelace’s encounter with the machine, as follows;
“While most of the audience gazed in astonishment at the machine, Ada,
young as she was, understood its workings, and saw the great beauty of
the invention” (Plant 1998,5).
While Plant underlines that Lovelace was the first person to derive a
computer program (Plant 1998, 9) she also stresses that the relationship
between women and technology starts in the 19th century. From this point,
Sadie Plant wants to show women’s predisposition towards technology, and
that the first person to achieve such a feat was also a woman. As pointed out
at the beginning of this work, Mary Shelley, in her book, Frankenstein or
the Modern Prometheus’, just like Ada Lovelace, also heralded the
relationship between technology and women, but from some two centuries
before. On the other hand, women are represented from a point of view that
always wants women to be detached from science and technology. Plant, by
including Sigmund Freud’s ideas in her book, shows that it has been
attempted to exclude women from civilization and technology.
Freud; wrote that, "women have made few contributions to the
inventions and discoveries of the history of civilization” (Plant 1998, 23).
According to Freud, the lack of a penis in a woman prevents her from
successfully resolving the Oedipus Complex. Therefore, women, since they
fail to resolve the complex with any success, will not have a strong
superego, and thereby will not be included in civilized life (Freud 2012, 17).
However, contrary to what Freud suggested, Plant says that Ada Lovelace
was a genius in her time, and had the ability to advance technology.
In the remaining pages of her book Zeros and Ones, Plant writes that the
woman is regarded as zero, and the man is considered as one. For women,
assuming a function as a hole like a zero, demonstrates that she is not-all,
not whole, not one, meaning that she is not complete . This leads to the fact
that women are regarded as unwise, or ignorant (Plant 1998, 35). The fact
that the woman is identified with the zero is associated with the fact that she
is looked down upon by society and culture, because the woman’s body is
sexualized, utilized for men’s consumption, and thereby serves for the
continuation of the social order (Plant 1998, 36).
In ancient Greece, ‘one’ represented that which has everything, the first
and the last, the good, and the best, the universal and unified, while ‘zero’
represented the state of nothingness and nullity. Therefore, Plant asserts that
the Church considered the zero as a thread, and adopted the concept of ‘one’,
which equals God (1998, 54). Like Haraway, Sadie Plant also believes that
digital technology has no gender because zero and one are a binary numeric
Muhsine Sekmen 323
system, which is the basis of a computer. The fact that the zero represents
women, and one represents men, indicates that the digital world has no
gender.
Conclusion
The term ‘cyborg’ was first coined in the 1950s, in order to define the
artificial devices integrated into the human body for adapting to space
travel. This study, while focusing on the journey of the concept of the
cyborg, presents the differences between the cyborg and the robot. While
the initial aim was to ensure that robots serve humanity, it was then
stipulated that, with the cyborg, the human body would be integrated with
machines to advance the human body further.
Haraway, on the other hand, sees the cyborg, which she borrowed from
science fiction, as a figure that will overcome the pressure and exploitation
as indicated in socialist feminism. In this regard, Haraway places the cyborg
in a feminist space, as a fluid being that allows constant change, in an area
where the borders between human-machine-animal are no more. According
to Haraway, the cyborg will be a tool that will end the capitalist, exploitive,
and patriarchal, way of thinking. With the cyborg, social gender, class, and
racism, will also come to an end. By creating a breakdown in the viewpoint
of feminism towards technology, this prioritizes the women-technology
relationship, instead of women-nature relationship.
Sadie Plant, on the other hand, defined her concept of zeros and ones, which
gave her book its title, with the genders for man and woman, and presented
the relationship between women and technology using Ada Lovelace.
Against a viewpoint that excludes women from science and technology only
to consider man superior in those fields, this study shows that the
relationship between women and technology may lead to changes between
genders.
References
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(Translated by Robert Booth). Germany, Meson Press.
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Version].Retrieved from
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Banu Büyükkal-Saffet Murat Tura). İstanbul, Metis Press
Gidding, S. (2016). Cyborg. The International Encyclopedia of

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Jensen and Robert T. Craig), (Associate Editors: Jefferson D. Pooley
and Eric W. Rothenbuhler). (pp: 2-6)
DOI: 10.1002/9781118766804.wbiect190
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Teknoloji ve Sosyalist-Feminizm. (Translated by Osman Akınhay).
İstanbul, Agora Bookshelf. [E-Reader Version].
(https://monoskop.org/images/b/b3/Haraway_Donna_Siborg_manifest
osu_2006.pdf. 2019).
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(Prepared and Translated by Güçsal Pusar). İstanbul, Metis Press
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065, 2019)
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Science 39/3 (June 2009) 331–362 © SSS and SAGE Publications (Los
Angeles, London, New Delhi and Singapore) ISSN 0306-3127 DOI:
10.1177/0306312708101046 www.sagepublications.com
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Publications.
Le Breton, D. (2016). Bedene Veda. (Translated by Aziz Ufuk Kılıç)
İstanbul: Sel Publications
Plant, S. (1998). Zeros and Ones: Digital Women The New Technoculture.
[E-ReaderVersion].
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gital_Women_and_the_New_Technoculture_1998.pdf, 2019)
Shelley, M. (2019). Frankenstein ya da Modern Prometheus. (Translated
by Yiğit Yavuz). İstanbul: Türkiye İş Bankası Kültür Publications
Szabolsci, R. (2014). The Birth of the Term Robot. Advances in Military
Technology Vol. 9, No. 1, June 2014. (pp. 117-128). Retrieved from
(http://aimt.unob.cz/articles/14_01/14_01%20(10).pdf, 2019).
Webster’s New World Dictionary (1988). (Ed.: Victoria Neufeldt- David
B. Guralnik). New York: Third College Edition.
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THE NEW RISING TREND OF SOCIAL MEDIA:
MICRO FAME
RENGİM SİNE NAZLI
Introduction
The people of the ‘global village’, which McLuhan depicted in his book
nearly half a century ago, meet another ‘new’ every day, via social media.
In such an era, in which experiences and expertise continue getting older
every moment, humankind has been captivated by a ‘speed’ factor. In such
an environment, ‘speed’ and ‘new’ have become interlaced, day-by-day,
and the generational difference between digital immigrants and digital
residents is becoming greater. The individual growing up in this
environment is seen as being surrendered to the ‘new’ social order, shaped
by social media. The social media that we experience in all parts of life
allows us to adjust all the usual information according to its operation. First,
fame broke away from its traditional meaning. Social media, such as
television, connected us to the highest class stars, and created them by
recognizing their reputation. The individuals who had fame in the new
media, from literature to art, were defined as part of a ‘phenomenon’, as
having ‘micro fame’ and they formed a new generation of occupational
literature. In this context, the history of development of fame and ‘stars’ in
social media has been examined, and the meaning of the historical
development of fame is touched on.
Social media’s favourite: Social networks

Internet technologies, generally referred to as Web 2.0, eased the
participation of viewers in the observation, selection, filtering, distribution,
and interpretation of events. Social media is a group of internet-based
applications which build on the ideological and technological foundations
of Web 2.0, and allow the creation and exchange of user-generated content
(Seyhan and Erciş 2014, Kaplan and Haenlein 2010). According to Harrison
and Barthel (2009), new media technologies allow more and more users to
Melike Aydemir Arslan 327
create broader and more diverse collaborative content (as cited in Hermida
et al. 2012).
The distinctive feature that distinguishes social media from traditional
means of communication is the strong emergence of interaction in the
communication process. While individuals who communicate in the
traditional communication environment are receptors, and their intervention
in the communication process is limited, the dominance of the user in the
communication process is more evident in the interaction process through
social media (Timisi 2003). In a world where interaction has become so
important, individuals have begun to produce content in an unprecedented
way. Solis (2010) states that social media entering our lives with the
development of technology has a much greater meaning than technology for
most people, and he explains social media within these frameworks (as cited
in Sine 2017):
 A platform for socialization,
 Online tools enabling communication between people,
 The bond people establish between their friends, and people with the
same ideas, or the people affecting them,
 Cooperation,
 A social renaissance enabling distribution of effect,
 Words, pictures, videos, chatting, voice, and experience, and
observations, opinions, news, and understanding, at the same time,
 Compassionate,
 An opportunity and a privilege,
 A call to humanize crowds and the stories associated with them.
Andreas M. Kaplan and Michael Haenlein (2010) have defined social media
under six headings, as well as connecting people from all over the world,
interacting with social media, collaborating projects, blogs, and micro
blogs, content communities, virtual game worlds, virtual social worlds, and
social networks. Among the initiatives that the authors describe as social
media tools, the most emphasized is the social networks that form social
groups and shape communities by expressing the thoughts of the users, and
allowing them to interact (Solis 2010). Social networks constitute a large
and popular part of the field of communication, and this feature of social
networks is defined as social mass cooperation (Tapscott and Williams
2006). Lerman (2007) defines the collective information shared on social
media networks as content, and lists the common features of these networks
as follows:
 Content can be created within media types by users, or existing
content can be contributed by users,
328 The New Rising Trend of Social Media: Micro Fame
 Users can tag media content,

 Users can evaluate the content. This evaluation can be done either
with active voting or passive usage.
 Users can create social media networks by defining common interest
fields with other users (as cited in Bayram and Baran 2013).
Social media users who use all these features of social networks become
known to many other users. Social media users who have the chance to
make their own popularity, have created a new ‘fame’ by removing fame
from its familiar meaning. In this context, the internet seems to be the most
effective and fast-spreading mass media. Especially, social media’s spread
all over the world has made it pretty important in terms of ‘fame culture’
(Arık 2013).
Fame and social media relations

A ‘celebrity’ is defined as a notable, famous person, known by everyone
(www.tdk.gov.tr). The root of the word is ‘celebrem’, which also means
‘fame’ and ‘crowding’ in Latin. Celebrity is mostly described as ‘luster’ in
public, and it is also described as ‘fame, glory, reputation’ in Turkish.
Famous people have images built to meet the exaggerated expectations
of the glory of man. These people do not need to achieve extraordinary
work. Differentiations from competitors with various features are sufficient
to increase their reputation (Glass 2004). When the historical process is
examined, it is seen that the time period of being famous is important in
social life. In recent years, the phenomenon of fame has become one of the
determining elements of modern times (Aydın 2008).
In order to understand the development of fame in the historical process,
it is necessary to know the periods of the people who are defined as famous.
In the early periods, the elements of fame included religion and heroism,
but in the modern period it began to be defined with different meanings and
dimensions through the means of mass media. Mass media is widely used,
opening up the mass consumption of art, which allows the names of stars to
be written, visual, and auditory around the world (Aydın 2008).
Hearnon Schoenhoff, who emphasizes the power to attract attention and
influence people, has also defined fame as having remarkable earning
potential and directing talent (cited in Ruiz-Gomez 2019). Driessens (2013)
stated that fame is a feature that could be inherited from special talents,
skills, professional achievements, or famous family members. On the other
hand, Rojek (2001) divided famous figures into three categories (as cited in
Ruiz-Gomez 2019).
Table 24-1. Rojek’s 3-Part Model of Fame
Type of fame Definition Examples
1- Ascribed Fame inherited from famous Royalty or the

parents or relatives children of
prominent people
2- Achieved Fame due to achievements or Athletes, political

talents figures, scientists
3- Attributed Fabricated or staged by industry Movie or TV stars

mediators (a public persona is
created to fit certain interests)
Fame, as seen in Table 24-1, is a phenomenon that has existed for

centuries. However, the meaning of ‘famous’ that we use today has become
inextricably linked with the media. Media creates and disseminates feelings
of affinity with famous people (Rojek 2001). As media tools diversify along
with communication technologies, the meaning of celebrity has changed.
Rojek, who considered all of these, also mentioned fame “out of the
boundaries of celebrity categories”, and “being different from the viewers”
(as cited in Ruiz-Gomez 2019). These categories in Table 24-2 indicate the
fame which comes with social media.
Table 24-2. Other Forms of Fame not Included in Rojek’s 3-Part Model of
Fame
Type of Definition Examples

fame
1- Celetoid Short-lived unpredictable The winner of a TV quiz
lasting fame
2- Celeactor Someone who behaves like a A wannabe that pretends to be
real celebrity in real life. famous
3- Infamous Someone who attracts Someone who witnesses an event
attention inadvertently for and might appear inadvertently on
reasons out of his control. mass media gaining quick attention.
The effects of fame on society, which Rojek defines as ‘cultural products’,

can be seen as deep and automatic, but in fact, cultural mediators mediate
to celebrities. Cultural mediators, who are a common tool for many
occupations such as agencies, public relations experts, or photographers,
ensure the place of the celebrity in the capitalist system. They are
commodities, in the sense that consumers have a desire to have them. In

other words, celebrities have emerged as the main mechanism of a culture
that humanizes the process of commodity consumption (Rojek 2001).
Bauman (2016) pointed out that the power of fame affecting people is
about a sense of belonging, in which “negativeness is shared”. According to
him, “What the enthusiastic audience hopes to find in the public confessions
of those who are in the limelight is not only their own very familiar
loneliness, but also the comfort that can be accessed with the help of some
skills and a bit of chance. However, the audiences who overhear the
confessions of celebrities present primarily a much-desired sense of
belonging; which is promised to them every day, a non-belonging
community, loneliness is the association of those who love. The viewers
feel that unhappy childhood stories, periods of depression, and listening to
news of broken marriages means being alone in a large community, and
think that fighting alone can make them a community (Bauman 2016).
In the age of visibility under the leadership of the mass media, there is a
great deal of fame (stardom), in the way that the masses follow their
emotions and direct them towards consumption. The consumption industry,
which is aware of this situation, meets with the masses by using fame in
different areas of popular culture (Talimciler 2017). Especially in the last
two decades, radical changes have been witnessed within the ‘fame’
concept. For example, television channels have transformed ordinary people
into celebrities, and the everyday lives of pop stars and actors are always on
the agenda (Kavka 2012). Today, social media tools such as Twitter,
Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram, have created a large amount of
personal media content for both celebrities and non-celebrities to reach the
masses. The transition from traditional media to participatory media, and
the spread of social media technologies among young people, have brought
about two major changes in the fame culture. The first is traditional
celebrities who use social media to build direct relationships with their fans,
or at least to create such an illusion (Marwick 2015, 1). Secondly, social
media has created a ‘micro-fame’ where ordinary people are seen as public,
and see their followers as admirers (cited in Marwick 2015). These micro-
famous people show similarities with traditional media celebrities, such as
musicians, athletes, and actors, who use the same social media tools,
regardless of the number of followers.
In 2004, until Facebook was founded, people became famous by
introducing themselves in television programs, such as Pop-Star (American
Idol). However, the social networks have started to use the internet, and it
has been seen that anyone who wishes can catch a large audience, just like
an international television channel (Bien, vd. 2014). Moreover, in social
media, the lack of editorial supervision previously experienced in the

traditional media, and the rapidity of it, was enough to make it famous. The
fact that the artists seen on the television screens started to use this new
generation of media actively, by joining social media themselves, created a
completely different concept of popular taste and fame.
One of the most important questions on the world agenda is the question
of what kind of future the young population expects, especially as digital
natives. Greenfield's (2009) theory of social change and human development
suggests that, in our time, human development is more individualized and
adapted to socio-demographic changes, such as wealth and technology. In
this context, social media, which is thought to offer the gaining of fame and
profit in an easy way, creates its own stars, and encourages young people to
be involved in this process. In the past, young people dreamt of having their
star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Now, they have started to dream of
being a phenomenon that everyone knows and follows.
New generation: Micro celebrities

The ‘human actor’, who actively expressed himself in public until the
middle of the 19th century, became professional and turned into a qualified
actor at this point. In this period, another identity was formed, called ‘the
audience’. This viewer was trained to observe on the side, without
participating in public life (Sennett 1996). Now, the self-paced audience has
begun to experience the actor-human network image by liberating itself.
The distinction between the close audience and the actor-human has been
eliminated as a result of users' production of media content, and ‘fame’ has
become a concept close to everyone.
The use of social media platforms has increased exponentially over the
last decade. From 2008 to 2018, the social media profile of the US
population increased from 10% to 77% (Statista, Percent of the US
Population 2018). It is mentioned that, in 2019, 63% of Turkey's population
had an active social media account (We Are Social 2019). The number of
users on platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram, which allow
their users to create continuous content, and even encourage other users, is
constantly increasing. The impact of these social networks on the lives of
users is noticeable. All types of content, such as games, making food, crafts,
etc. are produced in these networks (Nouri 2018).
The widespread use of social media has brought about change in the
identity field, as well as in many others (Tombul 2008).In particular,
YouTube encouraged people to publish themselves, and gave new meaning
to the perception of being famous. This culture, where user-generated
content becomes widespread, is called professional-amateur (Raun 2018).

In the past, while celebrating the culture of fame with celebrities who had
gained fame with traditional mass media, such as cinema and television,
today, a renowned culture of fame has begun to be discussed with
YouTubers (Sarı 2018). These new celebrities, called professional-
amateurs, have been defined as YouTubers, Vloggers, Bloggers, and
Instafamous, according to the social network where they produce content.
The high volume of social media users and content creators has led to the
emergence of certain micro-celebrities.
In addition to traditional celebrities, micro celebrities and non-
traditional celebrities have also appeared to affect our views (Nouri 2018).
There are thousands, or even millions, of followers on the social media
accounts of micro celebrities on YouTube and Instagram. Online users
recognize these individuals, and their admirer numbers are based on their
recognition (Kutthakaphan and Chokesamritpol 2013). The increase in
micro celebrities is evident on Instagram and YouTube, as Djafarova and
Rushworth (2017) point out, saying that this is also evident on Twitter and
other social platforms. Djafarova and Rushworth summarize the research
findings which found that these people were perceived as more reliable than
traditional celebrities. The authors relate these results to the fact that people
can relate more easily to traditional celebrities than to non-traditional
celebrities or micro-celebrities. On the other hand, ordinary people can find
something of themselves in micro celebrities (Forbes 2016).
As a result, in order to become famous, individuals need to have broader
followers in social media, instead of having ability in a certain area (Boyd
and Marwick 2011). Social media celebrities stand out in many different
areas such as healthy eating, fashion, beauty, interior design, maternity,
sports, etc.; demonstrating how we can live as they do gives us the feeling
of being recognizable. Companies that return this trust, in favor of
collaboration with micro celebrities, establish a direct connection with
consumers (Gageler and Van der Schee 2016).
The biggest difference of this multivariate system, where fame and
reputation lie on a fragile ground, is that celebrities and traditional users
both create content, and form the audience (Hearn & Schoenhoff 2015).
These new generation celebrities are successful if their brands and content
consistently attract the attention of the audience (Ruiz-Gomez 2019). Now,
users have started to generate revenue from the videos they upload.
Specifically, the ads played on YouTube videos are organized so that
content owners can get a percentage of advertising revenue. As a result, this
new generation has begun to target this new opportunity for income
(Holmbom 2015). Young people can copy the behavior of social media
phenomena participants (YouTubers, Vloggers, Instafamous, Bloggers) in

order to identify with them (Westenberg 2016). In addition to these
behaviors, the brands that the participants consume and use become
important, especially to young people. In addition to young people, others
shape their consumption according to the micro celebrities they follow. For
example; a mother who is a social media phenomenon, is called an
‘instamother’. When she shares content, such as things to be careful about
with regard to children’s games, she can be copied in terms of the products
she uses for her own child (Sine and Parlak-Yorgancı 2017). On the other
hand, an influencer who becomes popular can begin to take part in
traditional media.
Entertainment, one of the main determinants of the culture industry,
transforms fame into a commodity. Entertainment and fame make
consumers' emotions a part of the market, because in the capitalist system,
people desire objects, and objects of desire act at the same time (Rojek
2001). For the continuation of the system, fame must be permanent. For this,
the admiration of the fan base is a must. People from the entertainment
industry are easily associated with fame, extraordinary lifestyles, and
extraordinary personalities (Aydın 2008). However, Tilton (2011) argues
that not everyone has the communication skills and ability to express
themselves, even the person who connects with the viewer. In other words,
technology, which is considered to be one of the ways that many people can
reach fame in the digital age, is in fact only a facilitator. While technology
has made it appear that fame is accessible, only a certain sector has truly
created a reputation (Ruiz-Gomez 2019). Only a section of social media
users who created similar types of content reached a certain recognition, or
achieved even partial recognition.
Figure 24-1. Instagram Phenomenon Bodhi White

It is said that little Instagram phenomenon, Bodhi, has nearly one million
dollars in income. The difference between Bodhi and his peers is the fact
that his mother has shared his pictures on Instagram since his birth, and he
has become a wanted face for a lot of brands’ advertising.1
Figure 24-2. YouTube Phenomenon Ryan ToysReview
Forbes has announced that eight year-old Ryan is the person who earns
most money on YouTube, with 22 million dollars income per year, via his
Ryan ToysReview channel.2
Figure 24-3. YouTube Phenomenon Danla Bilic
1 https://www.posta.com.tr/fenomen-bebek-harlen-bodhi-white-in-geliri-dudak-
ucuklatiyor-haber-fotograf-1287501-3
2 https://www.bbc.com/turkce/haberler-dunya-46429718
Danla Bilic, whose real name is Neslihan Damla Akdemir, has attracted a
lot of people’s attention with the make-up videos she shares on YouTube.
It is claimed that Bilic earns 250,000 TL from YouTube per month. She is
one of the Turkish influencers who have the most followers on YouTube,
having created her own make-up brand and started sales on the internet.
Figure 24-4. YouTube Phenomenon Enes Batur
Social media phenomenon and Youtuber Enes Batur has reached a wide
variety of people with his game, comedy, and entertainment videos. Batur
gained his fame with social media, and met with his audience via the film
about his life Enes Batur Real or Dream? in 2018.3
Conclusion
Users have got rid of being merely content consumers and have become
content producers, with interaction, which is the basic feature of social
media. This situation has presented a democratic sharing environment
which is accessible to users by taking gatekeepers out of the way. Thus,
social media has started to create its own celebrities about various topics,
such as arts or the kitchen. Totally ordinary people can gain and control their
recognition with the help of social media.
In fact, only a few people can earn money on social media, and even
fewer make their living from the content they create (Choi and Lewallen
3 https://www.haberler.com/enes-batur/biyografisi/
2018). Still, people take the lives and incomes of people who are like them
as examples, and continue to create content with the hope of being like them.
On the other hand, the difference between micro celebrities and
celebrities has become very complicated. While micro celebrities switch to
TV from social networks, the celebrities taking place in Table 1, above, use
social networks actively, and interact with their fans. In an environment in
which everybody is famous, or acting as though they are famous, the
difference between real and fake is ambiguous. The celebrities which we
are used to seeing on screen have become ‘people like us’ thanks to social
media. The micro celebrities who get chance to be in the same place as these
celebrities promise hope for everyone, and this situation has led people to
produce and consume more.
As a result of marketing and advertising strategies in such a transitional
environment, the effective use of the ‘one of us’ impression, and the desire
for trust and similarity, have resulted in more lifestyle marketing. In this
direction, stars that serve consumer culture are more likely to become role
models for individuals. Social media users who create content with the hope
of being discovered at any moment are at the centre of lives dependent on
screens in the universe of infinite commodities. Social media, which is used
by digital natives functionally, provides them with everything from
entertainment to smartphones, by proving that the most popular one of
anything is obtained through Web 2.0. The idea that fame, which fits within
the palms of users’ hands, is one step closer to each piece of content
produced, is reinforced by those on the ‘friends’ list. Each ‘like’ results in
more alienation than anything else in relation to fame.
The most important issue that needs to be considered here is the extent
to which young people who have grown up with digital technologies and
social networks have expectations about the future, and how they can
survive in real life. It is essential to balance the reputation of the enchanted
world with the capitalist system, through a varied education for young
people.
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DISTANCE EDUCATION APPLICATIONS
IN THE DIGITALIZED WORLD
MELİKE AYDEMİR ARSLAN
Introduction
In the digital age, individuals should be equipped with skills such as the
ability to communicate in social environment and networks, the ability to
learn independently in order to remedy deficiencies in knowledge, and to
improve their skills, the ability to work in cooperation, to think on a higher
level, and to use digital environments and technologies (Bates 2015).
Offering these skills to the students of distance education is a necessity. By
using proper digital mediums and technologies, which are in line with
improving the above-indicated skills, suitable education methods,
approaches, and strategies, should be integrated into distance education.
Distance education, in addition to being a popular education method, has
also become quite popular and intriguing today. With the advance of digital
technologies, virtually everybody learns something by being a part of the
distance education system, methods, technologies, and environments.
Institutions in commercial, health, communications, and industry, as well as
the educational institutes, have ended up using distance learning
environments, technologies, and methods, in an effective manner.
Thanks to digital technologies, a revolution is underway in distance
education. The swift advancement of digital technologies in this age is
reflected in distance education brought via virtual environments. With the
indicated developments, different applications in distance education have
become a topic for discussions. Therefore, its importance has increased
significantly (Peters 2009).
With digital technologies, new educational goals, new student profiles,
and new student requirements have brought different applications to the
forefront (Peters 2009). The distance education programs which are directed
by digital technologies, appear as differentiated or as being integrated into
different fields and applications. Reflections on distance education should
not be solely based on technology, as the pedagogic elements should be
340 Distance Education Applications in the Digitalized World
taken into account. As a matter of fact, digital technologies offer

opportunities to implement rich pedagogical strategies, both in theory and
in practice. As new advances are achieved in the use of newly developed
digital information and communication tools, and as distance education
adapts its own methods to new environments, the importance of distance
education increases at a sensational pace (Peters 2009).
Today, individual learning will continue to dominate in distance
education. Students will be able to access the information that they need and
want instantly, they will be able to use learning environments and
technologies, they will create their own curricula, they will be able to take
courses from the universities and professors they choose, they will be able
to satisfy their own learning needs, and they will cooperate with other
students and professors in other places. Therefore, universities have reached
a level, which may allow them to move their campuses and educational
services off to virtual environments. The aforementioned applications have
begun coming to the forefront, as the current digital technologies are
adapted for use in distance education.
In this section, environments, approaches, applications, and resources,
that are used in distance education, and which have come to the stage in this
regard through the advances in digital technology, environments,
applications, and platforms, will be discussed. Furthermore, self-regulated
learning in distance education, Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC),
open learning sources, mobile learning, and virtual world-oriented
applications will also be discussed.
Self-regulated learning
Learners in distance education show a wide range of characteristics in terms
of their level of education, age, needs, and desires. The common
characteristic of these learners is that they learn in virtual environments,
apart from each other. Since learners assume their own educational
responsibility in distance education, they can perform individual learning at
an intensive level. Students of distance education need the skills and
behaviour of planning, monitoring, and assessing their own learning. For
online learning, these skills and behaviours are very important. Distance
education students who learn by themselves should find the information
they are presented with, learn how to analyse and synthesize it, learn to
detect their mistakes, and should know how to reach the right information.
(Peters 2009) From this viewpoint, technologies, applications, or activities,
through which students can control their pace of learning, and which may
support individual learning activities, should be included. The professors
should plan the process, environment, activities, and applications, in this

regard, and then present them to the distance education students. The
students should not be left to their own devices after being presented with
digital environments. Digital environments should be designed and
presented in an individual manner, depending on the pace of self-learning.
Digital technologies offer effective communications, interactions, and
learning and cooperation-based environments. Through these environments,
learners are presented with self-learning, planning, organizing, practicing,
and assessing, learning environments (Peters 2009).
In distance learning, the learner should be allowed to start from his/her
own level, and to advance at his/her own pace. Digital technologies contain
some applications which make this possible. They come in the form of
hypertexts, virtual environments, augmented reality apps, and virtual labs.
These applications should be designed in a way that they can meet
educational needs. The students should be able to proceed with their own
learning within these environments. Since self-regulated learning is
attached to importance, the use of digital technologies supports this as well.
Digital technologies and platforms that supplement self-regulated learning
are widely used in distance learning.
Open learning source

Open learning sources come as completely free software, with platforms
that are offered to the public. These open learning sources serve the
flexibility, openness, and accessibility features of distance learning. In
distance learning too, open learning sources are used. In order to use those
sources appropriately in distance learning, they should be reviewed, and if
necessary, revised. The educators may adopt open learning sources for their
own education, and thus, they may develop them in compliance with their
own curriculum (Innovating Pedagogy 2017). Therefore, educators can
create their own content by using open learning sources or by benefiting
from them. Afterwards, they may offer the learning sources that they have
created to the other educators or students. This has a positive effect on the
accessibility, sharing, and transparency aspects of distance learning. In the
same manner, students may create their own content, and they can present
such content to the other students as well. During this process, the skill and
ability to make conscious decisions as to where they can get information,
what sources they can trust, and how they may respond to conflicting ideas,
may be developed (Innovating Pedagogy 2017).
Augmented reality
Augmented Reality (AR) is a hybrid environment, which is the result of the
combination of virtual environments and real-life physical environments.
The virtual elements are combined with the physical environment via
computers. The virtual elements augment the physical environment, and
thus increase its level of reality. Due to the fact that the AR contains those
features, the AR applications have frequently been preferred in distance
learning in recent times. The presentation is achieved with screen, goggles,
projectors, etc. in augmented reality (Hirtz 2008). AR is also frequently
chosen within the distance education aspect of fields such as health, the
movie industry, transportation, engineering, the military, and mainstream
sciences. Augmented reality applications are employed in discussion and
education of the complex, abstract, and often hard-to-observe subjects in
distance learning. Thanks to those applications, students hone their skills
and have opportunities to make observations.
Virtual learning space

The objects and person(s), who make up the virtual learning space, are
completely and absolutely virtual. In a virtual learning space, students learn
on virtual platforms. Sometimes, the interactions and communications in
such a space develop or occur outside the manner that the student plans. As
individual learning happens in these environments, cooperation, or peer-to-
peer-based learning may also happen. Students in such environments may
carry out self-regulated learning activities by being in communication and
interaction with other students. That means that students may show active
participation, and as a result, they can achieve personalized learning. They
can share information with each other by working, discussing, and
researching, in cooperation. They can criticize each other, they can share
ideas, and they can compensate for each other’s deficiencies (Peters 2009).
What is important here, is that the elements of communication and
interaction support group-based learning in addition to individual learning.
These environments should be designed in a way that when learning is
achieved at a distance, they should prioritize interaction and communication
for accessing the right information, and for assessing and applying it.
Mobile learning
Mobile learning is the use of mobile environments and tools that are utilized
everywhere for the purpose of education (Hirtz 2008). Mobile learning is
very frequently preferred in distance education in recent years. The fact that
mobile learning is not prohibited by time, place, or devices/tools, largely
makes it preferred in distance education. In particular, the proliferation of
mobile phones and the associated use of mobile technologies in a frequent
manner have made distance education possible through mobile learning.
With mobile learning, learners can read the content of courses anytime and
anywhere, they can watch videos, take exams, and be in touch with other
learners and teachers.
For mobile learning to be used in distance learning in an effective
manner, some designs and strategies are needed (Hirtz 2008, Wagner 2005).
Content in distance education can be presented via smaller packs, students
can be informed with shorter content, important announcements and
information can be shared, education-specific modules or applications can
be presented, and performance support can be provided. These applications
can be realized via SMS and MMS, podcasts, audio files, video
presentations, and mobile-specific apps.
MOOC (Massive Open Online Courses)
MOOCs are among the most popular, widespread, and striking applications
in distance education in recent times. MOOCs emerged for the first time
when the course on Connectivism and Connective Knowledge (Mackness,
Mak, and Williams 2010) was made open to public. MOOCs can be defined
as online courses which are accessible and open to more people, and, as the
educational materials and sources are free (Zutshi, O’Hare & Rodafinos
2013). MOOCs are platforms that can be joined easily. They require no
formal permissions, and the number of students is irrelevant in terms of
assessment and completing the activities (Breslow et al. 2013).
Anybody with internet access can enrol in a MOOC, can access the
content, and can interact and share the information with peers and other
parties. Universities began employing this technology in recent years in
order to access more information, and to make their courses more accessible
and flexible (Yuan and Powell 2013). MOOCs made professors and sources
in higher education institutes more accessible. This innovative approach has
been welcomed warmly on a global scale (Zhu, Sari & Lee 2018). Since
2008, MOOCs have been prevailing in higher education in the USA,
Europe, Asia, and Oceania. Coursera and edX in the USA, FutureLearn in
Great Britain, Iversite in Germany, MiriadaX in Spain, KMOOC in Korea,
and OpenLearning in Australia, are some of the examples (Kim 2016).
The presentation of MOOCs may show some differences compared to
formal classes. Educators may use online platforms, through which they can
relay their courses in their classes. For example, educators may use
discussion, social media, and instant communication platforms when
redesigning their MOOCs (Haklev 2011). Furthermore, Flip Classroom,
frequent feedback, and peer reviews, are contributions of MOOCs, in terms
of courses (Hollands & Tirthali 2014). MOOCs employ different
assessment methods. Computer-aided assessment, peer reviews,
certification, and badges, are some of the examples of assessment methods
(Bates 2015).
Conclusion
Today, distance education has begun gaining traction as a structure that
offers educational possibilities, open access, and resources, to everyone,
thanks to digital technologies. In conclusion, the importance of the elements
which comprise distance education are being discussed.
 In distance learning, students assume their own self-learning
responsibilities to accomplish their self-regulated learning. In this regard,
programs that will give students skills and habits of planning, observing,
and assessing their self-learning, should be designed and implemented.
 Open learning sources are crucial for distance learning. They offer
educational materials to teachers and students to be used in the education
process. These sources should be reviewed, and if necessary, revised, to be
properly used in distance education. Educators may adapt their educational
resources for their own education, and so they can develop their own
curriculum.
 Augmented Reality has been frequently preferred in distance
education circles because it complements the physical environments with
virtual elements, in terms of audio and visuals. It is especially used for
relaying subjects that require application, analysis, examination, and
monitoring. Such applications offer students of distance education materials
that support their individual learning processes.
 In virtual learning spaces, students of distance education come
together and carry out learning activities. Generally, cooperative-based
peer-to-peer learning also occurs. The spatial distances that students
experience are relieved in such virtual environments. In such environments,
students can be in communication, and interact by working, discussing, and
researching cooperatively.
 The opportunity to access distance education applications,
platforms, and contents, anywhere, in a comfortable manner, has increased
with the emergence of mobile devices. Students are now able to read course
contents, they can view videos and undertake exams. They may also
communicate with educators and other students. It can be underlined that

mobile education is effective in distance education in terms of providing
information in smaller packages.
 MOOCs are free, and online course applications with open
curricula, offer enrolment opportunities to everyone. In MOOC
applications, online courses are generally accessible to all, and the
educational materials and resources are offered free. By making the
professors and resources of the higher education accessible, MOOCs have
overcome the limitations of time and place.
References
Bates, A. W. (2015). Teaching in a digital age.
Breslow, L., Pritchard, D. E., DeBoer, J., Stump, G. S., Ho, A. D., &
Seaton, D. T. (2013). Studying learning in the worldwide classroom.
Research into edX’s first MOOC. Research & Practice in Assessment,
8, 13–25.
Peters, O. (2009). Distance education in transition new trends and
challenges (4th ed.). BIS-Verlag der Carl von Ossietzky Universität
Oldenburg
Hirtz, S. (2008). Education for a Digital World: Advice, Guidelines and
Effective Practice from Around Globe. Commonwealth of Learning
(COL).
Wagner, E. D. (2005). Enabling Mobile Learning. EDUCAUSE Review,
40(3), 40–53.
Innovating Pedagogy 2017
Mackness, J., Mak, S. & Williams, R. (2010). The ideals and reality of
participating in a MOOC. In L. Dirckinck-Holmfeld et al. (Eds.),
Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Networked
Learning 2010 (pp. 266–275). University of Lancaster: Lancaster.
Zutshi, S., O’Hare, S., & Rodafinos, A. (2013). Experiences in MOOCs:
The perspective of students. American Journal of Distance Education,
27(4), 218-227.
Zhu, M., Sari, A., & Lee, M. M. (2018). A systematic review of research
methods and topics of the empirical MOOC literature (2014–2016). The
Internet and Higher Education, 37, 31-39.
Kim, S. W. (2016). MOOCs in higher education. In Virtual learning Ed,
Cvetkovic, D. IntechOpen, Crotia.
Yuan, L., &Powell, S. (2013). MOOCs and open Education: Implications
for Higher Education, UK: Bolton University.
Håklev, S. (2011). The Chinese national top level courses project: Using
open educational resources to promote quality in undergraduate
teaching (Unpublished master’s thesis). University of Toronto, ON,
Canada.
Hollands, F. M. & Tirthali, D. (May, 2014). MOOCs: Expectations and
reality. Full report. Center for Benefit-Cost Studies of Education,
Teachers College Columbia University. Retrieved from
http://cbcse.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/
MOOCs_Expectations_and_Reality.pdf
COMMUNICATION SKILLS FOR JOBS
IN THE DIGITAL ERA
OLCAY BESNİLİ MEMİŞ
Introduction
Efforts to make sense of the transition to the Fourth Industrial Revolution,
which arguably represents a new breaking point in continuity, continue to
show in every area. In this sense, occupations and job markets have also
gained new ground, and become areas of transformation. Transformation
can lead to a demand for skills that may, in turn, lead to new transformations
in the labour market institutions, the job market, and employment, in the
coming years. In this respect, the aim of this study is to discuss how labour
skills will be transformed in the coming years, and the importance of
communication skills in this transformation, using the literature review
method. The study consists of four parts. Following the first chapter of
conceptual explanations, in the second part, the reasons for digital
transformation and the new problems in the labour market will be covered.
In the third chapter, the importance of communication skills in
transformation is examined, and finally, the fourth chapter will examine one
of the most important things to do against the transformation of skills.
Skills and communication skills

Skill can be defined as abilities acquired through intentional, systematic,
and continuous efforts to carry out complex activities or job functions in a
smooth and adaptive manner (WEF 2016). In other words, skills are the
ability to use knowledge effectively. Adult skills research, a product of the
OECD's Programme For International Assessment Of Adult Competencies,
provides a model for the competences of adulthood in the three main areas
of information processing skills: verbal skills - the ability to understand and
respond appropriately to written texts; numerical skills – the ability to use
numerical and mathematical concepts; and problem solving skills in a
technology-rich environment - the capacity to access, interpret and analyse
348 Communication Skills for Jobs in the Digital Era
information, which is converted and communicated in digital media (OECD

2016).
In neoclassical economics, skill is one of the main components of
‘human capital’. Human capital, with an absolute individual connotation, is
the value of a current and future possible flow gain of labour. There is no
doubt that the skills that determine the value of individuals are up to date.
Accordingly, it is necessary to define how current skills are formed. The
value of skill is measured by its actuality, and its equivalent value is socially
determined (Rigby, Sanchis 2006). The most important factor in the
separation of skills as current or out-of-date is macroeconomic development
in the domestic and global economy (UKCES 2014).
Over the past two decades, skills have been shaped in the context of
neoclassical economics policies which were established to achieve the
national goals of prosperity and economic competitiveness in the global
trade environment, and in line with the requirements of the knowledge
economy. In this sense, while neoclassical economics policies are based on
the view that high technical skills in the workforce will increase the capacity
to produce value-added products, the knowledge economy is based on the
view that added value can be created with knowledge, and that it is possible
to create innovation with the increase of knowledge generation and use. As
the transformation of the world is referred to as the technology sub-base, it
can be said that a knowledge-based economic approach is at the forefront.
In the age of knowledge economy, this is an approach which aims to develop
human resources, cares about the learning characteristics that the individual
can develop, and adopts an effective approach to cope effectively with the
unknown and ever-changing business conditions of individuals. In this
context, the dynamics of employment are considered to depend on
knowledge-based skills. But is there enough labour demand to be equipped
with technical skills related to how information is processed? The fact that
information and communication technologies become widespread in
enterprises shows that the direction of change in occupations will shift
towards qualitative jobs (Stadler, Wapler 2004). Thus, it is thought that two
types of skills will be of particular importance in the future. Firstly, the
importance of digital skills is increasing. This may lead to the diversification
of labour markets, the creation of new jobs, and the loss of some jobs
(OECD 2016, New). Figure 26-1 shows the technological areas to be
invested in by companies by 2022, as a result of digitalization.
Olcay Besnili Memiş 349
User and entity big data analytics

Internet of things
App- and web-enabled markets
Machine learning
Cloud computing
Digital trade
Augmented and virtual reality
Encryption
New materials
Wearable electronics
Distributed ledger (blockchain)
3D printing
Autonomous transport
Stationary robots
Quantum computing
Non-humanoid land robots
Biotechnology
Humanoid robots
Aerial and underwater robots
Figure 26-1. Technologies by the Proportion of Companies Likely to Adopt Them

by 2022
The fact that digitalization is intense does not mean that there will be a
demand only for technological skills, because new technologies change the
way jobs are executed. In this sense, demand is created for individuals who
do not have the ability to use the technology effectively, but have the skills
to work in a technology-rich environment, i.e., complementary skills
(Fackler, Funabashi 2018). With the elimination of routine tasks, increasing
emphasis will be focused on skills that are more difficult to automate. Thus,
there is evidence that demand is increasing for communication, leadership,
problem solving, and self-organization in the labour market (Deming 2015).
Enterprises state that teamwork, collaboration, and oral and written
communication skills are potentially valuable, but difficult to find (Casner-
Lotto, Barrington 2006).
These skills, also known as soft skills, or cognitive skills, in various
fields, are different from those technical skills that are hard to systematize
and automate. These skills are quite diverse. The focus of this study is on
communication skills. In this context, verbal, written, and non-verbal
communication skills, effectively expressing ideas, being an active listener,
and communication in different environments (including multilingual),
problem-solving, working independently, continuous decision-making and
taking responsibility, can all be expressed as obtaining information that is

specific to the field, quickly and effectively (Trilling ve Fadel 2009).
The digital age as the reason for transformation:

new challenges for the labour market
The concept of Industry 4.0 describes the interconnection of individuals,
objects and systems through real-time data exchange. Developments in
earlier areas, such as information and communication technologies
applications, data analytics, artificial intelligence, 3D printing, cloud
computing, the Internet of Things, robots, genetics, and biotechnology, have
been built and strengthened with Industry 4.0. According to experts on the
subject, these technologies will cause change and eliminate existing ones.
This change will undoubtedly lead to the digitalization of economic
activities, and the result of digitalization is automation. These changes will
deeply affect the labour market, and will have serious consequences for job
loss, job creation, and employment. Therefore, a planned initiative is
necessary to keep up with the transformation. While previous industrial
revolutions led to an increase in welfare and jobs, in most cases, this
increase took some time. Developments indicate that the necessary time
cannot be given (Mokyr, et al. 2015).
For a planned initiative, it is very important to identify the problem areas
first. The problem area here can be seen as the difference in the digitalization
rates between countries. Estimates of the impact of digitalization also vary
widely (Frey, Osborne 2017). For example, approximately 47% of US
employment is estimated to be at risk in the next 10 to 20 years. In the
United Kingdom, there is a 35% employment risk (Frey & Osborne, 2016),
and it is 36% in Finland (Pajarinen, Rouvinen 2014). In many developing
countries, the share of employment in jobs at high automation risk is
considerably higher. For example, in India and China, it is 69% of
employment, and in Ethiopia, 85% may be automated (Frey, Osborne 2016).
When the same methodology is applied to OECD members, the share of
average employment at risk due to digitalization is about 57%. Differences
between countries are explained by the extent to which progress is made in
face-to-face interaction, as well as progress made currently (Arntz, et al.
2016).
Digitalization can be seen as a result of globalization, economic
developments, and the changing preferences of consumers and producers.
While macroeconomic developments have led to the redefinition of the
labour market, this process will be experienced again with digitalization.
Thus, there will be challenges that we already know, or will encounter. In
the process of globalization, the arguments of labour demand and supply

have changed, some work has been created, and some work has created
changes in the wages and working conditions of unskilled and low-skilled
labour. The working time of labour , and productivity, both increased
significantly. However, these increases were not reflected in wages, which
have remained low (Stadler 2004). Researchers in Europe found a different
polarization model with an increase in high-paid and low-paid professions,
and a decline in middle-paid professions. Professional polarization takes
place between highly skilled and high-paid professions, and low-skilled
and low-paid professions (Acemoğlu 1998). This leads to wage inequality
and unemployment. In order to prevent skill mismatches in the labour
market, both government policies and individual initiatives of the labour
should be planned. Recent research has shown that countries that are better
at meeting skills demand have lower wage inequality (OECD 2015).
Spitz-Oener examined technical change, skills, jobs and wages in West
Germany. It was concluded that professions require more complex skills
than in 1979, and that changes in skill requirements are more highly
demanded in computerized occupations (Spitz-Oener 2006). The hypothesis
of skill-based technological change seems to overlook the existence of
medium-skilled labour, while technical progress shows that demand for
highly skilled labour is increasing, compared to low-skilled labour
(Acemoglu 1998).
As mentioned, macroeconomic developments have already created a
number of problems for the labour market. However, there are views that
Industry 4.0 will further increase these problems, and cause more. One of
the most important examples of this is the mismatch of skills, which is a
new problem, but which is thought to be very common. Rapidly changing
skill requirements increase the risk of both skill mismatch and gaps. Skill
mismatch and gaps cause economic costs due to many factors. These vary,
according to labour, employers, and macro levels. Skills mismatch and
gaps in labour have a negative impact on job satisfaction and wages. For
employers, they reduce productivity and increase on-the-job search and
labour turnover. Scarcity increases the cost of employment and prevents
the adoption of new technologies. At the macroeconomic level, skill
mismatch and gaps increase the equilibrium unemployment rate and
decrease the growth of GDP and the reduction of human capital, or
decrease labour productivity (OECD 2015).
1,2
0,8
0,6
0,4
0,2
0
NZL
CAN
CZE
TUR
BEL
LTU
NLD
NOR
IRL
DNK
USA
DEU
OECD
POL
KOR
SVN
SVK
JPN
SWE
FIN
AUS
EST
GRC
GBR
AUT
CHL
ISR
Figure 26-2. Digital skills gap 2012, 2015
Figure 26-2 shows the digital skills gap. Turkey, Chile, the Slovak Republic
and Korea, record high levels of inequality in digital skills, while New
Zealand, the Netherlands, and the Nordic countries display greater
homogeneity in digital problem-solving scores. The digital skills gap
highlights the divisive potential of digital transformation, and the extent to
which digital transformation currently manifests itself in the form of a skills
gap. Although all these transformations seem to challenge technical skills,
it is believed that businesses will undergo a transformation in their
management understanding and in the development of their own skills. In
this sense, it will be appropriate to examine the importance of communication
skills.
The importance of communication skills in the labour

market transformation
As the transformation continues, it will be difficult to harmonize skills with
technological progress. For this reason, this set of skills will be accelerated,
and the human contribution to the highest value added to skill sets will
become thoroughly researched. The power of skills such as imagination,
creative thinking, and analysis will be better understood by enterprises and
labour. Even in the production stages, where labour is not autonomous,
there will be an environment in which they will take responsibility for
control, maintenance, and problem-solving. Communication and other
high-level thinking skills will play an increasingly important role in these

new working hierarchies (UKCES 2014). In this sense, communication
skills will be one of the main differentiators in the future labour market
(Trilling, Fadel 2009).
Communication skills, the dynamism of working life, the importance of
open and effective sharing of information, and the importance of time
management, have all become sought after in the labour market, because
these skills have become important for the organization, establishment,
dissemination, and development of operational strategies, as well as the
organization of labour and performance. At the same time, the most
important requirement in global markets is the created advantages for
competition. According to this, while these skills encourage innovation,
meaningful feedback, and consumer satisfaction, they also introduce loss of
efficiency, cost, and errors.
Responsibility for every part of the whole is the most obvious of the new
era’s demands. Thus, one of the most sought-after skills is teamwork.
Teamwork requires the capacity to understand the motivation of others.
Working effectively with others requires not only observing their behaviour,
but also understanding why they behave in this way. This reminds us of
another communication skill; empathy. Therefore, while the achievements
of individuals with average skill levels will be equivalent, the individual
who also has communication skills has a comparative advantage in this
work (Deming 2017). Thus, the flexibility, speed, mindset, order, and plans
of individuals who have communication skills to adapt to changes allow
them to keep up with continuous transformations and enable them to
achieve competitive advantage in the global markets (Jones 1997).
Another concept that emphasizes the importance of communication
skills rather than technical skills, and which is sought after in the labour
market, is qualifications. Qualifications are defined as general skills that
exceed knowledge acquisition, and involve the use of technical,
communication, and problem-solving skills. The latest literature on
collaborative practice and teamwork reveals a range of competencies
needed to work effectively in a professional environment. The most
emphasized qualifications are as follows:
Critical thinking and problem solving: As a requirement of the
information society, the most consistent way to reach the most accurate
information in relation to the intensity of information, and to develop
behaviours accordingly, is to evaluate presented material using a
questioning technique, rather than accepting it as it is. Critical thinking is
an important skill that gives us this ability. Understanding and analysing
complex data, understanding systems and interactions, and generating new
and innovative solutions are the most valuable skills for modern companies,
repetitive tasks may not be made by the labour force in future, as they are
outsourced or eliminated by technology. Thus, the ability and capacity to
solve difficult and diverse problems will become vital (Frey, Osborne
2017).
Communication and collaboration: New technology will require a
portfolio of communication and collaboration skills consisting of digital
tools. Communication should be seen as verbal, written, visual, and digital,
at all levels. The importance of digitalization, together with globalizing
world elements, increases this importance. Multiculturalism, which is an
important element of the global world, is one of the areas where
communication needs will be intense. The blending of technical knowledge
with the ability to communicate between disciplines and cultures will be of
value. In this sense, the problems of the world are becoming increasingly
complex for single-disciplinary solutions. The increasing convergence of
disciplines, sectors, and technology, will lead to increased cooperation
between interdisciplinary teams (Davies 2011). For this reason, labour will
need to understand a specific subject in detail, and remain knowledgeable
about a wide range of disciplines.
Creativity and innovation: Creativity is about solving problems,
decision-making, and self-expression. It is also the foundation of innovation,
because creativity involves bringing ideas together, changing and
synthesizing them, and creating new ideas. Future innovation is expected to
be at the intersection of disciplines by combining different fields and
technologies. However, creativity in this sense will not be enough. In this
case, innovative problem-solving methods, investment in new technology,
ground-breaking industries, and the desire to discover information, will be
referred to together (Trilling, Fadel 2009).
Making Use of Data Analytics: Data analysis is the process of reviewing
data sets with the help of software. It is intended to draw more conclusions
from the information contained in the data sets. Data analytics technologies
are used to validate or falsify scientific models, theories, and hypotheses.
The use of these techniques is especially important in determining
problems, which is the most important stage of producing solutions.
Identifying a problem is the only reason for the right solution. In this sense,
determining the problems of the digital age correctly is essential for finding
the right solutions. Businesses and governments should choose to plan the
fastest adaptation to transformation. They need to make estimates and
measurements for workforce planning and talent management. They will
need to develop a new approach that should be at the centre of these
measurements. Measurements should include an in-depth analysis of

industries, countries, professions, and skills (WEF 2016).
What to do against developing skills

Even though the transformation itself is digital, it is labour which will make
it successful and valuable. In this sense, managers who require a specific set
of competencies can be shown as a critical element of a professional way to
overcome the problems that transformation brings to labour markets. It is
the only solution, in order to get behind the digital age and not to be
unemployed due to possible job losses and demand for the jobs created, as
well as to improve abilities. According to experience in previous industrial
revolutions, it has often taken decades to build the necessary training
systems and labour market institutions to develop new skill sets. However,
given the approach speed and deterioration caused by the fourth Industrial
Revolution, we do not have time to delay. According to this, without
planned and targeted policies, governments will have to cope with
increasing unemployment and inequality, as well as businesses that cannot
accumulate as much capital as necessary. Therefore, governments and
businesses will need to change their approach to education, skills, and
employment, and their approach to working with each other. Businesses
should add to their strategies to improve their labour skills. Governments
will need to fundamentally rethink tomorrow's educational models (OECD
2017).
Table 26-1. Comparison of the pros and cons of alternative approaches to

anticipating skill requirements
Alternative Advantages Disadvantages

approaches
Formal, national level, Comprehensive; Data-hungry; costly;
quantitative, model- consistent; transparent; not everything can be
based projections. quantitative. quantified.
Ad hoc sectoral or Strong on sectoral or Partial; can be

occupational studies other specifics. inconsistent across
(using a variety of sectors, areas, etc.
quantitative [model-
based] and qualitative
tools)
Surveys of employers or Direct user/customer May be very

other groups, asking involvement. subjective;
about skill deficiencies inconsistent; can too
and skill gaps easily focus on the
margins (i.e. current
vacancies) rather than
skill gaps within the
current workforce.
Focus groups/round Holistic; direct Non-systematic; can

tables observatories and user/customer be inconsistent; can be
other Delphi style involvement. Non- subjective.
methods Holistic; direct systematic; can be
user/customer inconsistent; can be
subjective.
Attempts to determine skill needs alone will not be sufficient. As can be

seen in the table, this process can be managed more effectively by using a
large number of methods and sources of information. However, if we want
to improve the communication skills of an actor in focus, this actor is
undoubtedly businesses. The necessary role of enterprises in the demand for
labour is sufficient to make it an important actor. They may also face social
challenges related to education, training, and skills. Figure 26-3 shows the
data on this topic.
86% 90%
38%
19%
6%
Top Potential of Potential of Impact of Impact of

Challenges Business to Government Business on Government
Facing Meet to Meet Society's on Society's
Society in the Society's Society's Challenges Challenges
Next 5-10 Challenges Challenges
Years
Figure 26-3 Indicators related to education, skills, learning

Figure 26-3 shows some data of training, skills and learning, as well as
businesses and governments. According to this, education, skills and
learning will be a problem for 19% in the next 5-10 years. Almost 90% of
enterprises and governments will face these problems, and businesses will
be more effective than these governments.
Undoubtedly, what needs to be done is very diverse, the effects can be
short- or long-term, and governments with labour market actors have
responsibilities. However, as the focus of this study is communication skills,
it is desired to draw attention to the most important actors in this field. For
a business to be successful in the transformation in question, it is very
important that it has an innovative and learning-promoting structure. In this
sense, each business needs to make its own transformation map. These
operations should be carried out by human resources personnel. In this
sense, it is necessary to define human resources in digital transformation as
guidelines in the role of digitalization. Because human resources personnel
are active in all activities related to education and training which enable the
development of skills, using new types of analytical tools to identify skill
trends and skill gaps in the digital age requires continuous development and
transformation. The degree of this activity greatly affects organizational
development, and thus, the current and future performance of any
organization (Hecklaua, Galeitzkea, Flachsa, Kohl 2016).
Digitalization of human resources processes is not mentioned here. This
will develop spontaneously as an obligation of the digital age. Easy
reporting, analysis, and follow-through mechanisms, such as businesses
reducing the time they spend on these issues, energy saving, and engaging
human resources personnel in the labour market, will support the anticipated
skills management.
The future requires human resources not only to study its own strategies,
but also to make predictions that will affect the overall functioning and
strategies of the organization. Predictive analytics play an important role in
the strategic transformation of the human resources function. However, the
communication environment which is expected to be developed by human
resources personnel, which should be defined as a social dialogue
environment, will not only ensure harmony between the employer and the
labour, the harmony between the enterprise and the market, and the
harmony between the demanded and the supplied skills; it will also increase
cooperation and coordination between public institutions, professional
chambers, educational institutions, and business. Only in this way will there
be good aspects of digitalization for the labour market.
Conclusion
The digital age brought by the fourth Industrial Revolution has led to two
different views in the labour market. The first envisages unlimited
opportunities for new jobs, but argues that these developments will increase
the productivity of the workforce and save workers from routine work. The
other view suggests large-scale labour substitution, and that jobs will be
replaced. Both are possible. What is important is to prioritize policies that
will determine whether we will progress to mass displacement of the
workforce or the emergence of new opportunities. Accordingly, the change
in the content of the professions, which is the area in which the
transformation was first demonstrated, led to the redefinition of skills. This
required the development of technical skills as a necessity. However, it
should not be expected that success will be achieved in the global market
by attaching importance only to technical skills. Communication,
cooperation, teamwork, innovation, and the emergence of new problems,
emerge in the new order, where skills such as problem-solving are needed.
It is necessary to understand the importance of the human resources
personnel, who will perform this function for each enterprise in an
environment and culture that supports their personal and professional
development, and should be accepted as guides who enable companies to
keep up with the transformation in the way of the digital age.
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SOCIAL CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP
MANAGEMENT
HAYDAR ÖZAYDIN
Introduction
As the world gets smaller, and competition increases, companies are
pushing to be in a different position against their customers. The high costs
of acquiring new customers, and the difficulties of retaining existing
customers have made it necessary for companies to get closer to those
customers. Social media platforms have transformed people into active
users who can share their ideas and feelings, create content, and share it. A
large number of users can reach a large number of customers, or potential
customers, through social media channels for businesses. Social media
platforms provide great benefits to companies in this sense. Social media
has a structure that allows both companies and consumers to interact, and
enables bidirectional communication. With social CRM applications,
companies can get to know their customers more closely, interact with them,
and adapt them to business processes. In this sense, companies which aim
for customer loyalty and long-term relationships with customers, must
establish quality relations with their customers on social media platforms,
and develop effective strategies with the customers. As a result of the
structure of social media, the traditional understanding of CRM has
changed. Today, this approach is called Social CRM, or CRM 2.0.
Social customer relationship management is a set of applications that
can be used effectively by businesses in customer-oriented activities and
which facilitate business processes on their social media platforms.
Businesses can organize customer relations systematically with their social
customer relationship management capabilities, can reach the desired
information whenever they want, by means of the databases within the
applications, and increase the satisfaction and loyalty levels of customers.
In this study, the concepts of customer relationship management, social
media, and social customer relations management, are explained in terms of
benefits to enterprises. The renewed structures of these concepts in
362 Social Customer Relationship Management
changing conditions are mentioned, and examples of previous research on

social customer relationship management have been presented.
Customer relationship management

Until recently, customer relationship management has been defined in
narrow scope, as customer database management activity, but today,
gaining a more general meaning, it means the overall process of
establishing and maintaining profitable customer relations by providing
better customer value and satisfaction. Marketing can now be defined as
the art and science of finding, retaining, and developing, profitable
customers from this new aspect (Kotler and Armstrong 2001).
Customer relations are becoming increasingly important in academic
marketing literature. Intense interest in customer relations is reflected in
marketing practices, and this is the most significant indicator of the
important investments made by firms in customer relationship management
(CRM) systems (Verhoef 2003).
While it is important to increase the market share in the customer
oriented marketing approach, with the effect of mass production, it is also
important to increase the customer share in CRM. Maintaining customer
share involves selling more than one product to the same customer, and
transforming the customer into an active and loyal participant (Güleşvd
2005).
Greenberg says CRM is a business strategy supported by a technology
designed to improve the interaction of people in the business environment.
However, customer departments say it is an operational and executional
approach to customer management, dealing with sales, marketing, and
customer service (Greenberg 2009).
Customer relationship management means customer-centric. In other
words, taking the customer as a starting point in the whole process, starting
from what to produce, how to launch it, and how to develop lasting
relationships (Öksüz & Bat 2007).
The purpose of customer relationship management is to provide
complete and accurate information to help you reach the right target, at the
right time, rather than replacing traditional marketing tools. In this context,
the aim of customer relationship management is to make customer relations
profitable, to differentiate, to minimize costs, to increase the efficiency of
the enterprise, and to meet customer demands (Soysal et al. 2017).
The aims of CRM are listed in the following report, which was prepared
for the business world and published in The Marketing Review magazine
(Demirel 2007):
Haydar Özaydın 363
1. More loyal customers are gained by winning and maintaining

relationships with customers. Thanks to CRM, businesses do not lose their
loyal customers during periods of intense competition, and thus experience
economic gains and earn more, because it is believed that loyal customers
show a high degree of loyalty to the enterprise.
2. Businesses are more in need of improving customer relationships,
because keeping existing customers is more profitable than finding new
ones. Gaining new customers is five times more costly than protecting
existing customers. By protecting existing customers, it is observed that
customer loss decreases from 15% to 10%, and profit doubles.
3. The purpose of CRM is to create loyal and profitable customers.
Loyal customers do not terminate their relationship with the company when
they encounter product defects or service errors, and do not abandon the
operation. They compensate by other means, such as cross selling, because
this is about their satisfaction with the service. In other words, the
satisfaction of customers with the product is at the second level in terms of
their satisfaction with the relationship.
4. Loyalty arises when the business understands the value of the
customer and the customers know what they want from the business.
Customers are more open to ‘acquaintance’ business. Therefore,
developing an effective relationship with customers is the most important
factor in providing value to the customer.
5. With loyal customers in CRM, it will be easier to acquire new
customers, and the cost of doing it will be lower than expected. The
company can acquire new customers without conducting special market
research, because loyal customers can attract new customers by making a
positive contribution to the business image. A survey by the Royal Mail in
1990 found that 78% of customers recommended a business to others, and
in 2000-2010, this rate reached 90%.
CRM has different meanings for many people. In addition, there are
different approaches that explain the concept of CRM. The first of these
approaches is related to benefiting from customer information, or
transferring information to the customer. This common approach provides
a narrow perspective based on the principles of the concept. With the
development of the CRM concept, new approaches based on objectives and
complex characters have emerged. Demir and Kırdar (2007) summarized
the definitions of the highly-discussed CRM concept in the following
items:
1. CRM is the process of better understanding the customer in
every area of contact and better guiding the company itself in
accordance with customers' expectations.
2. CRM includes the general methodology and products that are

used to manage customer relations.
3. CRM is the integration and improvement of customer contact
points.
4. CRM is a management philosophy that places the customer at
the center and establishes a close relationship with the customer.
5. CRM is a processing strategy that is improved to make sales,
marketing, and service processes, more effective.
6. CRM is the science of increasing customer loyalty, and
ultimately customer value, by using customer information.
7. CRM is designing business and information flows, primarily
to meet customer needs, and secondarily to meet company needs.
8. CRM is to connect any information about the customer in the
organization to a single information system and focus it on the customer
contact point.
9. CRM is to know the customer, to understand customer needs,
and to develop appropriate services and products for the customer.
CRM integrates human processes and technology, and represents an
integrated approach to customer communication through marketing, sales
and customer service (Pan and Lee 2003).
Social media and social CRM

Social media, with the introduction of Web 2.0, after Web 1.0., has become
a part of people's daily lives and has evolved from day-to-day, progressing
from one-way information sharing, to two-way, and concurrent, information
sharing (Barutçu and Tomaş 2013).
The dynamics of social media allow content produced by the user to be
strengthened and disseminated to the audience. The flow of content begins
with the creation and sharing of content; however, interaction makes social
media literally social, and therefore content is distributed through
interactions (Polat and Tokgöz 2014).
Social media includes today's information, communication and
technology facts. When we look at social media definitions, it can be seen
that social media is shortly defined as online communication networks in
which target audiences participate, develop, and connect with, and between
communities (Eröz and Doğdubay 2012).
Social media can be defined as a set of large, inexpensive, and accessible
electronic tools, which allow individuals to publish and access information,
and to cooperate and collaborate on a common effort. It represents internet
infrastructure tools that allow companies and individuals to share
information, ideas, and careers, about virtual communities and networks, or

to shop (Akhtar et al. 2016).
Social media includes the following features (Karadeniz and
Gözüyukarı 2015):
Participants: Social media is a sharing platform for all kinds of participants.
Openness: Social media is open to feedback from each participant. Social
media encourages users to vote, comment, and share information. In social
media sharing, obstacles are very rare.
Conversation: Unlike traditional media with one-way information or
content transmission, social media is more attractive in terms of allowing
two-way conversation.
Society: In social media, people build communities with their favourite
people or organizations, and quickly and effectively share their favourite
issues, such as photos, political values, and TV shows.
Connectivity: Social media allows people to provide links generally to other
sites or communities about any topic they relate to.
The use of social media report published by WeAreSocial in the first month
of 2019 (Figure 27-1).
Figure 27-1. Social Media Users Over Time (2014-2019)
As can be seen in Figure 1, a survey conducted in January 2019 shows that

45% of the total population in the world are active social media users, and
42% of them make this connection via mobile phones. The comparison of
social media usage between 2014 and 2019 is shown in Figure 27-2.
Figure 27-2. Social Media Users Over Time (2014-2019)
The rapid growth of the internet, and related technologies, has greatly
increased marketing opportunities, and has changed the way companies
manage their relationships with their customers (Ngai 2005). The fact that
social media is used by consumers has paved the way for marketing and
promotion purposes. Social networks, blogs, web sites, and all kinds of
media help businesses to monitor their customers, to communicate with
them interactively, to make special promotional and marketing activities
with the information the customers created on social media.
In other words, social media has made it possible for a person to
communicate with hundreds, or even thousands, of people about products
and the companies that provide them. Thus, consumers' share of products
and services between them - the consumer effect - is of great importance in
the market (Mangold and Faulds 2009).
These developments have led to a change in the classical customer
relationship approach, and the emergence of social customer relationship
management practices (Kılıç 2017). This approach, rather than communicating
with, and managing, customers, aims to create participatory experiences and
establish dialogue (Baird and Parasnis 2011).
Greenberg (2009) indicated the differences between traditional CRM
and social CRM in the table below (Greenberg 2009).
Table 27-1. Quick Look at Traditional CRM v. Social CRM
Traditional CRM Social CRM Features/Functions

Features/Functions
Definition: CRM is a Definition: Social CRM is a
philosophy and a business philosophy and a business strategy,
strategy, supported by a supported by a system and
system and technology technology designed to engage the
designed to improve human customer in a collaborative
interactions in a business interaction that provides mutually
environment beneficial value in a trusted and
transparent business environment
Tactical and operational: Strategic: Customer strategy IS
Customer strategy is part of corporate strategy
corporate strategy
Relationship between the Relationship between the company
company and the customer is and the customer is seen as a
seen as the enterprise collaborative effort. And yet, the
managing the customer - company must still be an enterprise
parent to child to a large in all other aspects
extent
Focus on Company < > Focus on all iterations of the
Customer Relationship relationships (among company,
business partners, customers) and
specifically focus on identifying,
engaging and enabling the
‘influential’ nodes
The company seeks to lead The customer is seen as a partner
and shape customer opinions from the beginning in the
about products, services, and development and improvement of
the company-customer products, services, and the company-
relationship. customer relationship
Business focus on products Business focus on environments and
and services that satisfy experiences that engage customers
customers
Customer facing features - Customer facing - both features and

sales, marketing and the people who are in charge of
support. developing and delivering those
features
Marketing focused on Marketing focused on building
processes that send relationships with customers -
improved, targeted, highly engaging customers in activity and
specific corporate messages discussion, observing and re-
to customer directing conversations and
activities among customers
Intellectual property Intellectual property created and
protected with all legal might owned together with the customer,
available partner, supplier, problem solver
Insights and effectiveness are Insights are a considerably more
optimally achieved by the dynamic issue and are based on 1)
single view of the customer customer data 2) customer personal
(data) across all channels by profiles on the web and the social
those who needed to know. characteristics associated with them
Based on ‘complete’ 3) customer participation in the
customer record and data activity acquisition of those insights
integration
Resides in a customer- Resides in a customer ecosystem
focused business ecosystem
Technology focused around Technology focused on both the
operational aspects of sales, operational and social aspects of the
marketing, support interaction
Tools are associated with Integrates social media tools into
automating functions apps/services: blogs, wikis,
podcasts, social networking tools,
content sharing tools, user
communities
Utilitarian, functional, Style and design also matter
operational
Mostly uni-directional Always bi-directional
Social CRM provides companies with a two-way interactive

communication channel where they can cooperate and collaborate with their
customers, to guide their customers in value creation, product development,
and the conceptualization and implementation of new marketing strategies
(Guha, Harrigan & Soutar 2018). In Greenberg (2009) social CRM is
defined as follows:
“Social CRM is a philosophy and a business strategy, supported by a system
and technology, designed to engage the customer in a collaborative
interaction that provides mutually beneficial value in a trusted &
transparent business environment.”
Additionally, Fauschette (2009) defines social CRM as follows:

“Social CRM is the tools and processes that encourage better, more effective
customer interaction and leverage the collective intelligence of the broader
customer community, with the intended result of increasing intimacy
between an organization and its prospects and customers.
Social customer relationship management has four components. These are

(Yücel 2013):
1- Listening: Possible and current customers who can buy the brand
promise should be monitored carefully through many channels on
the web.
2- Analysis: The comments, speeches, and feeds about the brand
should be analyzed. It is necessary to mark each comment as
positive or negative, and immediately identify any conversations
that may turn negative.
3- Establishing a Connection: This must be made with the department
of the brand which the user comments relate to.
4- Taking action: The analyzed and connected feeds and analysis
should be processed quickly, and the customer should be contacted
as soon as possible.
Social CRM also enables the identification of new markets, and trends
within them, as well as new market entry, development, and orientation. As
individuals are increasingly dependent on social media technologies in
order to maintain contact with their friends, an area of knowledge arises
from such interactions for businesses. The types and categories of mutual
interaction are impressive for businesses, and they provide new techniques
and skills to achieve this information. Researchers argue that the use of
CRM in the social media field has the potential to affect a firm’s
performance, as it leads to greater customer engagement, interaction and

information sharing (Choudhury and Harrigan 2014).
On the other hand, understanding what customers value is a critical step
in creating a social CRM strategy, especially in a social platform
environment (Baird and Parasnis 2011).
According to a study by Baird and Parasnis (2011), consumers have
strong views on social media interactions, and should not be considered to
be willing to communicate with companies, despite their adoption of social
media.
Although consumers spend a long time on social media, they rarely
interact. Although the use of social media has increased dramatically, only
a very small percentage of consumers are regularly involved in responding
to ‘shares’ and writing content.
It's not about brands; it's about family and friends. More than half of
consumers do not intend to contact business through social sites. Consumers
are interested in friends, family, and personal connections, in social media
and social networks.
What do consumers really want? From social media interactions it is
seen that there are significant differences between what companies think
customers care about and what consumers' say they want. Consumers want
something concrete for the time they spend on social media and the data
they share.
Advocacy paradox. Most businesses believe that social media will
increase advocacy, but only 38% of consumers agree, and over 60% believe
that a business or brand passion is a prerequisite for social media
engagement. Companies should find creative ways to touch the power of a
trusted social community.
Magniant and Bencheton (2016) list the essential elements of the social
CRM strategy as follows:
Reciprocity: A one-way access strategy from business to consumer in
traditional marketing is becoming a mutual interaction with social CRM.
Consumers are ready to be in dialogue with the business, to share their ideas,
to contribute to the brand, and to be informed about their contribution.
Reactivity: For internet users, weekends or holidays do not matter, they
share on social media at any time. The speed with which their share is spread
varies depending on the nature of the message, i.e., whether it is negative,
sensitive, and fun. Monitoring and responding to these shares via social
media is very fast and easy compared to other communication channels. It
is a necessity for enterprises to switch to social CRM as soon as possible in
order to be able to take action and return response within a very short time,
and even outside working hours. The aim is to avoid the development of
controversial debates, and to deal with crisis situations as soon as they
occur.
Consistency: Interventions carried out through social media should be
consistent with each other, and with other channels, to ensure synergy
between online and offline strategies. In order to achieve this, it is necessary
to understand the needs of both communities, to reach the relevant people
with the right methods, and to ensure the effective circulation of information
within the enterprise with the social networks to be used within the
enterprise.
Transparency: Consumers know very well that the brands they share
through social media channels are not perfect. When they inform businesses
about mistakes they have made, and businesses put in an action plan to
correct these errors, consumers are ready to forgive their mistakes.
Engagement in a true, corporate approach: Social CRM impacts a lot of
people; customers and prospects, but also employees. It is very important
to adopt an institutional approach. Company employees are also members
of social media sites. All members of the team, both employees and
employers, will use the same tools to share common comments and achieve
the desired result. The business must first create interaction within itself.
Previous studies in the field of social CRM

Ang (2011) argued that the term ‘social relationship management’ was a
noun error, and that the name ‘community relationship management’
(CoRM) would be more accurate. He stated that this term is more
representative of what people do in online communities. In his study he
proposed the CoRM 4Cs model. There are four components in the model:
connectivity, conversations, content creation, and collaboration.
Organizations can take advantage of these components by using marketing
research and public relations, nurturing opinion leaders or advocates,
placing and creating advertisements, developing new products, reducing the
cost provider, building brand loyalty and sales, and enhancing the
company's buzz and visibility (Ang 2011).
Yücel (2013) in his research with students, has found that students know
the importance of social networks for products and services, they use search
engines before purchasing, they examine product details on websites, they
want to be informed about discounted products, and they follow comments
made in the forums (Yücel 2013).
Harrigan and Miles (2014), in an online survey they conducted with 156
SMEs (small-medium enterprises SMEs), reported that SMEs should
integrate their social media usage with their CRM practices. They formed
their work through seven factors: online community, social media support,
information capture, information use, customer relationship orientation,
social data use, and customer communication. In their study, they
highlighted the importance of customer relations orientation and support
and data issues related to social media use, demonstrated the importance of
customer participation in online communities, and stated that information
flows have a driving role (Harrigan and Miles 2014).
Karadeniz and Gözüyukarı (2015), in research they conducted into the
application of social CRM service quality in customer satisfaction,
examined the effect on of CRM on customer satisfaction. According to the
results they obtained, in order to ensure customer satisfaction, companies
should give importance to the issue of trust. Additionally, businesses’ social
media accounts, and in the pages on which they appear, should pay attention
to social sharing (Karadeniz and Gözüyukarı, 2015).
Vural and Okmeydan (2016) aimed to identify customer relationship
management activities conducted through social media by fashion brands
operating in Turkey, and to examine the forms of communication that they
established with their target audiences through these media. Within the
scope of their research, they stated that brands which operate within social
media, which include the customer in the process, via their ‘shares’ on
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc., and which asked questions on their own
webpages, quickly responding to consumers who share proposals and
complaints, are significantly more successful at achieving customer loyalty
and achieving two-way communication with customers. However, they
concluded that followers who believe that they are not taken seriously by
the brand, or that their comments are not evaluated by the brand authorities,
share posts in their social media accounts which do not benefit the firm, and
this situation negatively affects the reputation of the brand (Vural and
Okmeydan 2016).
Similarly, a study by Dewnarain et al. (2018) stated that, in the case of
hotel services, the consumer relation context is a key player in the existing
relations within CRM, social media, and brand loyalty. They stated that they
can evaluate a firm’s competence in terms of current CRM and technology-
based CRM for service providers in the hotel industry, and determine the
invisible dangers, before investing in social CRM practices. It shows that
SME customers use social media to produce content, to influence other
customers through positive reviews, and to mobilize others for brands or
products. They also stated that the customer brand relationships on social
media platforms will not always create positive results. Hotel managers can
learn negative views and comments from social media platforms, and this
process can help them to win new customers, or keep their existing ones, by
changing their services and product offerings (Dewnarain et al. 2018).
Kantorová and Bachmann (2018) conducted a survey of 362 companies
in the Czech Republic, using a survey of 54 questions focusing on issues
such as the importance of marketing and CRM practices, relationships with
customers, online communities, social media use, and the acquisition and
management of information. The findings show that large-scale firms can
create and strategically manage their own online communities and manage
the acquired information better. On the other hand, it was found that small-
scale firms use social media to communicate with their customers much
more than large-scale firms (Kantorova and Bachmann 2018).
Kim and Wang (2019) emphasize that the companies which invest in
social media applications will get significant CRM advantages and increase
the market value of the company, so that social CRM opportunities play a
critical role. They also advised companies to develop strategies to create
more customer relationships in social media, to enable customer
engagement and interaction (Kim and Wang 2019).
Conclusion
The dizzying development of technology is spreading in every field in
people's lives. The internet, which has become a part of people's daily lives,
provides the opportunity for them to reach the information they want at any
time. Through social media platforms, people can both share and access the
information they are curious about. The fact that social media is popular has
made it necessary for businesses to be on social media. Rapidly-changing
processes in today's markets push firms to be ready for any situation.
Therefore, companies have to follow and understand what is happening
around them. Thanks to the technology developed in communications, it has
become more important to be able to communicate with customers, and it
has become easier and faster to reach them. However, the fact that this
situation may not be adequately managed by companies, can lead to the loss
of customers, contrary to the purpose of the companies. Nowadays, with the
development of information technologies, increasing competition, and
globalization, there is a situation in which customers realize the alternatives
and give importance to quality.
Businesses that perform both physical and online sales processes not
only manage the changing business structures with social media, but also
recognize the changes in customer perceptions, and take rapid action. High
usage statistics of social media platforms have mediated the merging of

traditional CRM approach with technology, and the emergence of social
CRM. Businesses can communicate with their customers through social
media platforms, follow up their comments, suggestions, and complaints,
about products and services, and follow trends closely.
Businesses must recognize, understand, and accept, the cultural
differences of their customers, and meet their expectations accordingly. For
this reason, today's companies must make social CRM one of their most
important strategies. In all social media platforms with which the customer
is engaged, the information, which is collected, processed, and interpreted,
can be adapted to company strategies and business processes. With a
strategy which is set out in a proper manner, an action plan prepared in
accordance with this, and social customer relationship management
activities included in the marketing activities, can bring many businesses to
success. The low cost of social media, and the possibility of reaching a large
number of customers - or potential customers - have increased the
applicability of customer relationship management and brought it to levels
that even small businesses can easily implement.
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THE ROLE OF E-COMMERCE
IN GREEN MARKETING
HASAN AĞDEMİR
Introduction
Even though investments were made in past periods by enterprises creating
an overall perspective on green marketing, and including new beneficial
information to the literature, enterprises today are driven towards investing
along with customer expectations. Conscious customers’ awareness of the
impact of the products they use on the environment, their need for
information about products, and their preference for environmentally-
friendly products when buying, have all gained importance. Within the last
century, the prevalence of environmentally friendly products has increased
in the selection of customers. Green marketing envisages product quality
improvement, from the raw material stage to end-user consumption.
Today, enterprises aim to produce products that cause the least harm (or
no harm at all) to the environment, and continue to make improvements in
this direction. The concept of green marketing has loomed large in
encouraging customers to prefer products that cause the least damage, and
to increase their sensitivity towards the environment. Enterprises that care
about green marketing follow a green road map in their product, price,
distribution, and promotion, processes.
A new economy has emerged as a result of globalization, improvements
in technology, and changes in the commercial lifestyle. As a result of the
merger of the internet with trade, e-commerce has emerged as one of the
main structures of the new economy. The facilities provided by e-commerce
have enabled the parties to operate in a wide range of areas, from business
to business (B2B), business to consumer (B2C), consumer to consumer
(C2C), consumer to business (C2B), government to business (G2B) and
government to consumer (G2C). The biggest advantage of e-commerce for
individuals, and a society comprised of consumers, involves the selection
of the most affordable, environmentally friendly, and high quality products
and services, in an unlimited product range.
378 The Role of E-Commerce in Green Marketing
A general overview of green marketing

People usually perceive green marketing in terms of product promotion, or
advertisements. Green marketing is associated with such terms as ‘ozone-
friendly’, ‘eco-friendly’, ‘recyclable’, or ‘refillable’. Green marketing, in
general, has a wider understanding, although it is identified with these terms
(Mary Wanjiru 2011). Polonsky (1994) described green marketing as “the
entire activities that are designed to facilitate any transactions intended to
meet human needs or desires with the least damaging effects on the natural
environment.” This description also touches upon the fringes of the
protection of the natural environment. The need for change in consumption
habits has emerged due to the depletion of natural resources, increasing
pollution, new infectious diseases, climatic factors, and damage caused to
the environment (Erciş 2016, Tandaçgüneş 2012). As of today, the
development of industry and technology has created negative externalities
on the environment, and its consequences have forced and influenced
people to be more concerned with this issue. The adverse pressure on the
environment has increased, especially along with the development of
industry, the advancement of technologies, and the increase in production.
Consumers have begun to be more scrupulous about the products they use,
due to the increasing environmental problems in the production process and
the depletion of natural resources (Onurlubaş et al. 2017). Hence, ‘ethical
consumption’, ‘environmentally conscious consumption’, and ‘sustainable
consumption’, feature in postmodern marketing, which focuses on the
public sphere in the field of consumption, and have been involved in the
green marketing concept (Tandaçgüneş 2012). The concept of green
marketing was first coined in a workshop on ‘Ecological Marketing’,
organized by the American Marketing Association (AMA) in 1975 (Keleş
2007). According to this definition, green marketing refers to a science that
examines research studies conducted on pollution, consumed energy
resources, and the positive/negative aspects of consuming non-renewable
energies. Green marketing, by definition, consists of three basic aspects
(Uydacı 2011):
 It is a subset of all marketing activities.
 It includes all positive and negative functions.
 It examines a broad concept of environment.
Overall, green marketing covers a holistic process of estimating and
satisfying predetermined human needs or wants in a more lucrative and
continuous fashion (Yükselay 2008). Today, the demands and needs of
society can be easily met, and applications created in a way as to cause
Hasan Ağdemir 379
minimum harm to natural life are referred to as green marketing. Green

marketing is the whole set of applications.
The aim and importance of green marketing

The aims of green marketing are as follows (Uydacı 2011):
 The most efficient use of the acquired wealth without introducing
new consumption areas.
 Focusing on minimizing the amount of consumed energy instead
of disposing of products after use.
 Considering options to prevent environmental damage and to
reduce pollution caused by industry.
 Putting governments, voluntary environmental organizations, and
consumers into action and assigning responsibilities for the sake of
ensuring stability in the system.
 Encouraging the consumption of environmentally friendly
products, usage of packaging at the lowest level, and the perception
of recycling in public opinion.
The history and development of the green marketing

concept
From personal and social perspectives, environmental awareness and efforts
to protect the environment date back thousands of years. On the other hand,
efforts for developing large, effective, and efficient, strategies are observed
after the mid-20th century (Uydacı 2011). Green marketing was described
as the ‘period of awakening’, the ‘time to make a move’, the ‘time to be
economical’, and the ‘power in the market’, in terms of consumers (Peattie
2001). Green marketing came into existence at the end of the 1970s. The
definition of green marketing first appeared in an ecological marketing
seminar organized by the American Marketing Association (Ay and Ecevit
2005). The early academic process of green marketing expresses that green
consumption is rapidly increasing in this period, and that consumption is
changing dramatically, and inevitably, towards more green products
(Peattie and Crane 2005). Green marketing, which began to attract the
attention of companies during the 1990s, is examined in three different
phases (Aytekin 2007): ‘ecological green marketing’, ‘environmental green
marketing’, and ‘sustainable green marketing’ (Peattie 2001).
The first stage: Ecological marketing

Ecological marketing is described by Henion and Kinnear (1976) as “the
application of all marketing activities that strive to provide results for
introducing the kind of problems which may be related to the environment.”
In this phase, social and environmental concerns began to emerge as the
inspiration for Rachel Carson’s published books, entitled Silent Spring
(1962), and The Club of Rome’s Limits to Growth (1972). The characteristic
features of this phase are focused on certain environmental problems, such
as air pollution, the depletion of petroleum reserves, and the ecological impact
of synthetic pesticides, e.g., DDT (Dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane) (Keleş
2007).
The second stage: Environmental marketing

A series of events in the second phase, which began in the late 1980s,
indicated the vulnerability of nature and man. The great Bhopal chemical
catastrophe of 1984, the detection of the thinning ozone layer in 1995, the
Chernobyl incident in 1986, and the environmental pollution caused by the
Exxon-Valdez tanker in 1989, are among the main causes of this change.
The third stage: Sustainable marketing

Environmental marketing is seen to have significant impacts on marketing
practices in recent years, during which new green markets and products
have begun to emerge (Başar 2016). The problems with the opportunities
and challenges in green marketing appear to be caused by the inability of
green consumers to comprehend developments in organizational marketing,
which often make the difference among businesses. Technology and
production systems are now being developed to further reduce pollution in
industry and preserve resources (Başar 2018).
Phases of green marketing

The concept of green marketing consists of four phases. Firstly, green
products are designed for environmental consumers, such as cars running
on alternative fuels. This phase is called green targeting. In the second
phase, the enterprise creates green strategies that include measures such as
minimizing generated waste and increasing energy efficiency. In the third
phase, no non-environmental products are produced. In the fourth phase,
which is the last one, the enterprise acquires social responsibility awareness,
Hasan Ağdemir 381
since it is not satisfied with merely being green. According to business

culture and environmental factors, green marketing awareness is being
developed in enterprises (Aslan 2007, Çolakoğlu et al. 2013).
The green marketing mix

The marketing mix, which has a very important place in marketing
literature, is referred to as ‘4P’, a term which was first coined by Jerome
McCarthy in 1964. 4P denotes Product, Price, Place, and Promotion
(Mosavichechaklou 2017).
The green product: The green product concept includes environmentally-
friendly and recyclable products that are made out of non-toxic, non-
polluting, non-harmful materials, which do not necessarily deplete natural
resources. However, it also includes products that can be recycled (Türk
and Gök 2010). The properties of green products are as follows
(Moisander 2007):
 Not harming human or animal health,
 Causing no harm to nature before and after use,
 Consuming merely sufficient amounts of energy and other
resources,
 Preventing the use of substances that may be hazardous to the
environment,
 Conducting no experiments on the living, and,
 Avoiding unnecessary packaging and waste.
A set of requirements to be satisfied by an environmentally-friendly product
can be listed as follows (Uysal 2006): Satisfaction, sustainability, social
acceptance, safety, product approach, and process approach. The Three
Product Levels model, developed by Kotler, is comprised of three types of
green products (Kacur 2008):
Core green product: In this product level, the stages following the usage
and consumption of the product are taken into consideration.
Actual green product: Environmental features are also taken into account
when manufacturing the product.
Augmented green product: When the ecological component is integrated
with all the internal activities of the enterprise, i.e., finance, procurement,
human resources, and other departments. This product level emerges upon
linking the environmentalist movements of other organizations, such as
input providers, distributors, and financing providers, with the enterprise.
The green price: The green price is an element of the green marketing mix
which affects consumers’ purchasing behavior. The other elements of the
green marketing mix are cost elements for businesses, where the green price
is an income element for businesses. Decisions on price are more flexible
than other elements of green marketing. Nonetheless, since this element is
not taken into account by enterprises, this issue influences the purchasing
behavior of consumers for green products (Yıldız and Barut 2016).
The green place: The place of distribution involves a process that includes
all types of goods, services, and information flow to ensure meeting the
consumer needs, the flow of raw materials within the supply chain from the
departure point to the final arrival point, flow and storage of operational
inventory in an efficient and cost-effective manner (Biner 2014).
The green promotion: Promotion is the way companies communicate
with consumers about product offerings. Promotional activities are used to
achieve certain objectives, such as (Kacur 2008):
 Increasing sales,
 Maintaining and increasing market share,
 Creating and increasing brand familiarity,
 Forming a positive basis for future sales,
 Informing the market,
 Gaining a competitive advantage over competitors’ products and
market positions,
 Increasing the efficiency of promotion.
Reasons for businesses to prefer green marketing

There are several factors that cause green marketing to be preferred by
businesses. These factors are as follows (Filiz and Recia 2015):
 Businesses’ conception of green marketing as an opportunity
which complies with their own objectives,
 As a result of the opportunities achieved, courtesy of their

environmental activities, enterprises should be superior to other
competitive companies, and use green marketing as an element of
pressure on other firms.
 Minimization of waste that would emerge following the production

process, in cooperation with other sectors,
Hasan Ağdemir 383
 Enterprises’ efficient use of resources made possible by long-term

cost-minimizing elements of green marketing, and enterprises’
expectations of gains from recycling,
 Enterprises’ anticipation of possible problems stemming from

environmental issues,
 Enterprises’ hardship in abiding by environmental laws and rules

applicable to central and provincial administrations.
E-commerce
The concept of e-commerce

The concept of e-commerce emerged in 1997, although credit cards were
available as early as 1960, and the use of automatic teller machines began
in the 1980s. There are many definitions regarding the concept of e-
commerce. E-commerce is a concept that involves the sale and purchase of
all kinds of goods and services via computer technology, electronic
communication channels, and related technologies (Tekel 2014). E-
commerce is also identified as the electronic exchange of business-related
information between two or more organizations (Metin 2012). According to
the World Trade Organization (WTO), e-commerce is defined as all
transactions through which goods and services are bought and sold via
computers using special methods (www.wto.org). Although electronic
communication technologies have been used for a long time in commercial
transactions, later on, the use of e-commerce transactions has also been
observed in commercial life. It is seen that the internet has become more
important in daily life, with its introduction into commercial transactions.
The internet experienced its greatest development once it began to be used
in commercial life. The use of the internet for trading transactions is
increasing day by day. It is observed in conducted research that internet use
has played a crucial role in achieving economic inputs, lowering cost, and
affecting lower inflation rates. E-commerce involves more than the
purchase/sale transactions among consumers and producers (Chaffey 2009).
It includes product/service trading, product design, production, marketing,
advertising, promotion, ordering, contracting, bank/funding operations,
engineering operations, public procurement, electronic fund transfers,
notary operations, and rental/leasing processes. Therefore, e-commerce
transactions are defined as having many aspects, market areas, large
numbers of employees, and a large commercial society, in which the buyers

and sellers are brought together via an online network (Törenli et al. 2009).
Development process of e-commerce

The new business rules brought by technology have compelled enterprises
to go through an electronic transformation. After all, it is possible to gain a
competitive advantage for companies which utilize IT and network
technologies in business models, processes, and management approaches,
rather than using those technologies merely in their products and services.
With the help of widespread use of the internet, network-based new business
models emerge. Nevertheless, the global competitive approach requires not
only the use of virtual enterprises, but also the enterprises that conduct
business in the traditional arena, using network-based business model
applications (Özmen 2013). It is seen that e-commerce activities
commenced along with the Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) system,
which was developed for the use of the internet. While the internet is used
as a means to find an appropriate manufacturer, or to obtain information
before purchasing a product, e-commerce is defined as a process (Goethals
et al. 2009). E-commerce has found its own application shortly after
computers were connected to each other through cables and satellites. The
development process of e-commerce is in parallel with the technological
developments following the introduction of internet technology for
commercial purposes (Çavdar 2011). Web-based applications, which have
become widespread in recent years, seem to provide the integration of
companies. Information/communication technologies, globalization
movements, and international agreements, pertaining to the regulation of
these flows are seen to contribute to the development of web-based
applications and e-commerce (Çak 2002).
Factors affecting the development of e-commerce

While various institutions and organizations have been facilitating the flow
of information through the internet, it has created the basis for the
emergence of various communication channels within some enterprises. In
this regard, the success of e-commerce is beyond expectations (Akın 2001).
In the developmental process of e-commerce, communication instruments
such as radio and television are intertwined with the internet, and globalized
markets and liberalization become prominent (Korkmaz 2002). Also,
security issues have emerged with the rapid dissemination of the internet,
and its development, along with the security measures, has managed to keep
Hasan Ağdemir 385
up. With the various security measures, the spread of e-commerce has
increased (Özbay and Akyazı 2004). Nowadays, the importance of
obtaining accurate information is becoming more prominent. Therefore, it
is seen that advances in information and communication technologies have
an important power of economic and social development. Improving the
technological structures to meet needs is seen to have a crucial role in
creating sustainable competition, increasing productivity and quality, and
reflecting technology towards all applications.
E-commerce business paradigms

E-commerce business paradigms, based on consumers, businesses, and the
state, consist of parties such as consumer-seller, seller-producer, consumer-
consumer, state-consumer, and state-producer. Business paradigms
involving these parties are as follows; business-to-business, business-to-
consumer, consumer-to-consumer, consumer-to-business, government-to-
business, and government-to-consumer.
Business-to-Business (B2B) is based on the purchase/sale of goods and
services among businesses over the internet. It also covers the exchange of
information and financial transactions among businesses. Since all these
functions are performed over the internet, the process can be conducted
more quickly and efficiently (Marangoz 2014). B2B involves activities in
which the business processes between supplier and buyer businesses are
supported by the internet.
Business-to-Consumer (B2C) involves e-commerce, the direct sale of
different products (books, CDs, cassettes, computers, software, hardware,
etc.) to the target audience over the internet, or banking services provided
by consumer-oriented enterprises (Çak 2002). The facility of electronic
communication has led to the disappearance of intermediary institutions,
saving on both communication costs and time.
Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C) refers to a business model, which enables
the consumer to sell the products produced by the consumer, or to buy used
products, and facilitates the user’s participation in e-commerce (Arslan
2014).
Government-to-Business (G2B) can be explained as the execution or
regulation of commercial activities between the government and businesses
in the electronic platform. In particular, shifting public tender
announcements to the electronic environment is the most fundamental G2B
application.
Government-to-Consumer (G2C) is one of the most open-to-improvement

types of e-commerce. Within e-commerce, electronic government (e-
government) applications, which include e-commerce from G2B as well as
from G2C, come to the fore. E-government is an application to provide
better services to citizens’ relations with the government. E-government
applications are based on the understanding of services that increase the
quality of life, and the living standards of citizens, more consistently (Pırnar
2005).
Conclusion
Changing perceptions towards environmental issues, along with increased
adverse pressure, are being caused by industrialization and the development
of technology, the increase of opportunities as a result of the development
of many industrial areas, the increasing demand of people for profit, and the
destruction of the ecological balance as a result of the unregistered use or
misuse of natural resources. Enterprises aim to cause less harm to nature
during production. Consumers’ consciousness, awareness, and interest, in
this issue, accompanied by their pressure, are among the reasons for
enterprises to take action. The extent to which many green products should
be produced, and the extent to which businesses contribute or cause harm to
nature in terms of the marketing perspective, have become subjects on the
agenda. Migration from rural to urban areas for reasons such as population
growth, technology development, and industrialization, accompanied by
irregular construction in cities, all result in environmental, air, water, and
excessive noise, pollution. Environmental pollution is mostly caused by
waste-generating enterprises which utilize natural resources throughout
production processes. Chemical and toxic substances, in particular, do
extreme harm to the environment. Due to such problems, enterprises should
give importance to environmental pollution before and after production. In
order to sustain a liveable world for future generations, first of all,
businesses should preserve nature within social responsibilities, and reduce
or eliminate the causes of environmental pollution. Green marketing is a
marketing method that enables the regulation of the methods to be used in
the satisfaction of the desires and wants of people without harming the
environment. Green marketing, which includes four structures of marketing
(product, price, place and promotion), in addition to providing new
strategies for enterprises, is a broad concept that involves meeting the needs
of consumers more efficiently, producing better quality, offering favorable
price advantages to consumers, and ensuring longer shelf-life for the
products which acquire these properties, without causing detrimental
Hasan Ağdemir 387
impacts on the environment and natural life. With the increase in the
population of conscious consumers, consumer demands change course. The
importance of environmentally-friendly products is increased, and
conscious consumers have begun to prefer products that do not harm the
environment, and consumers have refrained from consuming harmful
products. In this way, enterprises that take customer requests into account
have begun to implement new, green, marketing strategies. Businesses can
restore their reputation with green marketing and transform into stable
structures. It is essential for businesses to adopt green marketing concepts
as management culture, and to express their social responsibility towards
the environment, rather than having to embrace it in order to avoid certain
social pressures or legal consequences.
It is necessary for businesses to conduct activities in compliance with
the digital age to achieve sustainable growth. E-commerce primarily
constitutes a significant advantage for small and medium-sized enterprises
in terms of access to global markets and the countries’ economies. In this
context, e-commerce is considered as an instrument that enables businesses
to venture into foreign markets.
Due to people’s needs, and the scarcity of time, the prevalence and
preference of e-commerce are constantly on the rise. The opportunity to
choose the most affordable, quality, product, is the biggest benefit of e-
commerce offered to consumers.
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DIGITAL DESTINY:
PERCEPTION MANAGEMENT IN NEW MEDIA
ELİFNUR TERZİOĞLU
Introduction
Considering historical process, technological, economic, political, social,
and cultural developments have an influence on social life in every respect.
Thus, transformation in social life creates radical changes in the way of
societies’ perception and interpretation of the world. At the center of this
transformation, in addition to political, economic, social, ideological, and
cultural factors, new media, new digital communications, such as mobile
technologies appear effective. Following industrial societies which have
been in effect for the last three centuries, in the 21st century, the thought of
entering a new civilization and social structure period has been revived, and
has spread around the world. Various names are proposed for this new
society, and the main ones are the post-industrial society, the postmodern
society, the knowledge-based society, and the information society (Uluc
2008). In the 1970s, the definition of a new society, which evolved from
Daniel Bell’s concept of a ‘post-industrial society’ with knowledge and
technology in communication, was widely accepted, especially in the USA
(Martin 1988). When changes in the structures of communication
technology in modernization theory are observed, emergent stages made the
world a global village in the 1970s and 80s and a global city in the 1990s
and 2000s. According to technological determinists, the globalizing world
is also becoming a knowledge-based/information community, thanks to
computer and internet technologies in the 1990s and 2000s, as long as
computers and internet connections are available in homes, schools, or in
entertainment centres (Erdoğan & Alemdar 2010). Technological
developments are becoming more and more widespread each passing day,
and have made access to information easy and fast. Although there are many
positive results of this, it is not possible to determine the source of
information, to ensure its control, or to obtain its accuracy and reliability at
the same pace, and this situation has made people and societies more
vulnerable over time.
392 Digital Destiny
With developing technology, classical competitive techniques started to

cost more. Therefore, the guidance processes of target audiences have been
developed by providing control of information. In the process of historical
development, these actions and activities have been applied to target
audiences to present a new reality, by manipulating the information/facts
and directing them in line with predetermined objectives. With a small
motivation, people can be directed towards a desired target, and may exhibit
attitudes and behaviour as expected. Perception management aims to create
the chosen behaviour style in the target audience, and the most important
point is that the target group does not know that they have been exposed to
perception management, believing they are making decisions on their own.
Today, the world in which we live is full of many sources of information.
The modern world is defined as the information age, as mentioned above.
Developments in information technologies make life easier; on the other
hand they create difficulties in understanding the difference between reality
and illusion. The media is defined as tools that store information and
transmit it to the target audience (Negroponte 1995). However, in the
context of perception management, the media is defined as a tool in which
information is produced, exaggerated, and distorted. For this reason,
modified information loses its reality and becomes a simulation. This
information, which is merely a disguised reflection of reality, has nothing
to do with truth anymore, and it becomes disinformation. Henry Kissinger
said “Being real is not that important; however, it is crucial to be perceived
as real”, and his words point out how important perception management is
today. In other words, with perception management, the reality of the target
audience becomes more important than the reality itself (Öksüz 2013).
In the light of this, this chapter aims to understand the role of new media
in perception management, which removes the restrictions of traditional
media to reach information, and increases users’ performance and control
in the information canals and content. Against traditional media, described
as a limited and restrictive way of communication by many media theorists,
new media makes promises to be more interactive and becomes more and
more widespread today.
The role of new media in the formation of perception

Recently, an irresistible process of interaction has taken place in the field of
communication, in terms of the speed and development of technologies, and
information has become power. People use various media tools to reach
sources of information. Traditional media encompasses television,
newspapers, and radio. The internet, which has become one of the most
Elifnur Terzioğlu 393
preferred tools recently and which is the source of the ‘ new social media’
, has become the most effective means of communication in societies’
perception. Today, along with the increasing importance of speed, digital
developments through technology provide individuals with a data source
and some of their relations with the internet. Boundaries between
information and communication have been re-set with digitalization. Social
structures, perceptions, and interactive communications have begun to take
form in electronic environments (Akyazi, Neseli, Yilmaz 2014). Therefore,
each new development which is influenced by the interaction between
communication technology and society, has brought to mind the inclusion
of new voices and opinions in the information society. Traditional mass
media, newspapers, radio, and television, have different features. The
newspaper includes images and text, while the radio transmits only sound.
Television is more mobile, and facilitates both viewing and listening.
Lapham (1995) used the words ‘hybrid model’ for the internet, because it
contains all the properties of traditional and modern media. To Innis (2006),
the means of communication have a determinist impact on the forms of
social organization. In fact, new technologies and the opportunities they
offer, lead to the disappearance of the old order and its values, and the
formation of new order. As stated by McLuhan (1994), the media entails
people’s participation after perception. Thus, the new value codes formed
by individuals restructure their minds. This is because the reorganization of
the mind is under the pressure of different cultural and ideological
messages, with digitalization and the reconstruction of a world perception.
Alright, what is this perception?
Perception is an awareness of what is happening and the process of
interpreting it. The concept of ‘perception’ is influenced not only by
individuals, but also by social groups, social institutions, and organizations,
or, in short, all of society, by the shaping and determining characteristics of
the media. Thus, it would not be wrong to say that the media determines the
agenda, by means of the mass media.
The concept of perception is defined as “the process of interpretation of
sensations and process of making them meaningful” by Morgan (1981). In
addition to this, Mosa (1999) identifies perception in a different way, as
“attention and interpretation of environmental stimuli detected by sense
organs.” Considering all these definitions, perception is the individual’s
interpretation of signals coming from the outside world.
394 Digital Destiny
Figure 29-1. Process of Perception

Source: Solomon, Bamossy & Askegaard 1999
The ‘receptors’ come first in the perception process. Here, what we call a
receiver is formed by the sense organs, and these sensory organs are exposed
to stimuli in the environment, in accordance with their structures, functions,
and attitudes, associating them with the nervous system (Cuceloglu 1999).
As shown in Figure 1, the second stage is the stimuli from the environment,
and these stimuli are formed within the society in which people live. As
Cuceloglu mentioned, the inputs reaching the nervous system via the
sensory organs interact with the individual’s experiences and psychological
processes after the first process stage, and the information received begins
to be interpreted. Later, it leads to an influence on the individual, and then
a positive/negative response. It is obvious that inputs included in the process
by recipients are processed in the nervous system and affect the individual’s
perception of the environment. The final stage of the detection process is
called ‘the final operation’ and enables the perceptual element, i.e. the
formation of perception. When a stimulus comes up, a target audience firstly
needs to notice this. If the stimulus is not powerful or impressive enough, it
will not attract the attention of the target audience (Islamoglu ve Altunisik
2008). In other words, it is not possible to mention perception without
attention. After drawing the audience’s attention to the event or message to
be conveyed, the target audience evaluates this message with its own
experience and knowledge, and the message or event is understood and
interpreted, with the existing knowledge and experience of the audience,
and thus perception occurs. In summary, the individual receives the stimuli
concerning him/her, interprets it in his/her own mind, responds
positively/negatively, and completes the process of perception. The
significant point here is the continuation of the same perception process in
the individual in interpreting the messages sent, and in the decision-making

processes. Robbins and Judge (2012) state that the perception process goes
in parallel with the situation. In other words, many different factors form
perception and sometimes make it different. These factors may be related to
the perceiver, the perceived object or event, and/or the situation in which
perception occurs. The properties of the perceived object or event influence
how an individual perceives it. To Lewis, Goodman and Fand (1995),
people are faced with too many stimuli in their daily lives. However, they
perceive what they want to perceive.
According to Walter Lippman (1998) the gap between perception and
realism has got bigger with the digital world. The chaos in social, political
and economic life has been accelerated by changing the images in our minds
with mass communication tools. Lippman states that the words and images
presented by the media to audiences create a kind of virtual reality, and are
effective in developing perception in the desired way. The concept of
perception management has been used in the field of public relations since
the 1980s (Moloney 2000). It is expressed as a management technique that
means developing dataflow which is clear enough, and provides more
benefits to the individual (Özer 2012). Also, Ozer has stated that the concept
is a technique first used by the units within the US Department of Defense
for the adoption of US political decisions. It would not be wrong to say that
‘comprehension’ is the basis of perception management conception. To
Martemucci (2007), perception management can be considered as a kind of
strategic communication, but we need to understand that perception
management is the same as strategic communication. Since the purpose of
perception management is to influence the attitudes and behaviours of the
target audience, the results of the transmitted message are more important,
whereas the message itself, and how it is delivered, are more important in
strategic communication. It has been stated that it is aimed not to realize that
the perceptions of the target audience are managed, and the aim of
perception management is the mind. It is important to have sufficient
knowledge in perception management and to use this advantage in
disseminating information to the masses. All kinds of means and methods
can be used during the planning of perception management practices. Out
of several methods, one which is frequently used is propaganda. The most
frequently used means to reach the audience is the mass media. In the past,
mass communication was based on the principle of one-to-many, while now
people can be involved in mass communication in any way they want, and
they can instantly transmit any messages they choose to people all over the
world, owing to developing technologies.
396 Digital Destiny
The reliability, efficiency and validity of the messages created within

new media, which are indispensable for today’s society, are a really
important issue. It is significant how people are told and how messages are
perceived by the receivers, rather than what people are told.
The media tries to create the perception it desires, as human psychology
is tremendously receptive to external factors. It is desirable to change the
attitudes of individuals, groups and societies in directing perceptions by
manipulating real knowledge. In particular, people who use new media tools
spend time in a social network which is often uncontrolled, different, or
misrepresentative. People's perceptions get stuck among the options offered
to them in this network, where uncontrolled information is circulating.
Bernays (1947) considers that the media, especially editors, publishers,
advertisers, print groups, presidents of political parties, and thousands of
experts in many related fields, such as educators and publishers, stand out
as key factors which have an impact on perception. Chomsky (1997) has
stated in his article “What Makes Mainstream Media Mainstream” that news
agencies in particular convey messages to big and small media such as
“What do you need to care?” and “What is important?” The agenda takes
form according to the principles of pressure groups managing the media,
and the agenda they desire. Chomsky (2002) has again stated that the media
serves a social purpose, but in a different sense. In addition to many
functions such as entertaining, educating, and informing people, the media
serves the profits of the powerful social groups that control and finance it,
and it influences the perceptions of a target audience on their request
(Chomsky and Herman 2012). In brief, it is stated that the media is
“decision-maker, perception-former, value-creator.” New media differs
from traditional media with innovations in communication.
In communication using television, radio, and newspapers, the audience
has no role to play in the creation or dissemination of content, whereas
people are more interactive with the internet. In other words, they have the
right to talk about messages and events, write, support, make an objection,
and participate in any discussion. This enables the audience to make more
of an impression. The media creates awareness about any topic and allows
the individual to think about it by bringing unknown events to mind. The
scientist Bernard Cohen says, “the press fails to tell people what to think.
However, it is quite successful in telling people what they think about”
(Dearing and Rogers 1996), and he mentions that the media has an impact
on perception management. However, the influence of media on perception
management cannot always proceed as expected, because if the message
conveyed by the media is in contradiction with the opinions of the
individual, the person refuses either to perceive the message, or to perceive
the negative side (Griessman 1968). In short, the media which is occupying
the minds of people can easily manage perceptions, if it takes into
consideration the priorities of society. The media allows people to learn
about events happening in their community. However, it sometimes
presents a fictional world as if it is real, instead of a real world. According
to some studies on the media, the media sets the agenda and helps society
develop attitudes and behaviours, while it reinforces ideas, attitudes, and
behaviours formed by environmental effects, rather than creating ideas and
attitudes (Picard 1991). Accordingly, the more the media supports society,
with interpersonal relations, rather than seeking to persuade it, the more the
media’s ability to spread ideas increases. This corresponds to the theory of
“Two-Step Flow of Communication.” To Katz and Lazarsfeld (2006), the
“Two-Step Flow of Communication” theory takes place by means of the
media first spreading to the dominant powers, and then to the public through
the sovereign powers. In other words, the media is more effective with the
introduction of the dominant powers, and starts to act as a supporter rather
than a convincer. Eagleton (1991) argues that when the media is evaluated
in the scope of perception management, it helps dominant powers, or else
the dominant power controls the media. It can be suggested that the media
has caused changes in attitudes and behaviour in the audience, not directly
but indirectly, because the media has an objective to accomplish the
dominant powers’ aims.
The importance of the digital environment in the communication process
is increasing day by day. The new media tool, internet communication, is
essentially the digital transmission of information, and in fact, the digital
message is the only example that can be applied in this field. However, the
internet is only a part of the world of digital communication. The digital
communication network enables many people to communicate with each
other simultaneously, and to create perceptions (Lee and Messerschmitt
1990). Manovich shows that the developments of new media go back to the
1830s. This process began with the inventions of Charles Babbage’s
‘analytical engine’ and Louis Daguerre’s ‘daguerreotype’, and continued
until the development of a modern digital computer in the mid-20th century.
New media emerged as a result of combining these two historical
developments, and the transformation of all existing media into digital data
(Manovich 2001). The social media statistics report “Digital Around The
World in 2018”, prepared by WeAreSocial and Hootsuite, reveals that there
are now more than four billion people around the world using the internet.
Over half of the world’s population is now online. The number of internet
users in 2018 is 4.021 billion, up 7%, year-on-year. As is seen, it is clear
398 Digital Destiny
that the internet is the most important factor shaping new media and
perceptions.
Figure 29-2. Digital Around the World in 2018

Source: Kempt 2018 https://wearesocial.com
According to Richard Rogers (2013), the three main characteristics of the

new media that has changed the world we live in are as follows; interaction,
demassification, asynchronization. Of these main features, interaction
undoubtedly plays the most important role. Interactivity is negligible in
traditional media, while the audience is more interactive in new media.
Thus, there is a two-way information flow and the receiver becomes an
active player. This is due to the development of technologies, the
cheapening of digital machines, the increase of fast internet access, and the
simplification of processes for connecting photos, videos, thoughts, and
words to create individual content and spread it (Mayfield 2008). Therefore,
it is almost impossible for the internet, which is an indispensable part of life,
not to have an impact on the perceptions of the billions of people who spend
most of their time in the digital world. As is seen in the figure, the number
of internet users in 2018 is 4.021 billion, up 7%, year-on-year.
Figure 29-3. Social Media Use

Figure 29-4. Global Annual Digital Growth

The role of new media in perception management has become important,

together with the development of social networks, which have rapidly
increased the number of users following technological developments, and
which can be the only source of information from time to time. The fact that
new generations have become integrated with technological developments,
400 Digital Destiny
and have started to use the technology by following the practices closely,
increases the importance of new media tools in social life. As new media
has increased its importance, with the use of commercial media, mostly in
the marketing sector, it has been used by perception managers actively as a
tool in the national and international fields. Because of the nature of new
media, perception managers can easily apply all kinds of propaganda
through this channel. Perception management activities carried out in the
past through classical media can be announced to the masses under the name
of peaceful actions and activities through social media and behaviours of
the masses can be directed. Along with developing technologies, individuals
interact with more people than in peer-to-peer communication, and it has
turned into a new and mass social environment in which people get in
contact with others on the internet. Therefore, the best way to affect the
ideas of those people who communicate in this social environment is to have
a voice in the way that people prefer to have information about what
happens around them. In this case, perception managers come into play, and
can guide the audience by sharing right or wrong information they want at
any time, through the channels they want. Perception managers have
increased their activities related to these new fields as new media becomes
widespread in the world. The starting point for social movements can be
accepted as new media, but perception managers have also succeeded in
identifying the sensitive points within the target audience and creating the
agenda. According to the purpose of perception managers, various
information spreads to the target audience via social media, having various
positive/negative effects on the audience, and directing opinion in certain
directions (Scott 1991). As a result of the development of technology,
situations and events which have an influence on people around the world,
and the reactions to these events, have started to resemble each other.
Although the individual characters and values of communities are taken into
consideration, it can be said that the development and growth of social
events are similar in all societies. Along with the development and
expansion of new media, social movements, which are known as peaceful
actions, have started to show themselves, and governments are developing
new techniques by focusing on relevant practices with the aim of
maintaining their own order, while the perception managers do it to achieve
their goals. The use of new media is important, not only for perception
managers but also for the target audience. Information, which is conveyed
to the target audiences through new media tools in an uncontrolled manner,
can affect the thoughts and behaviours of the audience, if they are accepted
(Coviello 2005). Considering the number of new media users, it can only be
possible for a target group to resist the perception management applications

if the audience controls the information sent from other, different, sources.
To sum up, the emergence of new media technologies has become
possible by combining historical developments in computer and media
technologies from two separate branches. The purposes of both
developments are to create similar ideological beliefs in accordance with
the modern mass community, and these developments have affected the
perceptions of people with the dissemination of similar texts, images, and
sounds, and changed their attitudes. The individual's relation with the
abstract/concrete objects or events in his/her environment, to reach a certain
judgment about them, and to exhibit an attitude towards them, starts with
perceiving these objects or events, and this perception will change from
person to person, because it is not possible for each individual to have the
same perception in the same communicative process. Therefore, it is
necessary to plan how this topic should be perceived, according to the
characteristics of people, before making judgment about a topic.
Conclusion
Information and communication technologies are currently developing at an
unprecedented pace. In this way, access to information becomes easier, and
interpersonal communication and mass communication are provided in a
more comfortable way. Developments in information and communication
technologies affect daily life deeply as well. All of these technologies allow
for the transmission of messages from one point to another rapidly. In
addition, mass media, which is increasing its influence nowadays, is
integrated with computer-internet systems. As mass media has become
computer-based and internet-based, these technologies have been given
‘new’ status. With new communication technologies, people have found
opportunities to move from passive to active positions. In the face of
traditional media, which many media theorists describe as a limited and
restrictive form of communication, new media, which offers the potential to
be more active, is becoming increasingly common . In this paper, the role
of the new media concept in perception management, which eliminates the
limitations of the traditional media in accessing and delivering information,
and increases users’ control and productivity of the content of information
and information channels, has been discussed. Digital communication-
information society paradigms refer to communication technologies which
are included in traditional media, presenting information in social
circulation. These technologies have also taken their place in the process of
perception management, because they have shaped many areas of social life
402 Digital Destiny
with various innovations. Today, the new media tools that have become the
most important means of perception management, and the creation of
perception and opportunities, have transformed the lives of individuals, and
have had very important effects on interpersonal communication and
identities. While people are following developments in the social, political,
economic, cultural and technological fields, delivering the news by
manipulating it, or deliberately deceptively, leads to differing perceptions
of ideas or services, or the formation of ideas and opinions that are far from
their original purposes. As a result, the participants' ability to express
themselves as they wish through the new media tools is becoming very
important in mass communication and use of new media. With new media
tools that can be accessed easily and quickly, users can share the content
they want without permission from any authority. Thus, evaluations made
by other users are accepted, criticized according to perceptions created, and
delivered to other users. This shows the importance of new media in terms
of the conscious spread and control of knowledge, which is the basis of
perception management. The numbers we have mentioned above, which
demonstrate the use of new media tools around the world, reveal the speed
of new media and the field of activity in perception management.
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NEW ADVERTISEMENT TOOLS
IN THE DIGITAL AGE
HATİCE NUR YILDIZ
Introduction
The competitive environment, which has intensified over the last few years,
has forced enterprises to conduct planned and successful communication
campaigns. In order to sell the goods they produce, they must do far more
advertising than previously, because today, they are having difficulties in
reaching their target audiences and getting ahead of the competition . The
internet is becoming the most important tool for enterprises who wish to
reach their target audiences swiftly, and to be successful against their
competitors, in terms of establishing communications. As the internet
advances and spreads, digital instruments, such as computers, phones, etc.,
are becoming essential pieces of everyday life.
The internet, which has an ever-changing and advancing character, also
plays a certain role in changing the advertising tools. It is thought that the
emergence of the internet has led to the decrease in the overall effect of
traditional advertisement mediums, such as radio, TV, newspapers, and
magazines. It has also been suggested that the enterprises’ desire to reach
more audiences with less cost has caused them to move further away from
traditional advertising mediums and to approach digital advertising.
The fact that traditional advertising does not allow reciprocal
communications with target audiences is another factor that leads
enterprises towards digital advertising.
As social media has become popular, enterprises have begun utilizing
social media in the advertising of their goods and services. Through social
media, they get the chance to establish mutual communications with their
target audiences, and have the opportunity to promote their products in a
natural manner.
In a nutshell, advertising tools, along with advancing technology, vary
to a great degree, from signs in windows to the tools that are placed within
internet games and posted to online sites, or to some sections of videos.
406 New Advertisement Tools in the Digital Age
In this study, the concept of the advertisement will be discussed in the

first part. In the second part, the new communication tools, used in the
changing and digitalizing era will be discussed.
The concept of advertising

The concept of advertising includes the efforts of promoting a product or
service to large masses by purchasing spots and time slots within mass
communications tools in a manner that lets everybody know who pays the
costs. Advertising is a medium where the target audience and the product,
service, organization, or the brand, meet or establish communications
(Elden et al. 2005). The classical definition of advertising contains five
characteristics listed as (Bozkurt 2014):
 Advertising is a monetary-based communication activity,
 Since money is paid for the message, sponsors are also used,
 Although advertisements are also run to convince and influence
consumers, their most important aspect is informing them
regarding a product or service,
 Advertisements are delivered to hundreds or potential consumers
via various different methods, or mass communications,
 Advertisements are not personal, due to fact that they are a part of
mass communication.
Advertisements function as sources of information in order to gather the
attention of the target audience, to promote the features of a new product, to
demonstrate different usage styles, and to make service promotions when
products are launched for the first time. They aim to influence the attitudes
and perceptions of consumers and cause them to choose a product or service,
during times of fierce competition. During periods when the supply of a
product exceeds the demand, advertisements are used as a reminder of the
product and the brand. Furthermore, advertisements create personalization
and value for the brands (Tek 1999). In addition to the functions of
advertisements such as informing, convincing, reminding, and creating
value, they also have other purposes. It is possible to list the purposes of the
advertisements, as below (Mucuk, 2014):
 To introduce a new item to the market or step into a new market,
 To advertise a product which originally appeals to a small
audience, to a larger group of people, and to ensure that it is used
by a larger audience,
 Creating brand image and brand loyalty,
 To assist sellers by promoting the company and the product,
Hatice Nur Yıldız 407
 To change the usage life and number of uses of a product, in order

to maintain the level of demand,
 To reach a group that has been unreachable,
 To rectify prejudice and inaccurate/negative opinion,
 Training consumers.
It is indicated that the very first examples of advertisements were unearthed
from the ruins of Pompeii, and that cave drawings from pre-historic eras
also constitute some of the first examples of advertisements. It is also
concluded that pictures which hang in the windows of shops can be regarded
as the first steps towards the efforts to sell goods. Although the examples
may change depending on newer findings, the fact that the roots of
advertisements may be traced back all the way to the Neolithic Era is a
significant truth (Balta Peltekoğlu 2010). When the history of the
advertisement is considered to begin between 5000 BC and 1450 BC, the
assumptions given below can be presented (Balta Peltekoğlu 2010):
 Most of the advertising was conducted in the form of mouth-to-
mouth until 1450, the year the printing press was developed,
 The literacy rate was extremely low, including the upper-classes,
 The need for advertising had to be met in the form of oral
communications, by shouting in the streets.
It is safe to say that the invention of the printing press, the increase in
literacy rate, the industrial revolution, globalization, accelerated
technological developments, and the fact that manufacturers moved towards
different markets, all played basic roles in the development of the
advertisement (Balta Peltekoğlu 2010). Advertising, influenced by the latest
developments, may also influence society. The effect of advertising can be
seen in the following forms (Bergh and Katz 1999):
 By forcing society towards consumption, advertising supports
materialism,
 With the image-related elements presented in the advertisements,
a uniform type of people is moulded,
 Advertisements have excessive influence over consumption, and
they try to initiate people into consuming all kinds of products,
 Advertisements are among the factors that increase the costs of
products and services,
 Advertisements play especially significant roles in the emergence
of the desires of children.
There are three basic types of media advertisements that are influential over
society (Bozkurt 2014):
 Advertisements for a certain product, service, or work: These

advertisements are the most common type in every aspect. The
purpose of these advertisements is directing customers to use a
certain product or service.
 Images or advertisements are planned in this manner, and made to
create certain ideas or thoughts in people.
 Goodwill advertisements: These advertisements support some
social events and get to be sponsors in this regard.
New advertising methods

As technology has advanced, and the internet has become widespread, it is
an undeniable truth that people now spend a lot more time surfing the
internet. Enterprises which acknowledge this fact have begun seeking new
ways to reach their target audience, in addition to the existing conventional
advertising instruments, such as radio, TV, the printed press, etc. One of
these new ways is promoting goods and services within online realms. The
main reasons for companies to present their products and services in online
media can be listed as (Quoted from Ito and Parul, by Aslan 2017):
 Since internet-based advertisements can be published as soon as
they are ready, the time can be used effectively,
 They do not need a large budget,
 They make reaching a wide geographic area possible,
 Since they allow mutual and reciprocal communications, they
provide convenience for enterprises in terms of getting consumer-
related information and making the necessary arrangements in this
regard,
 Advertisers get a significant edge in terms of creativity,
 It offers convenience in terms of publishing and distribution,
 It makes quantification very easy.
For the reasons, listed above, enterprises choose new advertisement
methods, such as internet or mobile advertisements, advergaming, vlogs,
pre-rolls, mid-rolls, and post rolls, as well as influencer ads, in the digital
age.
Internet advertising
Websites are actively used for promoting goods and services, conducting
sales, and performing after-sales services. Furthermore, advertisements can
be placed on websites for certain prices. Such advertising practices can be
summarized as banners, pop-up ads, static images, rich media, screen

savers, advertorials, affiliate programs, impression practices, and window-
in-windows (Elden 2016).
Banners: Banners do not usually contain much information, apart from
information about the sponsors, and they serve as tools to make the visitors
click on them in order to get more information (Novak and Hoffman 1997).
With banners, enterprises aim for the target audience to visit the website,
and even to shop from there. However, just because a site is not accessed,
does not mean that banners are ineffective. An individual may have seen the
banner and imprinted it on his/her consciousness so he/she may visit the site
later. In fact, the individual is now aware of the brand whether he/she visits
the site or not, and thanks to the banner, associations can be made in relation
to the brand at a later time (Çakır and Çakır 2012).
Pop Up Ads: These are content which suddenly appears on the screen. Such
ads can be set to appear on the screen for a specified amount of time; they
can also disappear as the user closes the ad window. This type of
advertisement is not favoured by internet users, and they are not taken very
seriously (Elden et al. 2005).
Static images: These types of ads are usually generated as small banners,
and are placed in the vertical sections of online sites. This ad type requires
cooperation with the site, due to the fact that the owners do not have any
influence over the content (Elden et al. 2005).
Rich media: This is an advertisement that appears on a page for a short time,
when the page that is desired by a user who is surfing the internet is being
loaded in full window mode. This type of advertisement is automatically
loaded after the window is opened (Elden et al. 2005).
Screen savers: Fixed frames or moving programs that are called screen
savers appear when the computer screen temporarily remains fixed.
Enterprises may prepare screen savers as tools for branding in order to carry
out promotional activities (Elden et al. 2005).
Advertorials: An article or a column regarding a product or service is
generated by being integrated with the advertisement (Elden et al. 2005).
Affiliate programs: These are advertisements taken out by online shopping
sites over other companies’ internet sites. The site on which the
advertisements are published gets its share of the sales. The site that
publishes the advertisements should be compatible with the product (Elden
et al 2005).
Visibility: Such ads are priced based on their number of presentations. The
ads are switched in turns, depending on the number of visitors to the page
(Elden et al 2005).
Window-in Window: A second ad that pops up right after the first one is
used to express the content of the first ad. These successive ads can be in
different formats. The first window can be a pop-up, while the second one
might be a banner (Elden et al 2005).
Internet ads have their pros and cons. The advantages of the internet in this
regard can be listed as (Elden et al 2005):
 Companies can promote their goods and services 7/24 in a non-stop
fashion.
 Companies, through the internet, get the chance to establish one-on-
one communications with their consumers or customers. Thanks to
this reciprocal communication, companies can obtain detailed
information regarding their target audience and can get data on how
many people the advertisements have reached.
 Since there is no consumption of materials, such as paper, in digital
advertising, environmental or visual pollution does not occur.
Furthermore, this decreases some of the associated costs.
 When a problem occurs regarding the product or services, the
companies can rectify and update them instantly.
 Elements such as videos, sounds, images, and writings, can be used
together in the internet medium.
 The message of the advertisement can be relayed to the target
audience after being personalized.
The disadvantages of internet ads are listed as follows (Elden et al. 2005):
 Advertising messages, sent by e-mail, can be forwarded to anybody
and everybody, no matter whether they are interested in the product
or not.
 The lack of the element of trust in relation to the perceptions
associated with internet shopping makes people nervous of internet-
based purchases.
 Compared to the more conventional mediums, internet ads are not
used effectively, from the viewpoint of advertisers.
The important point regarding internet advertising is the necessity that
the virtual environment and the traditional environment should support each
other. An advertisement for a brand, placed both in digital and traditional
media, can be a good strategy (Elden et al. 2005):
Advergame advertisements
The advergame, which is preferred by marketing people who want to head
in a different direction, away from conventional marketing methods, is
generated in order to increase brand recognition via advertising messages.
Individuals who play games in the advergame medium, use the offerings of
the brand and harmonize the relevant products and services with the game
(Telli Yamamato 2009). It is also possible to sum up advergames as those
played in order to ensure brand recognition by integrating marketing. The
most crucial characteristic of advergame applications is that they are a
process for building a positive relationship between the brand and the player
(Aymankuy et al. 2016). The most important advantage of advergame
applications is that users do not encounter the advertisements in a direct
manner, and they are subjected to the messages associated with the goods
and services using the game as a construct. Within this context,
advergaming offers a chance to reach individuals who are bored with
advertisements delivered via traditional tools, or those who have developed
defense mechanisms against traditional advertisements. Due to the fact that
the messages in advergaming applications are placed inside the construct of
the games, in a natural way, they are perceived as advertising messages that
are separated from the whole (Elden 2016).
In order for advergame applications, which are preferred for reaching
younger consumers, to succeed, they should have the following
characteristics (Özkaya 2010):
 They should be in harmony with the characteristics of the product
or the brand to be advertised,
 The games should be accessible to all users, therefore, it should be
free to play,
 They should have some motivating features in order to draw the
attention and to ensure the participation of the players,
 In order to ensure constant player involvement, they should
implement a ranking or rewarding system,
 They should not allow players to lose focus, and should hold their
attention,
 Their construct should be neither simple nor very easy,
 They should be visually intriguing,
 The brand to be advertised should offer an experience to the players
within the game,
 The database should be well designed,
 The fiction should reflect the competition well, and should
embolden the players,
 They should establish special interactions with the players,

 Options should be presented within the games to get to know the
preferences of the players.
The advergame applications developed by Usain Bolt and his sneaker brand,
that is, his sponsor, can be given as an example. In this app, the user races
against Bolt in a 100m dash race, using the keyboard keys. On the screen,
the shoes of the sponsoring brand, the other sponsored athletes, and the
announcements of future activities are displayed. The brand provides a
positive viewpoint to those who use the app (Kavoğlu 2012).
At the Webrazzi Dijital 2018 Conference, Aras Şenyüz, the Deputy
Director of Netmarble, indicated that the world mobile gaming market
increased by 27% in 2017. He added that the growth of the mobile gaming
market was registered as 47%. He said that, in 2017, 30 million players
played an average of one hour per day, and underlined that the age average
of the players had increased to 26 from 18. He stated that, in Turkey, the
ratio of the game players who are women also showed a serious increase,
and compared to the 2016 figures, in which the age of the female players
varied between 25-30, the same figures increased to 35-40 (webrazzi 2019).
Mobile advertising
Mobile phones are used for marketing purposes in terms of their role in
meeting communication needs and the features they have. The main features
of mobile phones that make them useful for marketing purposes are
(Barutçu and Öztürk Göl 2009):
 Through mobile phones, visual, written and audio communications
can be established,
 Mobile phones are readily portable due to their size,
 Mobile phones have become tools for marketing for wholesalers
and manufacturers,
 They offer multi-channel shopping and trade media,
 Via mobile phones, users can make payments or reservations.
Mobile advertising is described as publishing advertisements through
mobile phones (Yang 2007). Mobile advertising is relaying a message that
is associated with products, services and opinions, through mobile devices,
for promotional purposes (Li and Stoller 2007). Mobile ads that have
interactive and multimedia features may offer a richer experience to
consumers (Raines 2013). It is possible to organise the types of mobile ads
into three groups, these being SMS, MMS, and Bluetooth. SMS (Short
Message Services) is the name given to the process of sending and receiving
written messages over GSM operators. Within a message, information,

logos, or tunes, can be sent. The features of SMS applications, such as
storing the message and sending delivery reports, are factors for the
advertisers in choosing this application. MMS (Multimedia Messaging
Service), is the process of sending graphics, animations, images, voice
recordings, and scripts, over the GSM operators. The high-speed
communication that Bluetooth offers, its low costs, the ability to send
written, visual or audio messages, and being dependent on the consent of
willing individuals, are some of the crucial advantages of Bluetooth
advertisements (Barutçu and Öztürk Göl 2009).
In mobile advertisement messages, customer information can be stored
in databases. Personalized messages can be sent to customers in the light of
the data compiled in this regard. Furthermore, informative and reminder
messages, sent via mobile advertisements, may lead to long term
relationships between enterprises and their clients (Özgüven 2013).
According to the “Digital in 2018” report, in 2007, 200 million people
were introduced to mobile phones for the first time, and thus, the number of
people with mobile phones reached 5.1 billion. The number of people who
use social media via their mobile devices in an active manner is three billion.
In Turkey, the number of mobile phone users reached 73% of the
population, with 59 million people in total. The mobile phone usage rate in
Turkey is 98%, while smartphone use and computer use are 77% and 48%
respectively. When the “Digital in 2018” report is taken into account, it can
be concluded that preferring mobile devices in terms of reaching the target
audience will be a good step for enterprises.
VLOGS
The term, VLOG is derived from the combination of the words ‘video’ and
‘blog’. Vlogs, usually explained as video diaries, can be about any number
of topics that the vlogger, meaning the user, selects. Vloggers can create
content on a wide range of subjects, from make-up to cookery recipes; from
infant care to discussions about daily life (İnanç and Cesur 2018, Özdel
2018). Vlog entries, which can be downloaded and stored to be viewed at a
later date, are made regularly, and may integrate embedded videos or video
links with texts and images. The phases of a blog are like the following (Gao
et al. 2010):
 Creation: In this phase, the vlogger compiles a video and uploads
it to a hosting site.
 Announcement: The vlog is opened for online public access and

spreads in its category. At this phase, the vlog is commented on by
the other vloggers.
 Achieving: When the vlog is updated, or when its usefulness is
declined, it can be achieved or removed.
Vlogs, which are very common in the digital age, also draw the attention of
advertisers. Since people record their everyday lives and stories in their
vlogs, their messages can be transmitted in a warmer and more candid way.
In this context, information regarding products or services that are presented
in the vlogs can be more effective. Behaviors of families with children
presented in vlogs are perceived by society as actions that should be taken
by society. Therefore, advertisers placing their products and services in such
videos, ensure that products turn into an element of the collective mind
(Özdel 2018). Videos that are generated by amateur vloggers are seen as
more trustworthy, and in this regard, a product that is promoted by bloggers
can be seen as the ‘real experience’ of ‘real people’ (Strangelove 2010).
Pre-Roll, Mid Roll, Post-Roll Ads

Pre-roll ads are an online advertisement method which offers viewers the
chance to skip the ad after a mandatory section. Pre-roll advertisements,
which only have about five seconds to influence viewers, are unique in
nature when compared to the other online advertisement tools, because they
are shown within videos that audiences wish to view (Campbell et al. 2017,
411). Post-roll ads are advertisements that are shown to audiences at the end
of the videos (Yadati et al. 2014).
Mid-roll advertisements, which are also known as ads that are shown in
the middle of a video broadcast, are more effective in terms of brand
recognition, compared to pre-roll or post-roll ads. However, if the mid-roll
ads are not compatible with the content of the video, they may fail to achieve
the desired aim. They are also rather less practical compared to the pre- and
post-roll ads, due to the fact that they are perceived as interruptions (Li and
Yi Lo 2015, 210). On the other hand, post-roll ads can also provide brand
recognition, without being compatible with the content of the video (Li and
Yi Lo 2015, 208).
Influencer advertising
The fact that consumers want to know about the experiences of users, and
that they want to listen to their suggestions, makes influencer marketing all
the more important, especially, as social media is getting more and more
relevant, thus influencers have become a favourite tool of communication

for enterprises (Saltık Yaman 2018).
Influencer marketing is a method practiced by users who are known to
have weight in social media, in order to promote products and to increase
brand recognition (Carter 2016). These users are called micro-celebrities, or
‘B-list’ celebrities (Aslan and Gul 2016). These micro celebrities, who are
chosen to promote products in social media circles, are usually reliable
people with a high volume of followers, who can reach a wide range of
people (Carter 2016).
Enterprises prefer influencer advertising for various reasons, which can
be listed, as seen below (Seotech 2019):
 Advertisements carried out by opinion leaders may establish trust,
 It provides a chance to reach the target audience, who is within the
area of interest,
 Telling of experiences is far more effective than advertisements,
 May have strong persuasion power,
 May be remembered much more easily.
In 2018, the most preferred social media platforms for influencer
advertisements are Instagram, Facebook, and Bloglar, respectively, while
the least favoured ones were Snapchat, Twitter, and Pinterest (The State of
Influencer Marketing 2018). In another study, the following data was
obtained in 2017 and 2018 regarding influencer-based marketing (from the
creator 2018);
 In 2017, the areas where the influencer advertisements were
preferred were beauty and make-up (18%), travel (13%), lifestyle
(12%), and food (12%).
 The number of followers of the influencers in 2017 was 47K in
Instagram, 63K in Facebook, and 132K in Twitter.
 In 2018, the most preferred social platform by the brands was
Instagram, by 65%
 In 2018, this method was chosen for product launch communications
(40%), brand recognition (27%), creating interactions (18%), and
directing purchases (15%).
Trans-media storytelling
In the old media, the audience was in a passive position, accepting whatever
it was presented with, as it was. However, in new media, the audience may
involve slow storytelling, and can have a more active role. Especially in the
transmedia storytelling offered by the new media, a meaningful whole is
obtained when various stories in each platform are pieced together, even
though they have different meanings, and this gives consumers a sense of
satisfaction (Karcı 2019).
In transmedia storytelling, the story is not told via one single media
platform. The story is segmented, and each segment is experienced on a
different platform. Each platform that publishes the story tells it based on
its own mechanics. In other words, the story is published based on the
characteristics of the platform. The audience may experience a story that
they read in a book, on another entertainment platform. Therefore, while the
audience has a written experience in a book, they also experience different
tastes due to direct contact with the entertainment medium (Dönmez and
Güler 2016).
Transmedia storytelling is completely participation-based, and the
audience has an active role in the creative process. The audience gets to be
a part of the experience. Since transmedia storytelling offers the audience a
chance to interact, and to add content, the motivation of the audience is also
boosted (Hayati 2012). Transmedia storytelling has seven principles, which
are (Jenkins 2009, Pratten 2011, quoted by Çetinkaya 2017):
 Spreadability and drillability: While spreadability expresses the
active participation capacity of people into media content through
social share networks, drillability is described as the encouragement
of people to go deeper under the skin, and to search for the
resolution hidden under the surface. Transmedia draws its audience
deeper, and asks them to search for more.
 Continuity and diversity: Transmedia campaigns provide the
feeling of continuity, and this feeling is sustained and maintained
by the participants. The diversity makes it easier to dive into the
story-world.
 Immersion and extractability: This indicates the immersion of the
participants into the story and their ability to create different stories
with their participation.
 World building: The ability of the participant to interact with the
world, told in a direct manner.
 Serialization: This is dividing a story and telling it across different
platforms,
 Subjectivity: This indicates the viewpoints, directed at different
characters,
 Performance: indicates the amount, or the capacity of, the
participation offered by the participants.
In Turkey, one of the most apparent examples of transmedia storytelling is

the Doritos Academy. According to a study conducted by Dönmez and
Güler (2016), within the scope of the Doritos campaign, traditional
advertisement mediums, such as TV and open air, were employed, and the
target audience was directed towards social media. In the constructed virtual
medium, all the elements that are essential for a standard university were
placed within the Doritos Academy universe. Professors were offering
classes such as English and Politics. A character, developed within the
scope of the story, was giving online lectures on sites, such as daily motion.
The Doritos academy, which included its audience at every step of the way,
organized a ‘chips’ contest, and asked the viewers to create a chip in terms
of its shape and taste. Therefore, the consumers interacted with
advertisement characters in real life, and the story transitioned from the
virtual space to real life.
Conclusion
In recent times, new ways have been employed in advertising. It is now well
understood that advertising can be carried out in online environments in the
digital age, in addition to the traditional mediums. When the results of the
studies are reviewed, it is concluded and projected that the use of the internet
and mobile phones is on the rise, and this trend will continue. Due to reasons
such as low cost, the ability to reach a higher volume of people, the ability
to establish reciprocal communications with the target audience, sending
personalized messages, and opportunities for establishing strong and long
term relations with customers, it is seen that enterprises head towards new
advertisement methods. It is also understood that the environment which is
created by using the new advertisement methods, is perceived as sincere,
and involving the customers in the environment forms a sense of trust
towards products and services.
However, thinking that all the methods practiced in the digital age are
welcomed with open hands would be a big mistake. It is seen that methods
such as mid-rolls, which interrupt the video experience of the target
audience, are regarded as annoying by the customers. The fact that
purchases made over the internet may not be considered trustworthy by
customers, and the fact that the messages can be sent to irrelevant people,
can be indicated as negative aspects of the new medium.
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CRISIS COMMUNICATIONS
AYHAN DOĞAN
Introduction
Organizations which are individually structured as open systems, are
affected and influenced by numerous internal or external situations and
events. When necessary actions are not taken in a timely manner, the
indicated situations and events may turn into crises. Crises arising from
unexpected circumstances, are extraordinary events which threaten the
existence and the goals of an organization, negatively affecting decision-
making mechanisms by creating time-related pressure on executives, and
should be dealt with swiftly. On the other hand, crises are also conditions
that may present new opportunities. In both cases, coming out of a crisis
ahead may only be possible by adopting effective crisis management. The
way to manage a crisis, in pre-crisis, crisis, and post crisis periods, is
through practicing efficient crisis communications. When the crisis
communications process that is outlined herein is implemented accurately
and attentively, it is possible to navigate through a crisis with the minimum
possible damage, or with no damage, or it may even be possible to turn the
crisis into an opportunity.
Crisis communications
Dealing with a crisis, which is an extraordinary situation that usually catches
organizations and their executives off guard, and which disrupts the
decision-making and executing mechanisms by impacting the ordinary
operations of an organization, requires a strategic management approach. A
strategic approach is associated with the executives, simultaneously
benefiting from various branches, such as law, management, psychology,
economics, social-psychology, communications, etc. By utilizing such
disciplines in a timely and relevant manner; it is quite possible to navigate
through crises.
The key to crisis management is keeping the information and the
communications under control. No matter whether the necessary information
422 Ayhan Doğan
originates from inside or outside the organization, ways to access such

information should be developed, because accurate and authentic
information is required to control the crisis. (Narbay 2006, 85). However,
successfully obtaining accurate and useful information alone may not be
sufficient in order to manage the crisis. Relaying such information to the
right people via an effective communication method is the pivotal point of
successful crisis management practice.
From this point of view, it is safe to say that managing a crisis in an
effective manner largely depends on efficient communications. Usually,
during times of crisis, communication activities are tasked with the dual role
of supporting the crisis management and protecting the reputation of the
organization (Green 1996, 101). Managing a crisis in an effective manner is
only possible by having some skills, along with some level of success that
may come with various technical practices. The most basic skill in this
regard is communication. If a well-prepared crisis management plan is
delivered in a deficient way to the shareholders of an organization in crisis,
or to the public, projected positive outcomes may not be obtained (Aydın
and Kılıç 2004, 27).
Crisis communication is the oral, visual, and written interaction and
dialogue between an organization and its target audience before, or during
an unfavorable event, or after such an event occurs. The dialogue fabricates
tactics and strategies that are designed to minimize the damage towards the
image of an organization. The main role of crisis communications is to be a
tool for influencing public opinion, creating evidence that an opinion that is
held by the public is either true, or partially false, and for the communication
itself. Crisis communication is not only limited to news reports or media
relations (Fearn-Banks 2007, 480). Crisis communications, rather, encompass
the relationships between consumers, the public, investors, the state, and
employees, in short, with the internal and external target audience of the
organization.
Crisis communications can be broadly defined as collecting, processing,
and sharing the information necessary in order to cope with a contingency.
In other words, crisis communications are efforts to deliver information to
the masses affected by the crisis, for the purpose of explaining a specific
event, determining its possible outcomes, and reliving the crisis-induced
damages with an honest, swift, and accurate approach. The process of crisis
communications has been designed for minimizing and limiting damage,
ensuring the flow of information to the target audience, initiating and
advancing improvement, providing support and help, managing the images
of fault and responsibility, explaining the actions and justifying them,
apologizing if necessary, recovering, learning, and lastly, for the purpose of

change (Reynolds and Seeger 2002, 46).
The importance of communications in crises

For organizations, crises are extraordinary circumstances that originate
from changes in the internal or external environment, which are hard to
forecast, which may pose great threats, which contain uncertainty at their
core, and therefore, which are difficult to manage.
Organizational crises, no matter whether they occur in the external or
internal environment of an organization, show in both cases where there are
difficulties in monitoring internal and external environments, indicate that
there are problems in sensitivity towards those areas, and further show the
importance of communication between the organization and its rings of
influence. In other words, where changes, developments that occur in the
inner and outer environment, as well as associated signals, are not picked
up and assessed, due to deficiencies in the communications system of the
organization, and the required measures are not taken, this ultimately leads
to crises. The failure of an organization to notice the onset of a crisis may
arise from problems in the organizational structure (size and scale that make
checks harder, bureaucratic and centralized tendencies, lack of communication,
extremely formal control, or insufficient opportunities for the employees to
take initiative), may originate from insufficient management capacity of top
management (lack of estimation and intuition, failure to take swift action,
failure to make accurate decisions, resistance to innovation, lack of
leadership characteristics), or may arise from the communications structure
and its problems (lack of an effective information gathering and distribution
system, problems, associated with the characteristics of the information
itself). Crises are distinguished from normal events with their large-scale
threat potential and their highly uncertain nature (Genç 2008, 162).
The critical factor of success in crisis management is communication.
Interaction that carries crisis management to new opportunities is closely
related to how we manage the communications, because in an environment
where we race against time, all moves are unwittingly made through some
perception, when taking some decisions with no point of return. In the end,
what is desired, is that the decisions taken in relation to a crisis form a
perception for the social shareholders, thus meeting their own goals.
(Kadıbeşegil 2003, 107). The principal factor in terms of managing a crisis
is the communications. Failure to accurately interpret and analyze signals
obtained before the crisis hits, leads to the crisis. Therefore, the importance
424 Ayhan Doğan
of communications at every phase of the crisis management process is

fundamental.
The communications during the time of crisis bear vital importance.
Communication is one of the most important tools of crisis management.
Clarifying the approach of the organization towards the crisis is the largest
source of information for clients, suppliers, shareholders, and employees.
Communication also happens to be the most crucial means to prevent
rumours. Furthermore, communication ensures that many activities that are
vital for averting a crisis are carried out regularly. Curbing crises requires
effective use of time, and continuity of the communications. Communications
which bear vital importance for the management of a crisis, also carry
significance in terms of restraining a crisis, and taking it under control
(Luecke 2008, 88-96).
1. Act fast and decisively: Delays only fuel the severity of the crises.
2. Make people your priority: It is always possible to repair (or
recover from) the damages that are inflicted on buildings, on
property, on the reputation and security of your company.
However, the lives of your customers and employees are not
recoverable.
3. The top management should reach the scene as fast as possible:
This is the best indicator that the crisis is taken seriously.
4. Be in touch at all times: This is the best way to get ahead of the
rumors and chatter.
Communication, in an organizational sense, is the main tool for establishing
vertical, horizontal, staff, and administrative, relations as well as for
operating the organizations as a system and being a device for ensuring the
information transmission between the departments that make up an
organization. Communication in terms of society, on the other hand, appears
in three forms: firstly, improving relations with the populace by analyzing
the environment; secondly, establishing communications between different
actors of society and lastly, developing tools that make maintaining the
social values and traditions easier (Narbay 2006, 101).
Crisis communications management

Crisis management is a part of the strategic management of an organization.
Forecasting possible crises, and implementing the strategies designated to
avoid, or overcome, the possible effects of a crisis, providing systematic
responses, establishing communications with target audiences, and
establishing contacts with media, are the main goals of crisis management.
At this point, crisis communications ensures that the organization
establishes communications with its internal and external target audiences

before, during, and after, the crises, and thus ensuring that relations are well
protected (Eğinli 2014, 35).
Crisis communications are generally listed within crisis management
work. Crisis management is the process of detecting and assessing the
signals of a crisis, and taking and implementing the necessary measures in
order to overcome it with the least possible damage (Can 1992, 273).
Crisis communications includes the processes related to gathering the
necessary information regarding a crisis, processing the information, and
distributing it. Fundamentally, there are three stages in the management of
a crisis. It is possible to analyze those stages as pre-crisis, crisis, and post
crisis. The pre-crisis period involves gathering information regarding risks
of the crisis, taking decisions on how the potential crises will be managed,
and preparing a crisis communications plan. Crisis period communication
is comprised of transmitting the crisis communications messages of the
organization that are outlined in the plan, and implementing the strategies.
Post crisis communications involve the assessment of the crisis
communication efforts after the crisis ends, making changes in the new
communications plans of the organization, and maintaining the
communications with the target audiences regarding the organization-
related messages (Eğinli 2014, 45).
Communication processes should work in crisis environments without
any interruption. Because crises are extraordinary cases, any unnecessary
bureaucracy, delays, errors in rules, failure to set priorities, lack of
information, etc. that may occur in the processes, can adversely affect the
crisis management. Companies, which establish their communication
infrastructures during the ordinary, non-crisis times, will have an easier time
in this regard. Recognizing the fact that a communications strategy which
places its employees, investors, consumers, suppliers, distribution, and sales
channels, in its own hinterland, will yield different outcomes compared to a
management approach that solely focuses on media, uncovers the necessity
that crisis management should certainly be supported with crisis
communications management (Kadıbeşegil 2003, 86-88).
Thanks to the communications strategies that would be drafted before,
during, and after the times of crisis, it may be possible to navigate through
crises in a swifter manner, with minimum damage, if any. When forging
crisis communications strategies, the below-listed factors should definitely
be taken into account (Pira and Sohodol 2004, 236):
 Ensuring an effective and reliable flow of information across the
organization,
426 Ayhan Doğan
 Developing a communication plan that may address each and every

type of crisis that is predicted in the crisis management plan,
 Never taking the situation lightly, and accepting that there may be
adjustments in the plan and that the humanistic concerns should be
overcome,
 Keeping the crisis communication plan updated at all times,
 Keeping a list of emergency contacts ready and accessible in case
of a crisis,
 Preparing and distributing a communications chart for the
employees,
 Setting up a press center and assigning a room for press
conferences,
 Making the organization the sole source of information, and
releasing press briefs regarding every matter that is related to the
crises swiftly,
 Training the spokesperson of the organization,
 Keeping all information regarding the departments and target
audiences of the organization to hand,
 Determining the media and methods to be employed at a time of a
crisis,
 Assigning a seat to the public relations executive, who will manage
the entire communications activities in the crisis management
team,
 Training the switchboard crew and assigning and announcing the
emergency lines,
 Telling the story in a clear and honest way, disclosing the reasons
for things that cannot be explained, and making clear the time when
information will be made available,
 Pointing out the faults (if any) with candor, but where there is no
fault, going to any lengths in order to prove innocence,
 When explaining the situation, pointing out what has been done
and what will be done to overcome the effects of the crisis, and to
get back to the normal course,
 Preventing the emergence of internal unrest and creating team
spirit by forwarding the decision to the employees first,
 Not exaggerating the situation,
 Complying with the crisis plan, remembering, or not overlooking,
the organizational missions and main goals,
 Making the messages clear, honest, sincere, unbiased,
compassionate, constructive, and easy to understand,
 Keeping the intra and extra-organizational communication

channels at all times, not overlooking the problems,
 The crisis management team should trust the press center, and, in
order to bring the crisis under control, inform the press center
regarding all steps,
 The press center should serve 24 hours a day, and the necessary
staff should be trained and ready,
 Adopting a honest, sympathetic, clear, easily accessible, unbiased,
constructive, and timely attitude, not adopting an indifferent or
hostile attitude,
 By expressing the sadness regarding the situation, people should
always be prioritized over the material assets.
In order to combat a crisis, creating a strong crisis plan is not sufficient
alone. All the elements within a crisis plan should operate in cooperation
and harmony. The sole power that shall ensure this harmony and
cooperation is communication.
Pre-crisis period communications

The pre-crisis period is a time when the crisis is yet to hit but the onset of
the crisis begins to appear. This period is crucial for crisis management,
because this is a time when the necessary measures can be taken before the
event. Therefore, this is the time during which a pro-active approach can be
implemented. In terms of crisis management, a pro-active management
approach should also be adopted.
Pro-active crisis communication is a communication management
approach that provides cooperation with the target audience by operating a
two-way communication process before the crisis is experienced. Basically,
a pro-active crisis communication has two functions. One of them is
minimizing the chances of the occurrence of a crisis by searching for the
possible crisis situations that the organization may encounter. The second is
by sharing the crisis plans that the organization has outlined with the
shareholders, to obtain support in case of a possible crisis (Connors 2009,
140-154)
The focal point of pre-crisis communications is the preparation of the
crisis communication plan. Preparing the crisis communication plan is
comprised of various stages that require meticulous work, and depend on
developing responses and strategies to all types of crises that the
organization may face, taking such scenarios into account. Preparing a
sound crisis management plan is the indication of the fact that the internal
428 Ayhan Doğan
and external environment has been analysed, and there is constant

communications. By the virtue of a crisis management plan, the
organizations will ensure cooperation by creating an ‘early warning system’
(Eğinli 2014, 43-44).
Preparing the crisis communication plan

In the moment of a crisis, the highest priority of an organization should be
establishing efficient communications. A pre-fabricated communication
strategy that is formed with the information, obtained at the time of the crisis
will ensure that the correct information is delivered to the target audiences
in the fastest possible manner, and this can only be achieved by conducting
a good crisis communications plan, designating the spokesperson of the
organization, and training him/her in this regard, determining the target
audiences, and creating the messages to be delivered (Doğan 2017, 13).
The crisis communication plan has crucial functions that span from the
pre-crisis period to the post crisis period, making up the crisis management
process. Thanks to a crisis communication plan that organizations
meticulously create before the crisis emerges, the executives may have the
chance to notice the signals of possible crises beforehand, to see and execute
who shall do what, when, and how, in a detailed manner, to be able to deliver
the necessary messages to the internal and external target audiences, to
ensure cooperation and harmony between the people inside the organization
and within the crisis team, and to return the organization to its pre-crisis
position. When the crisis communication plan is drafted, the worst-case
scenario that the organization may face should be considered. This crisis
communication plan should definitely comply with the general crisis
management plan, and should not contain matters that contradict each other.
An important factor in the preparation of a crisis communication plan is
determining the communications requirements. Sometimes, the following
questions should be answered (Özdemir 1994, 56-57):
 Who are the critical target audiences?
 Who are the key person(s) within each target audience?
 When will the first communication be established and how
frequently shall this be carried out?
 Which tools will be used for the communication?
 Who will lead the communications?
 With which organization will the communication be coordinated?
According to Weiner (2006, 2-3), the elements that a crisis

communications plan should have include;
 A spokesperson and the names and contact info of the crisis team,
 Information on the level of the crisis,
 What information will be prioritized in the first response, and how
the first response will be in the media,
 Warning and notification procedures,
 A situation room with the necessary and adequate number of staff
and communications materials,
 A plan that will be followed in communications with the
shareholders,
 A communications list that includes the messages and the
publications,
 The use of a standardized language and format in all
communications.
When a crisis communication plan is formed by taking the above listed

elements into account, the organization may establish healthy
communications with all of its target audiences, and the crisis may be
averted in a timely manner with least amount of damage.
The crisis communication plan is finalized with the completion of the
phases such as forming the crisis communication team, designating the
crisis–related spokesperson, forming the crisis communications network
list, planning the crisis communication training, determining the purpose(s)
of the crisis communications, preparing the basic crisis communication
message, determining the communications channels, creating the media
folders, and preparing the crisis communication management check-list
(Eğinli 2014, 44).
Forming the crisis communication team
An organization should designate its crisis communications team before
being faced with a crisis that may endanger its existence and adversely
affect its target audience. In such a crisis environment, a team that presents
different opinions, assesses the crisis with different aspects, and therefore
determines the applicable communication strategies, would be very
beneficial for the organization, instead of one man, who decides on all the
communications (Doğan 2017, 13).
The very first step towards preparing a crisis communication plan is
creating a team, which includes skilled people, who work in public relations,
marketing, and communications departments. This is crucial in terms of
ensuring that the communications to be established with the target audiences
will be sound. Seating several people from the crisis management team in
the crisis communication team is important for coordination between
430 Ayhan Doğan
different units of the organization. Such people can be directors from human
resources, media operations, and logistics departments. After forming the
crisis communications team, all the personnel within this team should be set
out in a detailed manner, and should also be relayed to the relevant person(s)
in written form (http:www.coloradononprofits.org). Furthermore, a crisis
communications center, in which the crisis communication team can be
gathered and can operate at the moment of a crisis, should be set up within
the crisis management center. In this center, all equipment that the crisis
communication team may need should be made available.
Selecting the crisis-related spokesperson
After the crisis communications team is formed, the crisis spokesperson,
who will provide statements to the target audiences (such as the media,
shareholders, employees, clients etc.), should be selected. The crisis
spokesperson is tasked with providing the basic crisis messages, and, after
indicating in which phase the crisis at and stating the current status of the
organization to the target audiences, answering the questions coming from
them. Although there are discussions regarding who shall be tasked with the
role of the crisis spokesperson in case of a crisis, the common opinion states
that the best fit for the task is the CEO of the organization. This is because
the crisis spokesperson should be one of the people with the best knowledge
regarding the organization.
Selecting the crisis spokesperson in organizations is a very delicate
matter. Therefore, some criterion should be followed when selecting a crisis
spokesperson. These criterions are listed as (Göztaş 1997, 35-36). The
spokesperson should:
 Know the organization well, and be equipped with assessment skills,
 Be compliant, not allow him/herself to be provoked, and should not
be sentimental or aggressive,
 Be attentive to his/her attire and physical appearance, and let others
feel his/her professionalism.
 Have an image that shall not be shaken easily. His/her pressure
points should not be common knowledge.
 Be a person that is a master of the subject, can answer the questions
without drifting away from the subject matter, and know what to say,
and when to say it,
 Use initiative.
Another consideration when selecting the crisis communication

spokesperson, who is at the forefront of the organization, is designating at
least three more people as alternative spokespersons. It is important to
designate substitute crisis communication spokespeople, in order not to

leave the organization with no spokesperson in case of any negative
situations that the crisis communication spokesperson may encounter.
Compiling the crisis communication network list
The crisis communication network list is a compilation that contains the

information of the individuals in the crisis team, in order to reach the team
members in case of a crisis. This list should be maintained and updated at
all times. Thanks to this list, when the crisis plan is activated, there will be
no confusion regarding who shall establish contact, where, and with whom,
and the implementations shall be done in the desired manner. In Table – 1,
a simple, pre-compiled crisis communication network list which can be used
in crisis situations is presented.
Table 31-1. Crisis Communication Network List
Crisis Communication Network
Name / Office Mobile Home Home Person to

Family Phone Phone Phone Address be called
Name
Preparing the crisis communications training plan
Crisis communications training encompasses the periodic training of the

people in the crisis team regarding what they are assigned to do in case of a
crisis. The communication methods, outlined in the crisis scenarios to be
prepared before crises arise, should be simulated and rehearsed by the
members of the team as if there is an actual crisis going on. Therefore,
possible errors and mistakes that can be made by the person(s) in the crisis
communication team due to panic and stress in a crisis, would be averted.
Conducting the Situation Analysis
By holding meetings before a crisis, the crisis communication team should
define the possible situations that the organization may face, and crisis
scenarios that fit such situations should be formed. One of the most
important activities to be performed in relation to crisis management in a
pre-crisis period is creating crisis scenarios. Estimating the possible crisis
432 Ayhan Doğan
situations that the organization may face in the future, and creating crisis
communications plans that suit such scenarios, may enable the crisis
management team to act faster and be comfortable if the organization faces
a similar crisis. This will yield benefits in terms of returning to ordinary
operations.
When conducting a situation analysis, there are some questions that the
crisis communications team should be asking. They are listed below
(http://www.coloradononprofits.org):
 Who, or which department from the organization, can provide
information in relation to the crisis?
 What is the situation? What will be done?
 What is the first response/action to be given/taken?
 Who knows what regarding the crisis?
 Who are the target audiences?
 What could the needs of the personnel be?
 What is the interest and response of the target audience regarding
the situation?
 Who is being affected by the situation? What is their status?
 What does the internal and external target audience feel?
 Which crisis communications response strategy is appropriate?
 What are the things to be disclosed and not disclosed?
 Which communications channels shall be used? Who from the
media shall be contacted?
 Who will process the communications network list, and when will
it be processed?
Choosing the response strategies to be employed in these scenarios,
prepared for the crisis communications in pre-crisis periods is vital.
Choosing the most suitable response strategy depends on accurately
defining the target audiences. If the target audiences are selected properly,
the basic communication messages that fit them best can also be determined
without any error. Drafting a chart as shown in Table - 2 for the target
audience analysis will ease the burden of the communications team.
Table 31-2. Target Audience Analysis
Name of the Crisis:
Perception factors Target Audience Target Target

Audience Audience
1
2
Interest and attitude
Impact status
Problems
Communication
variables
Basic Messages Basic Messages Basic
Messages
1. Message 1. Message 1. Message
Preparing the basic crisis communication message
When the crisis communication plan is prepared, a message to be delivered

to each faction should be determined, and the media instrument that best fits
that message should be selected. The best way to establish communications
with different groups of people is to prepare each message addressing each
of the factions separately, and delivering it to the target audience via the
optimum media. Determining the target factions is the basis of an effective
communication strategy. As the first step, the factions that are targeted
should be sorted by their needs. After the target faction is determined, work
should be performed on the messages that need to be prepared, and on the
way that they will be transmitted. It is imperative to prepare a different
message for each group of people. Extra care should be shown so that the
indicated messages are consistent and do not overlap.
After preparing the messages that are convenient for the target audience,
the most suitable communication tools should be selected. We can
determine this by looking for answers to the questions such as “with which
434 Ayhan Doğan
factions should I get in touch”, “what are the most suitable communication
tools in order to reach to those factions?” and “which faction provides value
to which private information?” The answers to those questions will point
out who should establish communications, what to say, and how to address
each group in the best possible manner (Lucke 2008, 118-120).
When the crisis communication plan is compiled, determining how the
organization should respond to each crisis scenario, and how the reputation
of the organization will be reflected positively against which question, will
make it easier to prepare the basic crisis message. The basic crisis messages
are prepared be stated by the crisis-related spokesperson of the organization,
and to be featured in the media. Those messages should certainly be
included in the written communications plan. In order to determine the basic
crisis communication message, first, the following questions should be
answered (Quoted from Walaski 2011, Eğinli 2014, 51).
 What communications are we establishing?
 Who is the target audience(s)?
 Regarding which subject does the target audience demand
information?
 What do we expect to obtain this?
 How shall we establish communications?
 How shall we listen?
 What kind of a response shall we give?
 Who shall realize the plans and when?
 Which plans have we made for what kind of problems and obstacles?
 In the end, did we succeed?
The above-indicated questions ensure that information regarding the

situation is thoroughly assessed in creating the crisis communication
message. It also enables the people who compile the crisis communications
plan, to not only determine the purpose of the message, but also to determine
its content as well. However, the messages should be defined in a simple
manner to be fully and accurately picked up by the target audience. At this
point, utilization of SMART analysis ensures that the necessary structure
for the message is determined. (Quoted from Walaski 2011, Eğinli 2014, 51
- 52).
Determining the communication channels
Determining the right communication channels in order to reach the target

audience in case of a crisis is crucial in terms of establishing effective
communications. In addition to the conventional media instruments, such as
radio, TV, and newspapers, for transmitting the basic crisis message, it is
possible to utilize all communication channels such as face-to-face
meetings, public gatherings, personnel meetings, printed materials and
social media together depending on the characteristics of the target
audience. When determining the communication channels, the answers to
the following questions should be sought, in order to deliver the crisis
message to the target audience ((http://www.preped.org):
 Which communication channel is suitable for the message?
 Which communication channel is more reliable and accessible for
the target audience?
 Which communication channel (and how many others) has the
structure to transmit the message?
 What are the operational schedule and the budget of the
communications channel?
Each of the communication channels that will be used to deliver the crisis
communication message to the target channel (such as conventional media,
web sites, phone lines, social media, information briefings, booklets,
brochures, bulk mail, bulletins, etc.) has certain pros and cons. By taking
the advantages and disadvantages into account, the most suitable
communications channel should be selected for the target audience.
Crisis period communications

Crisis period communication is comprised of the period in which the crisis
communications plan, which is prepared during the pre-crisis period, is
activated and implemented. As the officers in the crisis communications
team decide on which pre-formulated crisis scenario resembles the current
crisis most, and as they activate the crisis communications plan that was
prepared for that scenario, the crisis period communications are initiated. In
this period, the most critical situation is that the target audiences have an
expectation to receive a statement. That is why a statement should be
delivered to the media as soon as possible. For this, the previously generated
basic crisis communication message should be delivered to the target
audience via the most suitable instrument. The crisis period communications
include the transmission of the message and the delivery of the crisis
management response strategies via the proper communications channel,
after determining which scenarios generated in line with the crisis
communications plan overlap, or show similarities with the crisis. At the
same time, in addition to the strategies prepared according to the pre-crisis
period crisis scenarios, actions should be taken after seeking the answers to
436 Ayhan Doğan
questions such as to whom should this information be delivered, what kind

of information should be disclosed, and when, when it is time to decide on
which information shall be delivered, how it shall be delivered, and what
kind of approach should be adopted.
Due to the fact that all the characteristics of the shareholders will be
present in the system thanks to the communications network or map, which
was prepared in the pre-crisis period, the selective perceptions should be
thought through, and the message should be compiled along these lines.
Messages with different content that are prepared for different target
audiences can be transmitted simultaneously via different communication
channels during a crisis. At this point, although the content of the messages
may differ, the messages should be consistent with each other. Another
point is that messages should be clear and understandable, with no room for
misinterpretations or misunderstandings. Otherwise, it may lead to the
emergence of different crises in one crisis period (Connors 2009, 158-169,
quoted by Eğinli 2013, 57-58).
Post crisis communications

Post-crisis communication indicates a period in which the extraordinary
conditions end, and things return to normal, after which issues such as
pressure, panic, and lack of time, are no longer an issue. This is a period
when the crisis-related feedback from the target audiences is analyzed. As
the result of analyses and assessments, the successes and failures in pre-
crisis and crisis period communications are pointed out, shortcomings are
rectified, and whether the image of the organization has been eroded or not
is determined.
The area, covered by post crisis communications is quite comprehensive,
and it is paramount for an organization to be able to see the potential
outcomes in this period, as it is equally important for the organization to
operate the learning process. The focal point of the post – crisis period is
managing relations with the shareholders and returning to the ordinary pre-
crisis activities and operations. At this point, the target audiences should be
informed that the organization is working on being better. In this regard, the
organization should compile a situation report. This report should start by
answering the question on the reasons for the emergence of the crisis, and
should explain what the plans over the upcoming course will be. Another
focal point in post-crisis communications is the reputation of the
organization. With the crisis, the status of the organizational reputation
should be checked, and reputations should be restored, while some elements
should be rebuilt (Coombs 2010,45-46, quoted by Eğinli 2013, 61-62).
Another situation in which post-crisis communications are highly

effective is the organizational image. After the crisis is averted,
communications with target audiences should not be interrupted or cut off
in terms of the surety of the image of the organization. Well-directed crisis
communication may be a positive addition to the image of the organization,
may increase the target audiences’ trust in the organization and the
employees’ faith and devotion to the organization and finally, may become
a reference for crisis-related forecasting, managing, and the
communications skills of the organization. Therefore, with reference to the
fact that the real key to a crisis is information, and its skilful management,
crisis communication teams should be equipped with resources that can
obtain accurate information and should have the knowledge on which
methods will be based to obtain the information from such resources, and
when, and through which, channels the information will be relayed to whom
(http//:www.izto.org.tr).
Conclusion
Crises are extraordinary conditions that may emerge without a hint or sign
of their timing. Organizations which are not ready for crises may be faced
with negative results that may even lead to losing their existence. The way
to avert crises with minimum or no damage is through effective crisis
management. Effective crisis management depends on an efficient crisis
communications process, which goes beyond simply establishing necessary
connections after the crisis hits, and should encompass the pre- and post-
crisis periods as well. In addition to the preparation of crisis communication
plans, the pre-crisis period should include work such as forming the team
which will be tasked with the crisis communications, designating a crisis-
related spokesperson who will make statements on behalf of the
organization, compiling a crisis network list in order to reach the crisis team
in case of a crisis, training the team, generating the basic crisis
communication messages, and selecting the channels to relay those
messages. During crisis periods, it is vital to activate and implement the pre-
fabricated crisis communications plan. In post-crisis communications, the
current situation of the organization after the crisis has been assessed, and
the image and reputation of the organization are determined. If there is
damage, communication work is conducted towards the image and
reputation of the organization, and the continuity of the organization is thus
ensured.
438 Ayhan Doğan
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MODERN BRAND AMBASSADORS:
FROM OPINION LEADERS TO INFLUENCERS
OĞUZ KÖPRÜCÜ
Introduction
The digital transformation process at the end of the 20th century has caused
major transformations in marketing as well as in other disciplines. This
period emphasizes a new process in which rapid competition for enterprises
increases and requires new methods. In this context, enterprises have to take
part in digital marketing alongside traditional marketing concepts. Word-
of-mouth marketing, as one of the most important techniques of traditional
marketing in reaching today’s consumers, has been transformed into
electronic word-of-mouth marketing within the framework of digital
marketing. Opinion leadership, as one of the most crucial components of
word-of-mouth marketing, has also been involved in a transformation
process. From this point of view, influencer marketing practices have begun
to appear in digital marketing, on the assumption that consumers are more
likely to be affected by individuals they already know and trust, as well as
by their surroundings, during purchasing decision processes. Thus,
influencer marketing activities, which are realized by introducing the
product experiences of well-known individuals with a large number of
social media followers in a natural environment, have recently become
widespread.
Social media, or new media, which is becoming more and more
widespread on the internet, has also contributed greatly to the advertisement
and promotion of products and services. In this context, from network
marketing’s point of view, the advertising practices of celebrities through
TV, radio, or newspapers, have gradually been replaced by advertisements
in which both celebrities and individuals who are recognized only on social
media channels, perform through the social media.
Oğuz Köprücü 441
Transformation in marketing
Marketing, defined as a set of processes through which organizations
perform in order to exchange products and services that add value to
customers, partners and society, by the American Marketing Association
(AMA), has passed through many stages from past to present.
In the literature, it is assumed that the historical process of marketing is
transformed through four basic stages. The first stage, namely marketing
efficiency, was realized by focusing on the production/product. At this
stage, which is thought to have extended to 1930, the main purpose was
production. Therefore consumers’ expectations and needs were ignored.
During this period, which lacked competition, the emphasis was placed on
production rather than sales. The second phase became operational after the
1930s, and sales concerns were more prominent than production. In this
period, it is observed that there was a tendency to stimulate sales through
misleading advertising, due to the focus on sales only. With the increase in
competition during the marketing stage, which is the third stage of the
process, it was determined that advertising and sales alone were not
sufficient in the sale of products and services. For this reason, at this stage,
the wishes and expectations of customers were determined, and the
production targets were determined accordingly. In this period, marketing
departments were formed within enterprises, and the marketing activities of
all employees began to take priority. The 1990s were the years during which
competition began to be experienced more and more intensely. This period,
during which supply exceeded demand, points at the modern marketing
stage, as the fourth and the last stage in the historical process of marketing.
In this period, during which all units of enterprises became involved in a
marketing-oriented approach, it was attempted to determine and fulfil the
wishes and expectations of customers. At this stage, during which the
integrated marketing concept was prioritized, the management approach
was shaped accordingly (Varinli 2006).
These four historical stages, which might have been sufficient to explain
the transition from traditional marketing to modern marketing, are rendered
insufficient as of today. Modern marketing, especially along with the
development of technology and the emergence of the internet, has
accompanied a new transformation process.
As technology is developed, consumers, enterprises in particular, and
other organizations, are committed to improving their activities. Initially,
such technological applications on commercial activities in the network
were known as electronic marketing, or e-marketing, based on the use of
information and communication technologies in marketing. This, however,
442 Modern Brand Ambassadors
has gone beyond the marketing process and revolutionized the acquisition
of information used in the business decision-making process. New wave
technology enables consumers to evolve into productive consumers.
Technology, especially Web 2.0 and social media, has become an
instrument that allows people to express themselves and cooperate with
others. In this way, individuals can come up with new ideas, entertain
themselves, and consume. The term ‘social media’ has a broad meaning,
and includes a large number of different online social platforms. Social
media communication platforms cover social networking sites such as
Facebook, multimedia sharing sites, such as Youtube, and Wikis, such as
Wikipedia. These well-known social media platforms, used to generate,
share, and refine information, are defined as a whole, as Web 2.0 (Kauffman
& Panni 2017).
Marketing 1.0, which dates back to the industrial age, constitutes the
beginning of marketing, and can be defined as a product-oriented approach,
since it mainly focuses on selling products without taking the needs and
demands of the target market into consideration. Marketing 2.0 is a
customer-oriented period during which the value of the product is defined
by the consumer. This marketing period looms large with detailed research
about the needs and desires of the customers in order to detect the new target
markets that turn into positive conditions for sales (Jara et al. 2012).
Marketing 3.0 is defined as a human-oriented period during which values
originate from the marketing, because consumers are referred to as
individuals who are active, anxious and creative.
Furthermore, consumers are more aware of, and sensitive to, the social
and humane aspects of the brand, namely corporate responsibility, and
social and environmental dimensions (Kotler et al. 2010). Marketing 4.0 is
an effort to consider different aspects of the marketing concept. Unilateral
communication was dominant in traditional marketing. Nonetheless, links
and technology have changed the approach to marketing (Krauss 2017).
One of the most important consumer privileges provided by digital
marketing is convenience, in terms of time, space, and transportation. Upon
considering the enterprise's point of view, it provides rapid development of
customer relations with an interactive, one-on-one communication with
customers. Enterprises can improve their products/services through the
feedback they receive from consumers on digital media, and can even
communicate with them in the form of personalized messages (Odabaşı and
Oyman 2017).
It is essential to notice the extent to which social media is positioned as
an innovation by internet technologies, before handling the social media
concept. The basic feature of the internet system infrastructure, known as
Web 1.0, which became widespread in the 1990s, is based on the creation
of typical static content provided by the creator of a site. During this period,
websites prepared by enterprises had very little customer participation, and
these sites provided support to the enterprises by achieving a simple and
specific feature (Clow and Baack 2016).
By the dawn of Web 2.0, in 2004, users had created a revolutionary
process to create and share content without having to acquire technical
knowledge (Kahraman 2010). Thus, by going beyond the content and
applications published or created by only one party, all users began to
actively participate in the system, and had the ability to make changes they
wished in the messages they edited (Kaplan and Haenlein 2010). In these
years, social networking sites such as Facebook, YouTube, and MySpace
have been established, and blogs have been written. Furthermore, along
with the expansion of e-commerce, consumers have begun to discover the
online purchasing phenomenon more quickly. Therefore, the system has
acquired a customer-oriented structure by establishing bilateral communication
with customers (Clow and Baack 2016).
The compatibility of smartphones and similar electronic devices into the
web system is considered as the beginning of Web 3.0 era (Karahasan,
2014). By courtesy of the applications developed on smart devices,
transactions such as remote access sales, information inquiries, video
monitoring, content creation, and sharing processes, become much faster.
The intercommunication of objects with the internet; the so-called “Internet
of Things” is perceived as a study that will affect many areas. Nevertheless,
despite such technological, commercial and cultural revolution, processes
are still being improved, and it is seen that many organizations continue
their sales, operations, customer service, marketing, and public relations
activities using the same marketing strategies, or by using a soft integration
method with larger organizations. It is estimated that this would be
overcome by discovering different forms of work by all organizations in the
medium-term, starting with dynamic and successful organizations
(Sheldrake 2015).
Transformation in word-of-mouth marketing

Consumers, on the one hand constitute the target audience of mass
communication, and on the other hand, they are in a non-verbal and informal
communication network amongst themselves. Such communication is
called ‘word-of-mouth’ communication. Word-of-mouth communication is
known as an important impact factor in what individuals know, feel, and do
over years. Word-of-mouth communication has the ability to affect
awareness, perception, expectations, attitudes, and behaviours (Odabaşı and

Oyman 2001).
Richins (1983) described word-of-mouth marketing as the behaviour of
telling at least one friend, acquaintance, or family member about a personal
experience of a product or retailer, whether or not it is satisfactory.
The main feature of social media involves the transformation of the
consumer’s role from passive audience to active producer. In other words,
each user has become a content producer and can freely create his/her own
content and share it by publishing/broadcasting on social media. Interaction
occurs by courtesy of feedbacks sent to the individuals who share the
information, in the form of comments or content sharing in an environment
that is completely free of any geographical boundaries. A photograph,
video, or word, shared by an individual, can be dispersed to larger audiences
within a very short time, and also, the content is reshaped by every sharing
user (Uraltaş and Bahadırlı 2012).
The concept of word-of-mouth marketing (WOMM), which has
changed along with the interaction feature of social media, is strongly
replaced by the concept of electronic word-of-mouth marketing (eWOM).
Electronic word-of-mouth communication (eWOM) is the type of
communication that takes place in the virtual world accompanied by the
development of technology. In today’s society, this virtual world usually
reveals itself through social media, blogs, and websites, including user
reviews. Online user reviews provide the key information that determines
whether or not the product or service will be purchased. In fact, the
importance of online user reviews nowadays has increased so much that the
comments read about a product or service are taken into consideration more
than the technical information of the product, or the explanations of the
enterprise. Online users share their personal experiences and emotions
pertaining to products and services, and they tend to accept and use online
information in decision-making processes (Teng et al. 2014).
eWOM enables the consumer to establish an unlimited dialogue with
other online users. Due to the global nature of the internet, eWOM is also
referred to as consumer communication, since it provides a consistent
communication intermediary among consumers who would never meet in
person. eWOM includes comments on service quality, product performance,
product impressions, and reliability, transferred by previous or existing
consumers towards others (Sarıışık and Özbay 2012).
WOMM and eWOM both have the following sub-concepts in the
literature (Eren 2016, Özkömürcü 2014):
Cause-Related Marketing: This focuses on the idea of feeling sympathy for

creating consumer groups with brand-loyalty, and supports social issues in
this respect.
Grassroots Marketing: This aims to introduce local or individual products
by taking the initiative of training and motivating brand volunteers, and
launching messages to speeches.
Buzz Marketing: This is a marketing method that reinforces the brand
perception of the consumer, and stimulates people’s conversations about
brands, by organizing interesting and entertaining advertisements,
promotions, or activities.
Conversation Creation: This marketing method includes entertaining and
remarkable advertisements, interesting sentences, e-mails, organizations, or
various promotional instruments that are created to launch a whisper to
spread from mouth-to-mouth about a brand.
Brand Blogging: This involves creating blogs based on loyalty,
transparency, and sharing logic, and monitoring and managing blog pages
where users share their opinions about the brand in order to ensure
participation.
Evangelist Marketing: This involves the professional training of volunteers
who will spread and advocate the brand value of products and services in
every environment.
Referral Programs: The creation of instruments that enable satisfied
consumers to convey their experiences to their friends, in order to accelerate
the spread of product or service satisfaction.
Community Marketing: This aims to enable a flow of opinions about the
brand by forming or supporting brand communities of existing customers,
such as associations and fan clubs. This includes the use of domains such as
forums and fan pages on the internet.
Product Seeding: This involves the use of social media accounts through
the spread of news or links.
Viral Marketing: As the name implies, viral advertisements are used to
identify self-spreading ads. This is a marketing technique that enables
people to talk about the brand through entertaining or informative studies,
which are generally made by e-mail or via the internet.
Influencer Marketing: This aims to create opinion leaders who have the
ability to drive others’ ideas, and who tend to talk about products.
Throughout the transformation process of word-of-mouth marketing,

traditional opinion leaders are also transformed into influencers. Brands that
use traditional celebrities are also some of the elements of this process.
From opinion leaders to influencers

Opinion leaders
Consumers find messages generated by other consumers/users to be more
reliable than messages directly generated by company brands when it
comes to products and services (Chu and Kim 2011).
Opinion leaders, in the simplest definition, are those who influence the
ideas and behaviours of those who encounter personal interaction. They are
considered as the most innovative members of the community. Opinion
leaders can be friends or acquaintances as well as professionals such as
teachers, engineers or doctors (Hoyer and MacInnis 2004).
In his work entitled The Influential (1994), Weimann examined what
opinion leadership would be, in what areas, and how it would exist.
Weimann categorized these influential people in various ways. In his
categorization, opinion leadership seems to be limited or specialized in
certain areas. The concept of opinion leaders was analyzed in various areas
including marketing, fashion, politics, family planning, science, agriculture,
and healthcare. In his study, Weimann, considering the opinion leader as an
individual who fills a certain gap in society, tries to find the answer to the
following questions: “Who are these opinion leaders? How do they affect
us? Why do we seek their guidance and advice?” (Weimann 1994).
Communication in the social environment passes through from the
source to the opinion leader, and from the opinion leader to other individuals
(Katz and Lazarsfeld 1955). Opinion leaders have the ability to influence
and change the attitudes and behaviors of others in the direction of their
choice (Grewal, Mehta and Kardes 2000). That is why there are many
marketing experts who utilize opinion leaders as a strategy. It is possible to
see examples of the use of opinion leaders in the marketing field considering
the question of which brand to buy or where to buy it (Akdoğan and
Karaarslan 2013). These strategies play an important role in the penetration
of new products into the market, and in the success of enterprises
(Goldsmith and Witt 2003). Opinion leadership plays an important role in
the success of word-of-mouth communication which is the product of
innovation (King and Summers 1970).
In their study, conducted on voting preferences in the United States in
1940, Lazarsfeld, Berelson, and Gaudet put forward the concept of ‘opinion
leadership’ by constructing and testing the hypothesis of the ‘two-stage flow

of communication’ (Sabuncuoğlu 2014). The opinion leader can be
considered as a member of the group that plays the most crucial role in
communication. According to Philip Kotler, opinion leaders have a great
impact on consumers’ decision-making and behaviour, and these
individuals can come from all walks of society. The opinion leader acts as
a respected leader, and thus a reliable source, by shaping communication
according to the group’s point of view (Tekinalp and Uzun 2009).
Rogers (2003) claimed that opinion leaders differed from their followers
in certain aspects. Those aspects involve innovative opinion leaders who
follow the developments by using external sources being socioeconomically
better off in comparison to their followers. Odabaşı and Barış (2003) stated
that opinion leaders are more socially active, younger, and educated.
The intense use of idea leadership by brands in marketing is seen as
‘celebrity’ preference. Images of these people known to the community are
transferred to the brand.
People who come to prominence with certain characteristics in society
throughout history have been adopted by society and raised to the status of
celebrities. However, as of the 20th century, the celebrity phenomenon has
penetrated far into society, culture, and the press. It is possible to assert that
factors such as the need to recognise superiority, and the worldly
expectations of Western societies, as well as the international dimension of
sport and popular culture, have an impact (O’Mahony and Meenaghan 1997,
1998).
Shimp (2003) defined the notion of celebrity as individuals who become
known in society courtesy of certain achievements. Celebrities may belong
to a wide variety of professions, such as actors, actresses, vocal artists,
athletes, models, TV stars, politicians, and businessmen. Being well-known
by large masses, as the result of , outstanding achievements in certain fields
is one of the common characteristics of celebrities.
The use of celebrities in brand advertisements is familiar to consumers.
However, it is known to everyone that these celebrities earn significant
gains in exchange for their contracts.
Today’s consumers are well aware of this mutual interest relationship.
Such awareness leads consumers to use ad blockers on computers and
mobile phones, and desensitizes them towards advertising. In this era, which
is described as ‘the Age of Disloyalty’, creative originality has to guide
opinions (Batı 2015).
The use of celebrities serves not only to arouse and sustain interest in
the broadcasted message, but also to increase the speed and frequency of
the message conveyed in today’s highly complex and stimulating world

(Ohanian 1991).
Influencer marketing
Celebrities and other influential figures have long been used as marketing
tools, and such advertising has been considered very influential over the last
decade (Einarsdóttir 2017). With the development of the internet, brands
prefer influencers, and compel the traditional celebrities to be abandoned or
to be transformed into influencers.
The marketing approaches in today’s world have transformed the
classical propositions of the two-stage communication model by adapting
to the new media technologies along with the impact of the changing mass
media. Flynn et al. (1996) described opinion leaders as individuals who
influence the purchasing behaviour of others within a given product
category. The conducted research studies indicate that opinion leaders are
more creative, socially active individuals, who use mass media intensively,
take more interest in the products, and have more experience and expertise
in the product category (Flynn et al. 1994, Yoo et al. 2011).
The concept of influence is described in the dictionary as “effect, impact,
change and affect”, whereas the influencer is defined as “someone who
affects or changes the way that other people behave” (https://dictionary.
cambridge.org). In another online dictionary, an influencer is described as
“a person or group who has the power to affect or change many people
through their use of social media or traditional media” (www.dictionary.
com).
Individuals who have a strong audience on one of the social media
platforms, and whose opinions are given importance in the field of content
production, are defined as influencers (Sevinç 2018). An influencer is an
individual who can influence individuals’ actions, behaviours and thoughts
through blogs and/or social channels (Rhythm Influence 2016). In other
words, the word ‘influencer’ refers to an individual or organization that is
not a typical customer or company encouraged to create/recommend content
about a brand or product (Brown and Fiorella 2013).
Influencers in social media consist of individuals who have high
(significantly over the average) potential for influencing others within the
framework of their attributes, such as frequency of communication,
personal persuasion, or social network size (Zietek 2016).
Brown and Hayes (2008) described influencers as third parties who
significantly shape the purchasing decisions of consumers. In this context,
influencers can influence the purchasing decisions of others within the
framework of their authority, knowledge, position, or relations. Influencers

advertise products through their social media accounts, and share their
experiences. Their promotions and experience shares are often perceived by
consumers as recommendations. Recommendatory influencer marketing is
more effective than traditional advertising. In fact, brands have been using
celebrities in their advertising campaigns since the beginning of marketing.
Nonetheless, unlike celebrities, influencers appear to be more sincere, more
accessible, and more reliable, as far as consumers are concerned.
Influencers are categorized according to the extent of the number of
followers that have been affected via social networks (Chen 2016):
Micro Influencer: Bloggers with 10 thousand to 100 thousand followers on
Instagram are called micro-influencers. Micro-influencers are individuals
who are perceived as knowledgeable, passionate, authentic, and reliable
sources of information, providing suggestions on what to purchase, rather
than being traditional celebrities. Micro-influencers have a direct impact on
the behaviour of their followers (Brown and Fiorella 2013).
Macro Influencer: Bloggers with 100 thousand to 200 thousand followers
on Instagram are called macro-influencers. Here, there is a weak, or
unknown, relationship between the influencers and their followers (Brown
and Fiorella 2013).
Mega Influencer: Bloggers with more than 200 thousand followers on
Instagram are called mega-influencers. The higher the number of followers
of the influencer, the more access to them.
Consumers who are impressed by brand-oriented content created by
influencers do not merely bring themselves, but may also drive their
followers to the content. The loyal followers of a social media influencer
can drive traffic to the enterprise’s website, stimulate social media
interaction, and advertise the brand’s product or service with its own
suggestions or stories (Matthews 2013).
Pinghelsinki (2017) summarized some of the features that an online
influencer must acquire in order for brands to cooperate with individuals
who will create the right impact:
 Having information about the product or service,
 Taking an interest in the product or service,
 Being an expert or opinion leader in his/her field of interest,
 Knowing how to create appropriate content, such as stories, videos,
images, and posts,
 Having an adequate number of committed followers in the relevant
social media channels,
 Being familiar with the marketing approach and commercial co-

operation,
 Acquiring good collaboration skills and, most importantly,
understanding the value of the work to be done.
Influencers are content creators who constitute a solid foundation for
their followers. They get their followers to comprehend their personal, daily
lives, experiences, and views, via blogging, vlogging, or short form content
(e.g., Instagram, Twitter, etc.). With the participation of affected individuals
(for example, testing a product, organizing a special event, or simply by
paying them), brands aim to encourage the affected people to approve of
their products (Veirmen et al. 2017).
Influencer marketing emerges as the assessment of influencers in the
digital environment during marketing processes. Today, there is a
significant level of consumer population utilizing social media. In order to
accelerate the marketing processes of the enterprises competing in intense
competition conditions, it has become almost a necessity to utilize social
media, by shifting from traditional marketing instruments to the target
audience, who spend long hours in digital environments. At this exact point,
enterprises need social influences that will support them to share their
marketing contents online (Singh et al. 2012).
Influencer marketing is a form of marketing that utilizes dominant
individuals to share brand messages online with an audience in a sponsored
content format. Along with the increasing popularity of social media, it is a
popular form of approval that reaches more users. Instant popularity, and
becoming a celebrity, have also been made possible with the rise of blogs,
video channels, and other social media pages. Although still being utilized,
marketing professionals can now hire bloggers to broadcast or publish their
entries regarding the product, instead of using usual celebrities such as
athletes, TV series’ actors, and movie stars. The effectiveness of these
individuals stems from the fact that consumers find the recommendations
of ordinary people more reliable, rather than those of celebrities, in making
their purchasing decisions (Boone 2017).
Influencer marketing can be defined as a new kind of marketing which
has been effectual on consumers’ purchasing decisions and has been
growing throughout recent years. The term ‘influence’ here is expressed as
the ability to affect an individual, a thing, or the course of ongoing
circumstance (Brown and Hayes 2008).
Although the boundaries of influencer marketing are drawn with the
concept of branded content sharing, the ways in which such content is
shared vary. Brands effectuate a variety of influencer marketing strategies
by utilizing the contents created by influencers in social network accounts,
organizing joint competitions, gift and discount campaigns with influencers,

making the influencers a part of the organization of the brand, and allowing
the influencers to share relatively unbranded content using only the hashtag
and slogans, or transferring the brand’s account to the influencers for a while
(Kurutz 2011).
Köletavitoğlu (2017) asserted that influencer marketing links the social
media influencers, being word of mouth marketing’s reflection in the digital
world, and the brands, within a new and dynamic business model.
Conclusion
The transformation of marketing over the years has also affected the
behaviors of all brands. Along with Marketing 4.0, the effectiveness of the
internet in marketing has increased in an unprecedented way. The existence
of digital media, as one of today’s leading mass media tools in which
individuals spend most of their time, has caused the emergence of the
concept of ‘new opinion leaders’.
The investments of brands in social media increased as soon as it reached
an intense audience. Influencer marketing has been attracting attention in
both academic and managerial terms throughout recent years, due to the
impact of non-advertising elements which have emerged via social media.
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NEW APPROACHES TO CORPORATE
COMMUNICATION IN THE CONTEXT OF
TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS
MEHMET SİNAN BAŞAR
Introduction
As businesses are open systems, they must operate within an ecosystem.

The ecosystem to which the enterprise belongs has a hierarchical structure
and an enterprise tries to maintain this hierarchical structure within itself in
order to be integrated into the ecosystem. For example, the national
economy is composed of sectors while a business is divided into
departments. If an organization is partitioned in any way, relationships
between the parts need to be managed. Both the relations between the units
within the enterprise and the relationships that the enterprise establishes
with its environment require mutual interaction and communication. In this
study, the corporate communication activities that occur in the enterprises
will be examined in the context of the use of information technologies.
Corporate communication
Institutionalization is defined as the process in which a business takes on a
different and distinctive identity from others. An institutionalized
organization must have the following characteristics (Binbaşıoğlu et. al.,
2015):
- Individual standards and procedures,
- Systems to monitor changing environmental conditions and an
organizational structure to adapt to changes, and
- A corporate culture that determines communication and working
methods.
456 Corporate Communication in the Context of Technological
Developments
Corporate communication is all of the communication activities that the

company has established to achieve its goals and objectives. In a broader
sense, corporate communication is an administrative tool that can use all
internal and external communication methods in order to regulate the
relations of the organization with its affiliated groups and achieve corporate
goals (Çetintaş 2013). In the past, corporate communication was used in the
same sense as public relations. Later, it expanded by including internal
communication and separated from public relations with features such as
being a strategic management activity and being knowledge based. The
most important reason for this divergence is that public relations is
discussed in negative terms such as disguising and distorting the facts
(Tunçel 2019). Today there are four approaches to corporate
communication (Illia and Balmer 2012).
The first approach is one-way or two-way public relations activities.
According to this approach, corporate communication is used to evaluate
and formulate social trends and is formulated as corporate policies that can
help the company to innovate and proactively adapt to changes in society.
The second approach is the integration of marketing communication and
internal communication. From this point of view, corporate communication
is part of the broader marketing function and refers to promotion, which is
one of the four parts of the classical marketing mix (Kitchen and de
Pelsmacker 2004).
Thirdly, the total corporate communication approach can be mentioned.
This perspective, which is based on Balmer's definition of corporate
communication, means to integrate all communication activities within the
company (Balmer and Gray 1999). In this approach, communication is
examined in three dimensions: internal, administrative and with third
parties.
The fourth approach prioritizes internal communication and is based on
the idea that existing communication problems with employees may
adversely affect communication with stakeholders.
When the literature is searched, it is possible to find many approaches
and definitions in addition to the previously mentioned approaches. The
reason for making many different definitions is the existence of different
perspectives and focusing on different points. The main elements of
communication – source, message, carrier (media) and target – are different
focal points. The internal and external processes of the enterprises and the
Mehmet Sinan Başar 457
persons or institutions involved in these processes can also be selected as

different focal points.
In this study, it is planned to examine the media element together with
the management function and define corporate communication from these
dimensions. Today, the media element of communication has changed
significantly with the development of information and communication
technologies. Almost unrivalled in the transport of information and
decisions and commands, digital media enable the speed and transport of a
wide range of messages (audio, video, video, etc.). The impacts of
technological developments are not limited to this. Developing digital
technology has led to important transformations in production and
management methods, product and service diversity, working conditions,
communication culture, etc. Each of these transformations has created new
approaches that contribute to the development and change of the concept of
corporate communication. Some of these approaches are:
- Strategic management and management information systems.
- Business value networks and corporate communication networks.
- Marketing communication and database marketing.
- The use of new media and social networks in corporate
communication.
Management information systems and strategic

management
From the time when telephony and television were the fastest means of
communication to the web 3.0 (semantic web) period, management
information systems which are based on the idea that information and
communication are the most important competitive tools, have undergone
rapid and significant change and become a science that affects everyday life
quickly. The term, “management information systems (MIS)” consists of
the concepts of "management", "information" and "system". These three
concepts are also the three main topics of MIS.
In terms of MIS, the concept of management refers to the information-
and communication-oriented execution of planning, organizing, leading,
coordinating and controlling functions. Within the scope of the information
concept, the technologies used for obtaining, storing, using and transmitting
information, are handled with hardware-software-user dimensions. The
concept of system refers to the analysis and modelling of the business as a
Developments
hierarchical structure (subsystem-system-upper system) in the

organizational dimension and as all of the processes related to each other in
the activity dimension. In total, MIS is a cycle in which these three units
continuously affect or transform each other; technological developments
affect managers, managers revise or change the system according to the new
situation, change creates new problems and needs, and new needs trigger
technological development. In order to define corporate communication
from an MIS perspective, separate definitions can be given for the three
topics; management, information, and system, and then these definitions can
be combined.
Management
The management pyramid in MIS consists of three levels. The highest
level is the level of strategic management. At the strategic level there are
top managers (CEO, board of directors, etc.). The task of strategic
management is to determine the main objectives, long-term plans and which
tasks will be carried out. These managers need to decide in six dimensions
when formulating the corporate strategy: the objective of the organization,
the compete area of the organization (sector, region, etc.), external
opportunities and threats, and internal strengths and weaknesses of the
organization (Hax and Majluf 1988).
One of the tasks of senior management is to prepare the corporate
communication strategy. The procedures to be performed while determining
the corporate communication strategy are (Steyn 2003):
- Identifying internal and external environmental elements,
- Identifying communication and relationships with these elements,
- Determining the priority order of the issues.
The middle level consists of department managers and information
workers and is called the tactical level. At this level, corporate
communication fields are determined and separate communication plans are
made for each area in line with the corporate communication strategy. The
fields of corporate communication can be grouped under four main
headings: media, employees, investors and government (Achterholt 1991).
Longer lists can be created by detailing these main headings. The length of
the list is not important when determining the communication areas, but the
list should be homogeneous in terms of the target groups and the
communication methods to be used.
Operational managers are at the bottom of the management pyramid. As

they are closer to the employees, these managers are responsible for
separating the tactical plans into the smallest parts possible, and
implementing them.
Information technologies
The most basic classification for information systems is hardware and
software classification. A more comprehensive classification can be made
in the form of hardware, software, database, network and communication.
Technology is a concept that covers knowledge, methods and capabilities
(Yeren 2019). Within the framework of these definitions, the elements
involved in the formation of information and communication technologies
can be listed as follows (www. Digitatek.com.tr):
- Development, production and use of digital devices,
- Development, production and use of digital materials,
- Digital infrastructure services (telecommunications services,
network services (wired, wireless and mobile networks),
broadcasting services, etc.),
- Support services (digital consulting, software, training,
engineering, business intelligence solutions, web solutions, data
analysis / reporting etc.).
When planning the corporate communication strategy, it should be
carefully decided which technologies need to be used, how these
technologies will be provided, the information and capabilities that users
should have, how much the cost will be, and so on.
System
A system is a set of related elements that work for the same purpose.
Systems process the inputs they receive from the environment and convert
them into outputs. The simplest system model can be described as input-
process-output. This model can be detailed according to the characteristics,
environment, inputs and outputs of the system. Each system contains
subsystems and is part of an upper system.
According to the system approach, if something has more than one
element and operates for a purpose, it can be modelled as a system. Systems
and elements can be physical or conceptual. In addition, processes and
activities can be considered as a system element.
Developments
According to the system approach, corporate communication is a

subsystem of the enterprise and controls the information traffic necessary
for coordination between the internal and external units of the enterprise.
The important inputs of the corporate communication system are:
- External information and documents,
- Internal information and documents,
- Requests, commands, announcements,
- Plans and programs.
Basic elements of the system are:
- Organizational structure and employees,
- Communication infrastructure (hardware, software, network),
- Data storage and analysis subsystems,
- Processes,
- Rules and procedures.
The important outputs of the system are as follows (Plate 2019):
- Creating and managing the corporate memory (messages,
information and document archives),
- Regular and continuous delivery of messages, documents and
information to the relevant units,
- Continuing business activities,
- Solving problems,
- Ensuring mutual trust and the free flow of information in the
enterprise,
- Formation of a corporate culture,
- Ensuring customer and supplier satisfaction.
Business value network and corporate communication

network
Before explaining the business value network, it is necessary to talk about
supply-chain and value-chain concepts because the value network covers
these two concepts, especially in terms of corporate communication.
A supply chain is a network that models the movements of a product
(goods or service) from the supplier to the customer and includes
organizations, people, technology, activities, and resources in the process.
The supply chain is also called the logistics network. The main purpose of
supply-chain management is to reduce production, inventory and
transportation costs and increase speed and quality (Özdemir 2004, Eymen
2007). There are three main flows in the supply-chain process that must be
monitored and managed; the flow of products from the supplier to the
customer, the flow of money from the customer to the supplier and the
bidirectional information flow. The correct functioning of the organization,
the information system and corporate communication is very important for
the planning and management of these flows.
The supply chain is a process model and each stage in the process has the
customers of the previous stages and the supplier of the subsequent stages.
From this point of view, the functions of corporate communication can be
listed as follows:
- Transmission of the requests and commands of the managers to the
related units,
- Transmission of the transaction information to the related units,
- Transmission of the problems arising in the processes to the related
units,
- Transmission of the demand and order information to the related
units,
- Transmission of the production and stock information to the
related units.
- Transmission of the price and cost information to the related units.
The value-chain analysis is a method developed to understand all of the
internal and external units that contribute to the activities of the enterprise
and the functions of these units in production processes (Çalık 2016). In this
model developed by Michael Porter in 1985, business activities are
examined under two main groups: primary activities and supporting
activities. Primary activities are carried out in stages and before some stages
can start, previous stages need to be completed. Supporting activities
continue in parallel with basic activities and these activities are expected to
be continuous (Şeker 2014). The primary activities are (Eraslan 2008):
- Inbound logistics; logistics activities between suppliers and the
business,
- Operations; conversion of raw materials to products,
- Outbound logistics; logistics activities between the business and
customers,
- Marketing and sales,
- After sales services.
Since the primary activities cover the supply chain, the value chain can
also be considered as an extended supply chain.
Developments
The supporting activities are as follows (www.mindtools.com):

- Firm infrastructure; accounting, legal, administrative, general
management; information systems, etc.
- Human resource management; recruiting, training, motivating,
rewarding and protecting employees.
- Technology development; managing and processing information,
protecting the company's knowledge base.
- Procurement (purchasing); includes finding vendors and
negotiating the best prices.
Value-chain analysis presents a model of the business' activities. This
model, which is used to display the roles and activities of units and
individuals, can also be used to see focal points when planning and
conducting corporate communication. From the perspective of value-chain
analysis, it can be said that corporate communication should regulate the
coordination and flow of information between the following units:
- The enterprise, the suppliers and the logistics companies,
- The persons or teams carrying out the business processes of the
enterprise,
- The distributors, wholesalers and retailers,
- The enterprise and customers,
- Departments carrying out basic business functions (general
management, production, marketing, etc.)
The business value network is an analysis method like the value chain.
Value network analysis is used to examine the relationship of the business
with the ecosystem in the context of value creation. Each business aims to
reduce costs, increase revenues, improve quality and gain competitive
advantage by establishing relationships with other units in its environment.
Individuals or organizations in the business' ecosystem can be classified into
four groups: strategic alliances and partners, competitors, suppliers and
customers. When creating a value network, first the units in these four
groups are listed. Then, the relations with these units and their contributions
to the total value of the enterprise are indicated. The value network can be
expanded by adding the internal units of the business.
Value networks can be visualized with a simple mapping tool showing
nodes (members) and connectors (relationships) (Kenton 2019). Multiple
connections can be drawn between the two nodes, and these connections
can be unidirectional or bi-directional.
The enterprise value network is also a communication network between

units that work for business purposes in communication with each other.
Regardless of the type of relationship between two nodes on the network,
the presence of communication and information sharing between them is
necessary for this relationship to be established, maintained and controlled
in real life.
In this case, a corporate communication network can be formed in a
similar way to the value network. Firstly, the business environment, which
is classified as four groups in the value network, is formed by identifying
the units to be included in each group. Afterwards, issues such as when and
how the company will communicate with each unit and what information
will be shared are planned separately.
From this perspective, corporate communication can be examined under
the following headings:
- Communication with partners,
- Contact with competitors,
- Contact with suppliers,
- Communication with customers,
- Communication with indoor units.
Marketing communication and database marketing

The database is a digital environment in which systematic data are stored.
The marketing database is a special purpose database that stores all kinds of
information about customers. Customer information is a very important tool
to be used when deciding how to communicate with customers. For this
reason, it is necessary to store all the information obtained in a database in
order to measure customer demand and expectations and determine
customer value and cost.
Database marketing means the effective use of databases in the planning
and execution of marketing communications. Database marketing provides
the marketer with a continuous flow of information about the product and
the customer and acts as a bridge between the customer and the marketer by
playing an active role in communicating the customer's wishes and
expectations to the marketer (Başar and Aslay 2011). Database marketing,
which uses media and channels such as e-mail, the telephone and the
internet, is an interactive approach to the marketing sector (Shaw and Stone
1988).
Developments
In the contemporary marketing approach, marketing activities that are

carried out are customer oriented and all elements of the marketing mix
(product, price, place and promotion) are defined according to customers.
Nowadays, a customer-oriented understanding has led to the approach of
determining organizational and managerial activities according to
customers as well as marketing activities. According to the contemporary
approach, total organizational communication is based on three pillars;
marketing communication, organizational communication and managerial
communication (Belch & Belch 2001). When these two approaches are
combined, it is concluded that marketing communication should be handled
in the foreground according to other elements.
Developments in information and communication technologies and the
database marketing approach have increased the importance of customer
communication in marketing communications. The most important
contribution to customer communication is provided by marketing
databases. This contribution is particularly evident during the planning of
communication and includes the following:
- Following and saving the customer's transactions,
- Having the right information about customers,
- Categorizing customers correctly,
- Empathizing with the customer,
- Planning the form, means and level of communication,
- Identifying and training people to communicate with the customer,
- Receiving, recording and evaluating feedback from customers.
Use of new media and social networks in corporate

communication
Whether scientific or not, there are many different definitions of new media.
As an example, according Thompson, the new media is all of the
communication tools that are enhanced with capabilities, easier to use and
potentially expandable through information technology (Thompson, 1995).
The characteristics of the new media can be examined under three headings:
interaction, de-massification and asynchronicity. Interaction refers to two-
way communication. De-massification means that each user can be
presented with different messages and content. The third feature of the new
media is that communication does not have to be synchronized, that is, the
message can be delivered whenever the recipient wants or is online.
Today, there are many theoretical and philosophical discussions about

new media. However, the most important point that almost everyone accepts
is that every area of life is shaped by communication.
The innovations and conveniences brought about by the tools provided
by information technologies for the corporate communication environment
are examined under the following headings.
Speed and message size: Large volume files can be stored in very small
areas, messages and feedback can be transmitted quickly over long
distances. This makes communication very easy.
Security: Unauthorized access can be prevented by encrypting
transmitted messages or documents. Documents are stored safely by
backing them up on remote servers. Also, legal evidence can be obtained by
the use of electronic signatures.
Mobility: The fact that the source and the target are in motion does not
affect the communication negatively during the communication process.
Duplicating a message: Sending a message to a large number of people
is as easy as sending a message to a single person, and often there is no
difference in the cost and time spent between the two situations.
Virtualization: The advantages of face-to-face communication can be
utilized by creating virtual environments. The use of virtual offices, virtual
meetings, training simulators, etc., can create an effective corporate
communication environment.
Social networks: The simplest form of corporate social network is the
creation of the mail group and sending announcements and public messages
to the selected group. Today, social media, where all users can add content,
are more preferred. Social media that use the internet infrastructure can be
used for internal communication. However, for more effective, controllable
and manageable in-house communication, intranet-based social networks
are required (medium.com).
Conclusion
In the age of information and communication, enterprises should monitor
technological developments and reflect these developments in their own
structures and processes in order to maintain and increase their
competitiveness. Technological advances do not only mean the
development of new devices and software. The development of technology,
especially in the field of information and communication, affects and
Developments
transforms the business environment in many aspects that are, for instance
sociological, economic and political. An enterprise’s corporate
communication system must operate smoothly and effectively so its
activities can be carried out, ensuring coordination between the
management and organizational and environmental units. Also, both the
system and the management approach must be constantly updated according
to technological developments.
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UNDERSTANDING NEW CONSUMERS THROUGH
THE LENS OF A PROMISING MARKET
SEGMENT: LOHAS
MİRAY BAYBARS AND KETİ VENTURA
Introduction
Main assumption of market segmentation is that the overall market is

composed of consumers with different backgrounds, features, likes,
dislikes, values and lifestyles. Simplest and traditional ways of
segmentation like demographic or geographic segmentation are either being
abandoned by firms or they are being used as the first level tools for market
segmentation. Consumer markets are less frequently being segmented via
solely demographic or geographic bases due the complexity of the market
structure.
Values and lifestyles on the other hand are noted to be better indicators
of consumer behavior, especially when they are combined with
demographic profile of the consumers. Since solely demographic profile
falls short in explaining the reasons why people purchase specific products
or brands, marketing professionals prefer to keep an eye on the activities,
interests and opinions of consumers to understand them better. Lifestyle
segmentation is preferred widely by companies due to its accuracy in
understanding the underlying reasons of purchase (Clow and Baack 2018).
Depending on the the research made by Natural Marketing Institute (NMI)
on adult consumers in U.S., according to the environment, sustainability and
health engagement of the individuals, consumer segments can be classified
into five subgroups that can be listed as LOHAS (Lifestyles of Health and
Sustainability), Naturalites, Drifters, Conventionals and Unconcerned (NMI
2013). LOHAS, in this categorization system is composed of the “greenest”
consumers that are capable of affecting the less green ones to adopt
LOHASian values. Consumers representing “Lifestyles of Health and
Sustainability” segment are the ones not only caring about their personal
health, but also have consciousness on the well-being of the social and
Understanding New Consumers through the Lens of a Promising Market 469
Segment: LOHAS
natural environment that they are belonging to. Sustainability of the natural
environmental resources, decreasing the carbon footprint on earth, caring
about the social justice of workers and producers are among the issues that
are prioritized by LOHAS consumers.
Since those consumers have the ability to make specific LOHASian
demands and values mainstream by introducing them to others (French
2018), they can be named as the innovators of the eco-marketplace. But at
the same time, LOHAS consumers are expected to be the ones who are
asking for more in terms of being more sustainable and healthy, challenging
the current norms of being green, and thus paving the way for the followers
to adopt greener, healthier and more sustainable alternatives than the current
ones (French and Showers, 2008: 33).
Research signifies that the spirituality and the values shared by the
individuals who are believing in health, sustainability, personal
development, social justice and inner well-being are well commercialized
by the market and this market segment is soon expected to be surpassing
others in terms of its volume and growth (Gelfer 2010). Although LOHAS
consumers are highly health conscious, eco-friendly and from this point
they are expected to keep a distance from the harsh capitalist market
environment, there are lots of products and services to attract that specific
market segment of LOHAS (Osawa 2014). To put it differently, even
though the consumers of LOHAS are seriously caring about environment
and sustainability via being integrated with nature and/or natural resources,
a serious profit oriented and market forming sphere is created around this
consumer segment. So they are not rejecting the market forces or sources to
stay natural and purified, on the contrary LOHAS consumers are well
integrated with the market to benefit from the advantages of it for them
individually -in terms of an improved personal health- and for the whole -
in terms of a better natural and social environment-.
In this chapter, the reasons giving rise of the irrepressible progress of
LOHAS, the consumers belonging to this promising segment, digitalization
effect on the LOHAS consumers and businesses, main characteristics of
both the consumers and the market, its importance in today’s and
tomorrow's marketing scene will be analyzed in detail.
Changing consumer trends and LOHAS

Several lifestyle segments once classified as “niche” are expanding
dramatically because of the rapidly changing market conditions. Based on
the early study of Ray and Anderson (2000), LOHAS segment –once
defined as “cultural creatives”- is one of those attractive segments that
470 Miray Baybars and Keti Ventura
should be taken seriously by businesses. Lifestyles of health and

sustainability can be analyzed from two main perspectives. First part of the
construct, represented with “health” is related with the individual well being
of the consumer, whereas “sustainability” signifies an environmental and
societal point of view and looks for ecological friendliness, fairness, social
justice in relationships.
As it is exclusively emphasized in Euromonitor Top 10 Global
Consumer Trends Report (2018), younger consumers tend to reduce harm
to themselves and no more want to engage with the unhealthy habits.
Moreover, compared with the past, the motivators of consumption for
individuals have changed. Improvement of material benefits for consumers,
represented by a high performance-price ratio is not evaluated as the only
reason for product and service preference for consumers any more. Besides
material benefits, products’ and services’ effects on health and well being
become more important in their choice of products, as today’s consumers
are described as being more conscientious, communal and minimalist than
before (Accenture 2013). Sustainability and social responsibility practices’
positive effects on firm performance increase continuously. However,
companies’ current efforts become insufficient as new consumers become
more demanding and expecting more transparency from brands for
providing dependable proofs that they are caring frankly about their
consumers’ health, environmental and societal well being and sustainability
just like they care for the brand’s profitability.
Having just a green label is no more enough for today’s customers. They
are looking for brands that have environmentally friendly production
methods, minimum negative effect on natural and social environment and
fruitful social responsibility practices, which makes the main bases for
competition especially in mature markets with developed economies.
Product or service quality is still important for the consumers, but besides
these hygiene factors, the workplace policies dealing with how firms treat
their workers and the issues related with dealing with businesses’ social
environment, no matter it is directly related to company’s core business or
not, create the difference in terms of competition.
Sustainability is gaining more importance for today’s consumers when
compared to the previous years. Due to the increase in the number of
conscious consumers, the willingness of spending time and effort to learn
how to consume in an environmentally responsible manner also increases
(Uusitalo 1996). According to Nielsen’s (2018b) report of “Sustainable
Shoppers Buy the Change They Wish to See in the World”, the trend
“healthy for me and healthy for the world” is growing and consumers are
willing to pay a price premium for the products and services that are
Segment: LOHAS
fulfilling their need for health and sustainability. Within the “healthy for
me” approach, the consumers are conscious about the things that they put
in their bodies and on their skin, on the other hand the approach of “healthy
for the world” emphasizes the necessity of eco-friendly and recyclable
products in a carbon-neutral environment.
Research evidence shows that sustainability attributes are supporting the
products in terms of increased sales for now (Nielsen 2018e). Consumers
preferences are currently in favor of the sustainable products rather than the
other alternatives. On the other hand, in the following years those attributes
will be considered no longer as an additional augmentation for products or
services that are causing a reason for purchase, but they will soon be
belonging to the expected product level. Thus, to stay competitive and take
the advantages of current and future market opportunities, keeping up with
LOHAS values will not provide firms with advantages but be a necessity to
survive in near future.
Nowadays, the rapid increase of digitalization and usage of Internet
technologies in every moment of our lives makes consumers more aware
that they can precisely influence the design and manufacturing of a product
or service. The connectivity of modern consumers within each other or with
their friends and families causes different structures of consuming (Szmigin
and Piacentini 2018). Individuals can easily influence each other (Abubakar
and Ilkan 2016) by sharing every experience about the brands, products or
services (Gómez-Suárez et al., 2017). Thus, the online platforms has
become an important medium for the LOHAS segment to share, inform,
interact and act collectively. Blogs, newsletters, virtual communities, social
networking sites and social media are frequently used by products and
brands to increase awareness, likeability, preferability and transparency
through an informative and attractive content. LOHAS consumers are more
digitally engaged compared to the other consumer segments (with respect
to their health and sustainability orientation) and they like being online as
consumers, since their preferences are in favor of shopping online, shopping
on a handheld device and use online sources while they are in store (Nielsen
2017a). Since LOHAS consumers are listed at the top when it comes to
consciousness and involvement in terms of personal health awareness and
care about overall sustainability, these individuals are expected to be the
influencers on digital platforms affecting others to behave in line with the
LOHASian values and priorities. So digital platforms can be evaluated as
the venues where LOHAS consumers can influence other consumers on
their way to be greener. On the other hand, LOHAS consumers are the
challenging agents for companies on digital platforms, since their positive
or negative comments, queries, judgements etc. have an important effect on

the sustainability practices, transparency and accountability of businesses.
Millenials are found to be more willing to be a part of LOHAS segment
and pay a price premium for the brands with values in line with LOHASian
values when compared to the generation of Baby Boomers, according to the
Nielsen article (2018a). Gen Z and Gen Y are also thinking that corporate
sustainability policies are of extreme importance to save the natural
environment around (Nielsen 2018b). So it can be noted that new
generations are expected to be more aware and demanding in terms of
LOHAS principles.
These drivers trigger the importance of LOHAS market and trends in
consumer buying environment (Clow and Baack 2018) which forces
marketers to keep an eye on health and sustainability conscious consumers.
As NMI’s (2017) “16th Annual LOHAS Sustainability in America:
Consumer Trends Tracker” study stressed the Eco-Marketplace, consisting
of 15 market sectors, in U.S is estimated to become a $1.5 trillion market
by 2020. It’s attracting a growing interest and also represented as a multi-
billion marketplace globally (Paterson 2008). The rapid spread of
environmental consciousness among consumers motivate marketers to
carefully analyze these niche markets that are transforming into mainstream.
The important thing for companies to be successful in LOHAS segment is
to ensure that the target consumers are eager to be involved in this segment
(Dahlstrom 2010) otherwise all the marketing efforts will fail.
LOHAS market with an industry outlook

Any product or service that are related with sustainable economy, healthy
lifestyles, alternative healthcare, personal development, and ecological
lifestyles is promising from the aspect of changing consumer markets
dynamics (Gelfer 2010) and an issue of LOHAS market segment.
Organic/healthy food, eco-tourism, hybrid vehicles, renewable energy
systems, eco-friendly/organic cleaning/personal care products etc. can all
be mentioned as relevant sectors of LOHAS (Solomon 2018). But even the
businesses which are not operating in the abovementioned categories should
consider LOHAS segment and so-called LOHASians seriously.
Underlying reason for taking the categories that are not directly affected
or being affected by relevant sectors of LOHAS seriously is the perspective
of triple-bottom-line. Triple-bottom-line, standing for 3Ps (Profits, Planet
and People), is a business orientation that takes its roots from late 90’s
(Elkington 1997). The logic behind this phenomenon is that businesses are
not only responsible for generating profits for its shareholders, but they are
Segment: LOHAS
also in charge of the natural environment that they are operating in (Planet)
and the individuals (People) that they are in connection with. Triple bottom
line approach functions as a bridge between the LOHAS and the companies
that are operating outside the LOHAS product/service categories. Due to
the increased health and sustainability consciousness among the consumers,
businesses should take these sensitivities carefully in their agenda to satisfy
their target market, even if their products/services are not directly related
with LOHAS. Therefore, understanding LOHAS segment is vital since this
segment is expanding to cover new products and services day by day and
the performance of businesses are not only measured by financial profits
gathered but by also considering businesses’ effects on people and planet.
Examples from practices include Coca-Cola and Starbucks that had started
their own Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) departments keeping up
with the demands of this market segment (Howard 2007).
The consumers within the emerging market segment of LOHAS have
shared values and expectations when it comes to health and sustainability,
regardless from the industry. The reason is that this emerging market
segment wants to merge their values with their buying habits. Although
there are so many different industries, LOHAS consumers have similar
values and expectations (Emerich 2010) from the products and services
competing within the marketing environment. Therefore, there can be
various sectors that can target to LOHASians.
One of the most promising sectors that LOHAS concept applied is the
hospitality industry. Many restaurants, especially the upscale ones, are
interested in healthy catering, green environmental protection and leisurely
lifestyles which provides a rational and an emotional experience to their
customers (Cheng et. al. 2019) as well as healthy dining and green indices
(Kwon et al. 2007; Kwon and Song 2006). Besides, automobile industry
also pays a substantial attention on the LOHAS segment. For instance, in
China, electric F3e car, is produced with environmentally-friendly
environment technology-powered battery by Shenzhen BYD (Qian 2007).
And many brands engaged in mass production of automobiles are proudly
presenting their hybrid vehicles to the market.
Some of the LOHAS segments are better in terms of improvement such
as natural products that are including food and self care items. Energy
efficiency products, yoga and alternative medicine is going mainstream
especially in developed economies (Cortese 2003). The LOHASians can be
the target market of sustainable economics, personal development,
ecological lifestyles, healthy lifestyles, and alternative health care industries
(Howard, 2007). Here is an outlook to these industries:
Sustainable economics
Sustainability is simply the balance between economic, social and
ecological objectives. Within the sustainable economics, social welfare
outcomes, the quality of the economic activities and striving for sufficiency
is essential (Litman, and Burwell 2006). Sustainable economists view
humans as cooperative and eager to take on responsibility. They stress the
importance of individual dependence on sustainability ecosystem which
will reinforce the responsible consumption. Globalization,
commercialization and the hard conditions of life cause consumers to
distance considering from the production process of the goods they buy
(Gapp and Venkatesan 2016). However, higher degree of awareness,
consciousness, education level and lifestyle increase the number of people
who interests with sustainable economics (Mills and Schleich 2012).
Individuals who are interested in sustainable economics prefer to buy brands
that care about issues like pollution, climate change, education, health and
human rights. For example, UPS uses hybrid-electric and compressed
natural gas trucks while delivering the orders. This can be an opportunity
not only to reduce costs and operate efficiently but also strengthen the
brand’s image for environmentally conscious consumers (PWC 2008).
Personal development
The late capitalism and the growing importance of new media make the
autonomous self nurtured and give rise to an increased individualism and
meaning of happiness and existence have changed for the consumers.
Personal development in the LOHAS category stresses the significance of
the mind, body and the spirit (Derryberry 2005; Emerich 2011).
LOHASians take care of their personal development to achieve the full
potential as a human being (Mróz and Sadowska 2015). One of the most
important thing that they consider while spending money, is the
product/service’s potential to contribute to their personal development and
reinforce their own potential (Cortese 2003). Companies operating in
wellness and fitness industries are providing classes like yoga, pilates and
reiki, which can be evaluated under personal development category.
Besides, natural and organic personal care, health and beauty products’
(Lohas 2007) manufacturers focus on sustainability, environment and
health. For instance, global cosmetics company, Yves Rocher, take actions
on biodiversity and carry out sustainability programs. They give assistance
to women communities dedicated to these issues and actively work for
preserving plant species with the “committed to changing the world” motto.
Segment: LOHAS
Ecological lifestyles
Today consumers are more aware of the environmental issues and perceive
that environmental responsibility is not the duty of just companies, but of
their own as well (Fraj and Martinez 2007). Within this context, ecological
lifestyle is a way of life in which acquisition, consumption, and disposal
patterns (Kinnear, Taylor and Ahmed 1974) are supported by environmental
attitudes and behaviors (Dunlap et al. 2000). Environmental consciousness,
recycling orientation, taking part in events to protect the environment are
some of the characteristics of people adopting this lifestyle. Besides, those
consumers analyse companies’ activities and messages critically in order to
comprehend whether they are environmental and socially respectful or not.
Therefore, it is essential for companies to underlie the ecological symbols
that will be useful for the credibility of their product on their packaging,
labelling, channel systems and so on (Fraj and Martinez 2006). Ecological
home and office products, organic / recycled fiber products,
environmentally friendly appliances, eco-tourism and travel business are
some of the industries focus on the ecological lifestyles (Fukushi and
Schumacher 2005).
Healthy lifestyles
Choosing a healthy lifestyle requires healthy consumption habits with inner
values maintain the greatest possible flow while causing minimal entropy.
As the world becomes more connected, individuals become more connected
and aware about the health issues and the limited world resources (Cohen
2010). The way of living in a healthy way is mostly conditioned by the
lifestyles of individuals. This segment in LOHAS market tries to follow a
healthier diet and balanced life (Magistris and Gracia 2008). A healthy
lifestyle is not just related with consuming healthy food for physical well-
being, but also mental, social and spiritual welfare is of at least equal
importance (Szalonka, Światowy and Witek 2016). As mentioned earlier in
this chapter, the growing trend of LOHAS segment has a great impact on
several industries to produce healthier products. Health oriented products,
nutritional supplements, green and organic products such as organic food,
personal care products, garments are some of the most popular ones that
operate and target to health lifestyle segment.
Alternative healthcare
Recently, alternative healthcare methods which comprises a sense of
responsibility for one’s own health and self-healing techniques have been
gaining popularity in many societies. The development of technology and
social media yield a great impact on people’s awareness of health issues and
accordingly, the number of people agreeing of paying more for the

alternative healthcare techniques are increasing (Koch 2015). The 2012
National Health Interview Survey provides information about the use of
many complementary and alternative health methods in USA. Dietary
supplements, chiropractic or osteopathic manipulation, yoga, massage, and
meditation are some of the popular ones. Grand View Research (2019) has
estimated the global complementary and alternative medicine market size
to be USD 210.81 billion by 2026. One of the most remarkable findings of
the report is the high adoption of herbal dietary supplements, botanicals and
other wellness therapies like yoga, and acupuncture especially in Europe
and Asia Pacific as well as the emerging markets like Latin America,
Middle East and Africa. It can be seen that alternative healthcare is a
growing segment that needs to be considered attentively as the consumers
are increasingly willing to buy from companies that care alternative and
complementary health practices.
Main characteristics of LOHAS consumer

Shared values cement LOHAS segment. Consumers of LOHAS cannot be
defined by certain age or income groups, but shared values like
environmental care, health and sustainability consciousness are common
among the LOHAS consumers (Ethos 2017).
But still, LOHAS consumers are mostly educated, affluent, highly
involved in purchasing decisions from the aspect of health and sustainability
(i.e. considering health and sustainability effects of their purchases),
judgemental about the advertising claims that may be deceptive or having
hints of greenwashing (Harding 2010). Interestingly, affluence of LOHAS
consumers does not drive them to purchase more, on the contrary those
consumers are likely to use public transport, buy garments from flea
markets, and live a simple life away from consumerist anxieties (Qian
2007). On the other hand some products/services that can be listed as luxury
items for now like green housing are on the list of the LOHASians (French
and Showers 2008).
Food is one of the main area of concern for LOHAS consumers. These
consumers are not only interested in the personal health benefits of the items
that they purchase (i.e. organic, fresh, non-genetically modified produces
with no additives) but also the purchased items’ effects on sustainability
(i.e. natural environment, people, etc.). Nielsen Health and Wellness Report
2020 (2017b) reveals that the consumers are increasingly changing their
preferences in favour of the products that have labels declaring the organic,
GMO (Genetically Modified Organism)-free, gluten-free nature of the
Segment: LOHAS
content. Thanks to the digital technologies, consumers channel power has

increased dramatically vis-a-vis businesses, so that they perform better in
terms of finding information with regard to the products or services that they
are considering to purchase with respect to previous years (Clow and Baack
2018). Sustainability, on the other hand, remains another important concern
affecting consumer preferences. Especially the younger consumers
represented by the Generations of Y, Z and Alpha are attracted by the
sustainability of the ingredients’ sourcing in food items when compared to
the former generations. Besides, the same generation groups are willing to
pay a higher premium for the health benefits provided by the products
(Nielsen 2015). Therefore, organizations can succeed in LOHAS segments
as they can integrate customers’ personal health considerations and
sustainability elements into their businesses ultimate goals. So that
businesses can be sustainable on the long run and produce mutual benefits
for customers and themselves.
Media habits of these consumers may vary but, it is obvious that they
are depending on new and alternative ways of communication, when it
comes to obtain information about the products and services on the
marketplace (Nucifora 2003). Since these individuals are identifying
themselves as knowledgeable and influential in health and sustainability,
well educated early adopters (Ning 2010), they simply do not content with
the well-worked TV commercials which shout out the benefits and
advantages of products. Instead, they are looking for information via more
dependable sources like word-of-mouth communication or self-discovery
which are found to be more credible than information coming from business
sources or professional marketing efforts (Nucifora 2003; Yeo 2014).
Online sources may sometimes be more convincing and effective for
LOHAS consumers, especially if the content is created in an independent
manner with no linkages with commercial intents. Treehugger.com is an
exemplary website which provides its audience with authentic content on
sustainable living and healthy options on such issues like design,
technology, energy etc. without a commercial purpose. The authentic
content created by its contributors are well edited to be in line with health
and sustainability purposes.
Information sources are important for LOHAS consumers as they are
trying to combine tiny bits of information that are available for them to
construct a base for trust for the companies that they are in a relationship
with. Declaration of sufficient information from online sources like blogs,
websites or social media will enhance the relationship between the
businesses and consumers. Transparent procurement, production and
marketing procedures increase the dependability of businesses, and as the
information sources are more open and ready for consumers their trust
towards the sources are improved (Stein and Koontz 2009).
Online communication networks like social media had increased the
effectiveness of communication, thus giving greater chance to individuals
to be aware of the healthier and more sustainable alternatives. Initiating an
alternative way of living and consumption, LOHAS consumers state that
LOHAS idea would have been developed differently -i.e. it would be better
developed- if social media networks and online communication media were
utilized in LOHAS’s introductory stage (Emerich 2011). Not only for
information search but also for convenience, LOHAS consumers prefer
online services. Especially for the products that are difficult to find in
traditional marketplace, online shopping is widely preferred (Ottman 2011).
Via digital marketing tools businesses can develop more effective
communications strategy, if they can form a trustworthy, authentic and
sustainable story for their offers. As traditional communication model calls
for a source to disseminate the message which is transmitted via a medium
to consumers, updated communications model reveals a more active agency
for the consumers. Consumers are not passive receivers of message any
more, as they are exposed to any message they can actively participate for
sharing, responding and even creating alternate or supporting messages
(Solomon 2018). LOHAS consumers are known as heavy social media users
(Nastu 2009) which allows them to listen, share and produce content at the
same time. They are labeled as tough researchers of business claims that
punish companies if they realize that the business claims are deceptive
and/or misleading (Ethos 2017). So honesty is the key to reach and retain
the LOHAS customer base.
Besides honesty, transparency is another characteristic that LOHAS
consumers are looking for in the marketplace. Since these consumers are
known for their sophistication, they never be contented with simple
declarations on the product labels. A “recyclable” label is not enough to
convince the LOHAS consumers that the product is good for natural
environment, besides they would like to be informed about the details of
this recyclability to understand the real effect of their transaction (Nielsen
2018c). Moreover, communication is not an one way transmission any
more. Previously, the brands and companies were using transmission
devices to transfer the messages they create for their products or services.
Nowadays, thanks to the digital revolution, not only companies or brands
but also consumers can create, share or disseminate messages with regard
to a product, service, brand or company, or they can respond to the created
messages very quickly which makes up a new communication framework
Segment: LOHAS
and scheme that makes transparency a necessity rather than a competitive

advantage (Kotler 2011).
Increased sophistication levels of customers are bringing about the need
for proving either their products’ details or the company’s efforts on
sustainability for businesses. Because, sophisticated customers are more
powerful when it comes to challenging the companies for being the
gatekeepers of sustainability and health for the products and services that
they are marketing. Today’s consumers are cynical about the sincerity of
company declarations (Cone 2015). So to make them believe to the
company’s declarations, companies have to prove their intentions and
practices on sustainability and health issues, maybe for a couple of times
and at more than one touchpoints.
Depending on the increasing consciousness on health and sustainability,
LOHAS consumers, once defined as a niche market segment is expected to
be mainstream (Nucifora 2003) springing from advanced economies and
trickling down to emerging ones. Thus, the need to understand these
consumer group in a more detailed manner, not only stems from the
profitability of this segment, but also from inevitability of consumer
markets’ change in favor of health and sustainability consciousness
regardless of the markets’ level of development.
LOHAS in various economic settings

The countries that are trying to understand the LOHAS principles and adapt
their business cultures to meet the demands of LOHASians generally belong
to the group of “economically advanced countries” like Germany, Japan,
Taiwan, New Zealand, France, Canada etc. (Howard 2007). Some reports
argue that the discussions around the issues of environmental and social
consciousness in the scope of health and sustainability are in their maturity
stage in those markets, and individuals are really knowledgeable about these
concepts especially in developed economies (Kaiser 2008).
Ekberg (2006) notes that one out of three people living in Japan were
describing themselves as LOHAS consumers by the year 2005. Japanese
people prioritize the use of LOHAS products and services in daily life. Even
in highly undifferentiated markets like bottled water, specific products
named after this specific segment like I LOHAS® had increased their market
share dramatically just because they have tapped the environmental
sensitivity of the LOHAS segment by decreasing the plastic use in
packaging and introducing a crushable bottle that is expected and declared
to give less harm to the natural environment.
Although developed countries like United States, major countries from

Europe, Japan, Australia are at the top of the list with respect to the ratio of
population belonging to the LOHAS segment (Szakály et al. 2017),
Schroeder (2009) argues that a consumers’ LOHAS orientation is
independent from their geographic residence, income or gender. But there’s
a plenty of evidence that economic settings make difference when it comes
to the individuals preferences with regard to the health and sustainability
issues.
For instance, higher price of ecologically responsible products may be a
reason to make them affordable in economically advanced regions.
Japanese, European and American consumers had reported that they will be
willing to pay a price premium to buy the products that are produced in a
more environmentally friendly and sustainable manner (Kaiser 2008). But
while consumers from emerging economies are willing to pay a higher price
premium for the health reasons (i.e. if they believe that the product is
healthier than a cheaper alternative) compared to the consumers from
countries with developed economies of Europe and United States (Nielsen
2015); the sustainability reasons are of secondary importance for them
because of limits on their disposable income. Price premiums are
questionable in the markets where LOHAS principles and values are turning
mainstream. Due to the competition in these markets, consumers with
LOHAS orientations are not expected to be willing for paying extra for
sustainability claims unless the product or service is offering a completely
groundbreaking innovation with added value (Martin 2016).
On the other hand, depending on the National Geographic’s Global
Greendex Project in 2008, consumers from emerging economies (i.e. India,
China), had scored higher for “being greener consumers” than their
counterparts in advanced economies (National Geographic 2008). One
reason for this may be the inherent eastern values like accepting one’s self
as a part of nature, being respectful for others, are already known and well-
appreciated in Eastern part of the world, whereas these values are packaged
and presented as a brand-new product for West (Ning 2011). In many
emerging economies, health products are found to be having a sustainable
growth in terms of both volume and dollars (Nielsen 2018d).
Digital LOHAS setting

Traditional media channels, enabling one way transfer of messages created
by the companies are insufficient in today’s communication environment.
The promotional messages created to convince individuals to prefer
company’s products or services which are served through traditional media
Segment: LOHAS
can be neglected easily in an communication environment brimmed with

noise. Therefore, to reach their target markets in an effective way, brands
and companies should find alternative ways of communication that will
enable the target consumers to be involved more.
Digital media, as an alternative path for marketing communication is far
more effective to provide an increased consumer involvement. Since the
consumers are not only performing as passive receivers of messages in this
media tool, they can participate to the communication process in a number
of ways. They can respond, share or create new messages so that they can
be an integral part of the message creation and dissemination process.
Today’s consumers, surrounded by technology and digital devices, want
to keep in touch with brands and companies on social media. The consumer-
brand relationship model that they are in search for is something which
converges to the relationships they have with their friends and family
members on digital networks. They are looking for quick online responses
as in face to face communication and would like to be in touch so that they
can take the advantages of this relationship. Sophistication of LOHAS
consumers was mentioned above, and this feature on a large scale is
underlying the need for the utilization of digital technologies to reach and
impress businesses’ target market. LOHAS consumers are really difficult to
convince and impress to their high levels of suspiciousness. They are really
difficult to convince with superficial messages or advertising strategies
(Nucifora 2003). One solution to overcome this handicap may be following
a transparent and multiplatform communication strategy that will sweep
away consumers’ doubts about the product, brand or company and put their
minds ease about greenwashing. Digital platforms provide very valuable
touch points from this perspective.
Especially consumers belonging to LOHAS segment is skeptical about
companies' good intentions about sustainability and health consciousness
(NMI 2008). Because of these suspicions, they are willing to eliminate their
suspects by having as much information as they can from the highest
number of touch points possible. These multiple connection points enable
triangulation, so that consumers with question marks in their minds can be
enlightened. For instance, while LOHAS target groups can be informed via
e-mail marketing about the products, services, production, distribution
processes, using additional research evidence will be attracting them to
make your word more credible and dependable. LOHAS consumers are
willing to process the information provided by the companies and they are
not doing this superficially (Boldt 2008). Adopting a point of view which is
in line with LOHASian values is not only related with the product
ingredients, but it requires much more a holistic perspective covering the
production, distribution, promotion strategies of the business (Skafi 2019).

For instance utilization of drones for in store or for home delivery in order
to fulfill the speed need for new consumers, plus sustainability objective
will be satisfied since drones are both cost effective and ecologically
friendly options for a less fuel dependent solution.
Although LOHAS orientation turns to be a mainstream regardless of the
generational bonds, young consumers represented by Generation Z and
Alpha are the most connected ones ever with the highest environmental
sensitivity (Mobium 2017). Especially Gen Z’s demand for healthy
ingredients are expected to be higher than their parents’ due to the increase
in health and wellness orientation and consciousness in these issues (Carter
2017; Ipsos 2018). In the near future, companies that want to reach those
generations with highest efficiency, will have no other chance than adapting
digital technologies for their communications since these consumers are
born into a digital environment. Recently, gamification practices of
businesses has started to penetrate to the teenage market as they are more
connected and digitally active consumers. There are few applications that
are used to attract the Gen Z and Alpha market to encourage them for
engaging in sustainable behaviour. For example, PowerAgent is a game
which encourages the competition of a team to collectively decrease the
consumption of energy used in a house and provide a learning process to
conserve energy (Schiele 2018).
Besides, since LOHAS consumers are the ones with the highest
sensitivity on health and sustainability with respect to the other consumer
groups, they already have the potential to affect others to behave in a more
conscious manner in terms of consuming more healthy, giving less harm to
the natural environment, engaging with some social responsibility practices
or supporting them to improve the social environment that we are living in.
LOHAS consumers are the ones who are more digitally connected with
respect to the consumers with a lower level health and sustainable
orientation (Nielsen 2017a). They take the advantage of digital tools as
consumers either for product/information search, evaluation of alternatives
online shopping or for post purchase processes. Digital technologies are the
unequalled tools for consumers reaching others at minimum cost. LOHAS
consumers can take the advantage of those tools to be opinion creators, and
therefore satisfaction of this consumer group is vital to benefit from their
influencer effects (Bubenheim 2018). By guaranteeing the higher
satisfaction of LOHAS consumers, businesses can perform better while
serving the consumer masses since LOHAS consumers are the ones who are
very influential in affecting others’ views and preferences.
Segment: LOHAS
Conclusion
The harsh competition among firms require companies to be more
responsive to consumer needs and wants more than ever. Rapidly and
continuously changing market conditions call for more agile marketing
departments that will understand and adopt new consumers’ needs and
demands.
LOHAS, being among the most promising market segments in terms of
growth and value should be understood in detail by businesses to be served
effectively. Once appreciated, LOHAS may provide businesses with very
valuable advantages, not only in terms of financial benefits, but more
importantly by helping the firms put emphasis on health and sustainability
as a unique value for its customers. LOHAS, once defined to be a niche
market segment, gradually turns to be mainstream, having its source from
developed economies and trickling down to emerging ones. Thus,
understanding the distinctive characteristics and responding them with all
of the elements of marketing mix is essential from the perspective of the
businesses that would like to have a consistent and sustainable existence in
the market providing the customers with robust value.
Today’s LOHAS segment includes the “greenest” consumers which are
thought to be the innovators and influencers for the eco-marketplace
(French 2018). Therefore, these consumers are valuable as the opinion
leaders and their satisfaction should be prioritized by companies due to
these consumers’ power to affect the masses on the way to adopt LOHASian
values and make this niche turn to be a mainstream.
Moreover, increase of digitalization and use of internet technologies are
especially important in LOHAS segment. Since LOHASians are found to
be the most digitally engaged consumer group with respect to their less
green counterparts, it is at least equally important for firms to figure out how
to reach LOHAS consumers in an effective way to serve and make them
influence others to be loyal customers as they are.
LOHAS, being a relatively new phenomenon is expected to challenge
the way individuals’ perspectives on consumption. Since as consumers we
have no other planet to exploit, we are understanding the need for preserving
the current one. Plus, healthy living is not only a trend but it is an important
priority for individuals to enjoy the life. As awareness and consciousness of
people increase on these concepts, the importance that businesses put on
LOHAS segment turns to be vital. By keeping an eye on LOHAS
consumers and understanding them as well as the LOHAS principles,
businesses will benefit a lot, not only by learning about the keys of a healthy
and sustainable life but also healthy and sustainable business life.
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PERSPECTIVE ON CONSUMER ATTITUDES AND
IMPORTANCE OF ATTITUDES IN MOBILE
MARKETING STRATEGIES
PINAR BACAKSIZ
Introduction
The concept of attitude is defined as the possible behaviour that an
individual is expected to present against a situation, event or phenomenon.
From another perspective, it is characterized as a tendency to react with
internal, emotional, intellectual elements and act as a locomotive for
behaviours. It is a stage of conducting behaviour and preparing for
behaviour.
From this point of view, firstly, the concept of attitude, its importance
and other concepts in consumers will be explained in this study. Then the
qualifications, functions and characteristics of attitudes can be analysed.
After all, components constituting attitude in consumers and theories of
attitude will be discussed in detail. Finally, consumer attitudes ın mobile
marketıng strategies will be revealed in a different perspective.
The contribution of this book chapter to the academic and scientific field
and its unique, compared to other studies will be specified through a large
number of case studies which combines the real business world applications
with behavioural theories. The reader will be able to combine the theoretical
side with the practical applications following the guided tour of our chapter.
The concept of attitudes and other concepts in consumers

The concept of attitude is known as a concept that we often encounter in
everyday life, as well as a pattern of consistent trends that are generally
learned against an event, object or situation. It is also referred to as a chain
of connected beliefs. Faith is the regular knowledge that people have against
anything (Rokeqach, 1968, p.160).
Perspective on Consumer Attitudes and Importance of Attitudes in Mobile 491
While attitudes defined as a structure built on thoughts and beliefs, it is

mentioned that this construction is any stimulant or memory based on
external sources. Attitudes, such as liking positive or dislike the negative
actions such as disregard, beliefs are action-oriented rather than just an
opinion. Beliefs are simply a means of shaping attitudes without any
positive or negative acclaim. In other words, consumers' positive or
negative attitudes towards products can be shaped by beliefs. Attitudes are
sometimes held together with the concept of belief in order to create the
expectation for a result or event. Consumer expectations focus on the
benefits of the product and the value of the customers that the company will
create (Perrealut et al, 2019, p.121).
The concept of value is closely related to the value concept, attitudes
and beliefs, which are defined as beliefs and emotions towards preferability,
although they are the judiciary to determine the importance, essence, quality
and quantity of something individually and socially.
Attitudes mirror the individual values of individuals. At the same time,
values are called a series of beliefs about several subjects and concepts.
Values that have a tendency towards continuity also take attitudes into a
frame and lead to a set of judgments that direct the movements of
individuals. Individuals acquire many experiences in all their lives from
birth to death. Although these experiences create changes in thoughts and
emotions over time, value judgments predominantly occur in childhood.
Although these value judgments, which are unique to the individual, have
different degrees, they have defined as personal values under the merger in
a common denominator: these definitions; equality, freedom, happiness,
peace, success, self-esteem, et cetera concepts. While influencing external
factors such as cultural structure, lifestyle, family and environmental factors
that individuals make their value judgments, they appear to be effective
factors in shaping values in internal factors such as individual's self,
personality and behaviour from this point of view, beliefs, attitudes and
values play an important role in decision making process and attitude
formation in consumer behaviour (Clow & Baack, 2015, p.61).
In addition to these concepts and thoughts are also referred to as
expressions of attitudes and as a result of the interpretation of attitudes.
All of the concepts mentioned above are often used interchangeably or
synonymously. In this respect, it is possible to give examples from the
digital world in order to better understand the differences between the
concepts.
 Belief: Intense use of social networks, makes people asocial, makes
alone
492 Pınar Bacaksız
 Value: The size of the digital world, which enhances personal

development, is indispensable to the present.
 Idea: The idea of many initiatives can be developed through social
sharing.
 Attitude: Influencer users in social networks can be bought more
efficiently at the point where they are trusted.
Positive or negative towards a product (commodity, service, idea) or
object is determined within the concept of attitude, evaluation and emotion.
In other words, the attitude is defined as a continuum that reflects the
feelings, thoughts and behaviours of individuals (Cömert & Durmaz, 2006,
p.352).
Qualifications, functions and characteristics of attitudes

Attitudes are examined in five main groups in terms of their qualifications
(Hoyer & Macinnis, 2012, p.132):
 Being in favour; reports how much we love an object of attitude.
 Attitude accessibility; it shows how easily an attitude is called from
memory.
 Trust in attitude; Attitudes can also be defined in terms of their
strength or confidence in attitude.
 Continuity of attitude; they may also vary according to their
continuity or durability.
 Resistance; finally, attitudes can be defined in terms of their
resistance to change. If consumers are not loyal to a particular brand
or have little information about a product, they can change their
attitude quite easily.
 Attitudes characteristics are as follows (Perloff, 2003, p.27-28):
 Attitudes can change, learn and develop within the social structure.
Family, groups, school life, mass media and other factors can play a
role in the formation of social attitudes.
 Every attitude has power. This power can be considered as the sum
of the three components (emotional, behavioural, cognitive) forces.
 Attitudes may vary depending on the degree of complexity of their
components. It can be said that the attitudes of which the components
are complex and the components with the components are simple.
For example, in addition to the acceptance by the cognitive
component of the time spent on social media is time wasted, the
pleasure taken with the emotional component is remembered.
Therefore, the use of social media may increase.
 There is generally consistency between attitudes. While the attitudes

of individuals generally tend to be coherent, consistency between
attitudes is not necessary for the existence of attitudes.
 Attitudes do not have a structure that can change very quickly. On
the contrary, attitudes that affect our behaviour and thoughts show a
steady trend.
 Persons do not form a single attitude, but constitute a whole.
 Attitudes are robust, effective and touching.
 Attitudes are useful before the formation of a person's behaviour.
Attitudes both guide and influence behaviours. This, however,
means that attitudes are always satisfactory before the behaviour.
 Attitudes can be changed.
Attitudes have four essential functions: knowledge accumulation,
instrumentality, value expression and ego protection. Accordingly, attitudes
provide knowledge for the individual; they play an instrumental role in
achieving the goals of the individual and mediate them to choose the
appropriate means and methods to achieve their goals. Together with these,
they help individuals to choose according to their value judgments and
ultimately contribute to the consistency of perception by preventing the
deterioration or deterioration of the perception of the individual by external
factors. Functional approaches to attitude change indicate that attitudes
serve several purposes of the individual; in other words, they are mediated
by the individual to overcome some of their needs. The theory of Katz and
Stotland (2004), approaching attitudes from this point of view, emphasises
that knowing the functions of attitudes helps us in determining the processes
to be used for attitude change. As motivational processes behind attitudes
change, the conditions and techniques of attitude change naturally differ,
and from this point of view, they argue that attitudes have four functions
(İnceoğlu, 2004, p.38).
Instrumental function of attitude
An attitude can be adopted because it serves as a tool for the individual to
achieve a purpose. It can serve the interests of the individual or the purpose
of social harmony. Starting from childhood; human beings accept their own
needs as a primary goal and have a positive attitude towards these satisfying
objects. For this reason, in order to achieve the desired goal, it develops its
relationship with its environment as a primary behavioural pattern in order
to increase positive, beneficial and motivation to increase the loved ones.
The individual tries to achieve a higher level of achievements by trying to
obtain compatible attitudes for this purpose. Attitudes perform the function
of providing benefits to individuals. It helps people to adapt to the social
conditions in which they live. The individual continually tries to obtain the
contributions that will benefit him from his environment. For this purpose,
obtains compatible attitudes. Attitudes lead to a positive outcome, as they
tend to avoid negative consequences, and thus guide the consumer in
achieving their goals (Ünal, 2008, p.54). For example, someone who likes
the Apple iPhone brand as a mobile phone and who prefers the mobile phone
is also choosing IPAD for tablet selection. It is linked to the principles of
reward and punishment. Positive or negative attitudes toward products and
brands are created according to their pleasure. If the product has brought a
benefit to the person in the past, he/she may have a positive attitude towards
the product.
Value-expression function
These attitudes are formed to reflect the basic values of the consumer. In
addition, the information obtained by the consumer has different values and
meanings according to personal characteristics. Attitudes also have
characteristics that explain the values of psychological identity. The
individual also develops attitudes that express perception in terms of self-
values and wants to see. Attitudes that serve this function define and
strengthen the self identity of the individual. This function is based on the
individual's desire to reflect attitudes that are consistent with their central
values (İnceoğlu, 2004, p.42). Consumers have a positive attitude towards
products that are suitable for their values, personality and lifestyle. Attitudes
reveal the main values and self of individuals. Individuals buy a product not
only for the objective benefits that they derive from it, but also for the
meaning the product specifies for that person (Karalar, 2005, p.132). The
value-making function provides marketers with information to form in
lifestyle analyses and segmentation. For example, the consumer, who
considers environmental protection as an important value, will have positive
attitudes towards environmentally compatible digital products and will have
negative attitudes towards environmentally harmful products. In this
respect, environmentally friendly products prefer products with
biodegradable batteries.
Ego-defence (protection) function
Consumers' positive or negative attitudes towards a particular person,

object, event and phenomenon can help them protect their self and
personalities. Consumers may want to overcome the psychological
deficiencies they feel by buying certain products or feel better. In
accordance with the products and services and the characteristics of the
target audience, prestige, superiority, appreciation, acceptance, being loved,
accomplishment, being strong in marketing communication can be used

(Koç, 2007, p.160). Some attitudes are formed and used to protect the self-
image and self-esteem of the individual against dangers and imperfections.
The attitudes that carry out the ego defence function are aimed at protecting
people from external threats or internal conflicts. These threats and conflicts
are what the individual thinks might harm his ego. People want to protect
their egos from such situations and change the uncertainty they experience
with a sense of trust. These attitudes, which fulfil a function to protect the
ego or the self's image, thus protect the respect for one's self (Odabaşı &
Barış, 2008, p:166). This function of attitude is also called self-esteem
protection. The attitudes protect the person from the threats from the outside
environment or from the inner world. People have a more positive attitude
towards objects or objects that will protect and support their egos. For
consumers, products that protect the ego from worries are therefore
purchased (Ünal, 2008, p.54). Ego defence mechanism exists in two forms.
The first is the tendency to ignore the problem and see it as never. Such a
defence mechanism can have dangerous consequences for the individual's
psychological structure. A second ego defence mechanism is carried out by
means of distortions, i.e., at a different or lower level, rather than a denial.
While this defence mechanism does not usually pose a danger to the
spiritual balance, it may be inconsistent in human behaviour; it can even
turn into an important psychological problem when overused. This function
is supported by the resistance and attitude of photographers who take
photographs as art.
Information function
People are trying to organize the world according to their point of view in
order to understand the chaotic and complex world they are in. People need
to understand the outside world in order to survive, and for this they need
to have four characteristics. These features; definiteness, distinction,
consistency and stability. People need a cognitive structure to keep up with
the changing world and understand the changes. A number of attitudes help
people to meet these needs (Koç, 2007, p.161). From this point of view, the
function of knowledge refers to the way in which attitudes help people to
establish the basic framework in which they construct their worlds and
evaluate new knowledge. Individuals are exposed to a pile of information
that reaches every day throughout their lives. Consumers desire information
they are interested in and need. Therefore, they devote this information to
certain groups, sifting the ones that will not be useful to them, and trying to
classify the information that will benefit their works in a way that they can
use later (Barut, 2005, p.297). People want to understand and know the
people and objects that have the power to influence their behaviour. The
information function plays an important role in meaningful organization of
the information obtained about people and objects. Consumers desire
information they are interested in and need. When a complex situation is
encountered or when a new product emerges, an attitude occurs depending
on the information obtained. If the object is evaluated as positive, the
negative information will be ignored. The same applies when the opposite
is true. The information function of attitudes can also be useful in explaining
brand dependence (Odabaşı & Barış, 2008, p.166).
Consumers who send and receive e-mails in their computers; mobile
phones with the ability to send and receive e-mails are an example of built-
in information function when they are launched.
Components constituting attitude in consumers

A significant proportion of the attitudes occur within the first 20-25 years
of human life (Özkalp, 2002, p.286). Most attitudes are rooted in childhood
and are generally acquired through direct experience, reinforcement,
imitation and social learning. Family is the most important unit of personal
impact; because the basic values and beliefs are learned from the family. In
addition, peers, relationships with admirers, past experiences, and
information from mass media are also of great importance in the formation
of attitudes (Odabaşı & Barış, 2008, p.171). Attitude can occur in many
different ways according to the way it is learned. The process of formation
and change of attitude, the components forming the attitude, the hierarchy
of effects and attitude theories are expressed (Solomon, 2012, p.231).
Consumer attitudes consist of three parts. These are called effects,
behaviour and cognition. Effect; indicates the consumer's sense of an
attitude object. Behaviour is the intention to do something about the
consumer's attitude object. Cognition reflects the faith of the person
involved. Inspired by the initials of these sections, the model is called the
ABC model. The model briefly emphasizes the mutual interactions of hear,
feel and do actions (Tenekecioğlu, 2009, p.65).
Attitudes have three constituent elements, mental, emotional, and
behavioural, and these elements are often assumed to be organized and
therefore internal consistency. According to this hypothesis, what the
individual knows about a subject (mental element,) will approach him with
emotion (positive, negative, neutral) and what attitude he will put against
him (behavioural element). The individual's attitude towards an object,
condition or person in a mental, emotional and behavioural sense reflects
his attitude (İnceoğlu, 2004, p.25). Therefore, it is necessary to make a
meaningful connection between the cognitive, emotional and behavioural

elements in the formation of attitude.
Cognitive (mental) component
The cognitive component (cognitive component), which includes all kinds
of knowledge, experience, belief and thought about the person, situation,
event or object that constitutes the subject of the attitude, constitutes an
important section of the attitude. The mental element is linked to the
intellectual process of the individual and is an element of the
systematization and classification of intellectual or mental functioning.
These classifications, on the one hand, affect the individual's perceptions of
different situations, objects and people, while at the same time making his /
her reactions to different warnings different. The individual uses his or her
mental system in the relations with his environment (İnceoğlu, 2004, p.29-
30). The cognitive component is a mental process in which knowledge is
derived from perception or ideas, and includes the experiences and
experiences of individuals as a result of the information they obtain from
different sources. The consumer's product, brand characteristics and beliefs
and information about the services provided by the store constitute the
cognitive component (Blythe, 2001, p.42). One's beliefs about the attributes
of the object. The belief or belief that a person has about the object his owns
does not have to be true or false. This person's personal belief in the object
(Ünal, 2008, p.52). It consists of a person's thoughts, knowledge and beliefs
towards an object. The cognitive component encompasses all the beliefs of
the person about the subject of the attitude and does not need to be true or
real. However, the more realistic the information, the more permanent. The
attitude will change if the information changes. The consumer's product,
brand characteristics and beliefs and information about the services
provided by the store constitute the cognitive component. An example of
how the Samsung and Apple brands are faster in the operating systems of
mobile phones.
Emotional component
In addition to the classification of environmental information, sensations
and experiences, these classifications are associated with positive, negative
events, desirable or undesirable objectives. The existence of such a
relationship represents the emotional element of attitude. However, the
emotional element does not become independent of the other two elements.
The individual's experiences, knowledge that is, the mental element is an
important factor in the development of the emotional element. The fact that
the individual has positive or negative feelings about any attitude is related
to his or her previous experiences. The emotional element is also closely

related to the individual's system of values. When the individual is in contact
with an individual, an object, a situation or a person, the value system in
which he or she is involved has a significant effect on the formation of his
relationship form. On the other hand, there is a close relationship between
the emotional element and the behavioural element. In order to understand
what kind of emotional reaction an individual has to an object, person or
situation, in short, an attitude of attitude, that emotional reaction must be
exhibited as behaviour. It is simpler in relation to the cognitive component
and is associated with the person's values. The person evaluates an object as
positive or negative and feeds feelings accordingly (Blythe, 2001, p.42).
This dimension of attitudes is related to person's values. The individual's
values are effective in creating feelings for an object (Ünal, 2008, p.52). It
is an emotional response to an object and involves emotions. According to
the cognitive component, it has a simpler structure and is related to the
individual's values. The person evaluates an object as positive or negative
and gives him the feeling. Employees in the field of consumer behaviour
generally agree that the consumer's beliefs and feelings are consistent
(Odabaşı & Barış, 2008, p.159).
Behavioural component
The third component of the attitudes is the behavioural component. An
attitude usually tends to tend to behave towards the individual in the attitude
object. An individual with a positive attitude towards an object tends to be
positive towards it, to approach it, to show it, to support it, to help it. If an
individual whose attitude towards an object is negative, he will tend to be
indifferent to or away from this object, to criticize, or even to harm him
(Özkalp, 2004, p.283). This component is a particular behavioural tendency
for the subject of attitude. It reflects the tendency to move in accordance
with the other two components. Action is directional. The behavioural
component reflects a tendency and intends to act in a particular direction.
However, it may be wrong to expect that the person should always act
according to this intention and the intervening factors may affect the
decision (Blythe, 2001, p.42). The behavioural element reflects the
individual's behavioural tendency towards the subject of attitude in a given
group of stimuli. These behavioural trends can be observed from words or
other movements. They are also influenced by individual attitudes, norms,
and attitudes that are not directly related to the object of attitude. Therefore,
when talking about the behavioural element, it is first necessary to
distinguish between two types of behaviour: one is emotional behaviour and
the other is normative. Emotional behaviour is the result of associating the

attitude issue with an unpleasant or absent situation (İnceoğlu, 2004, p.31).
The following example explains how these three components are active
and how they affect consumer behaviour. It is expected that the consumer
will love the virtual shopping experience (emotional) if it is believed that
the online shopping will provide positive benefits (cognitive) such as time
and cost advantage. As a result, the consumer uses this sales channel as a
positive behaviour and buys the product (behavioural). Therefore, both the
virtual purchasing experience, the consumer's attitude about the product and
the need to determine the cause of this attitude. From this point of view,
attitude components are as follows.
Three hierarchies of effects
Solomon, 2012, p.141

The model showing the different effects of the components of cognitive,
emotional and behavioural attitudes in consumers is called the hierarchy of
effects. The model briefly describes the interrelation between knowing,
feeling, and acting, and explains the formation of attitude according to the
roles they undertake (Ünal, 2008, p.52).
Accordingly, there are three different hierarchy of domains.
The Hierarchy of Effects Model High-Involvement Hierarchy (Standard

Learning) Cognition – Affect - Behaviour Low-Involvement Hierarchy
Cognition – Behaviour - Affect Experiential Hierarchy Affect – Behaviour
– Cognition
High-Involvement Hierarchy (Standard Learning)
Consumer approaches product choice as a problem solving process. The
consumer first has a belief about the product by collecting information about
the product characteristics and then has a feeling about the product by
evaluating these beliefs. Finally, according to this assessment, the consumer
exhibits appropriate behaviour and produces positive or negative
consequences for the product. This hierarchy shows the situation in which
there is a high level of care and that the consumer needs intensive
information.
Low- Involvement Hierarchy
It shows the situation where the consumer has low interest. Since the
consumer has low interest in the product, he does not know much about the
product. Due to its low interest, it is not in search of information. Therefore,
it exhibits behaviour based on the small amount of information it has. After
the behaviour occurs emotions about the product and the attitude develops
(Ünal, 2008, p.53). The idea of preferring one brand to another is not
dominant in the consumer. Instead, the consumer acts in the light of limited
information and establishes an assessment of the product after the product
is purchased or used.
Experiential Hierarchy
The consumer has a feeling about the product. Then, it chooses to prefer the
product or not. Attitudes are influenced by hedonic motives such as how the
consumer feels the product or how fun it is to use. The idea that attitudes
according to experiential hierarchy can be affected by factors such as
packaging design, advertising, brand names are adopted.
Theories of attitude
Today, a number of theories have been formed about the conditions under
which the mental, emotional and behavioural elements of attitude can be
changed and how they can be compatible with each other. According to
Solomon (2012), attitudes can be changed. However, changing negative
attitudes is longer, more expensive and more difficult than changing
positive attitudes. When attitudes are not strong, it is easier to change.
Theoretical approaches to the formation and change of attitudes are as
follows;
Cognitive (Mental) Consistency Theory
From the 1960s on, the theoretical framework of attitude change that leads
to the most research is consistency. Attitudes, as examined in the
characteristics of attitudes, tend to consistency. This consistency exists
between both elements of attitudes and attitudes. In fact, it can often be said
that human thinking and behaviour tend to be inconsistent and consistent.
Consistency theories include the theory of "equilibrium" by Heider,
"cognitive balancing" theory of Rosenberg and Abelson, "cognitive
contradiction" theory of Festinger. According to this theory, people tend to
show consistency among their beliefs and this is the main factor in the
development and formation of attitudes. Although the individual has many
inconsistent beliefs and values, he tries to make them consistent. While the
individual has consistent cognition and beliefs and acquires new knowledge
that is inconsistent with existing cognitions and beliefs, he tries to minimize
this inconsistency.
Self Theory
Beliefs and attitudes are not always strong and easily accessible from
memory. According to the theory of self, when beliefs and attitudes are
relatively inaccessible, people make some sense about their beliefs and
attitudes based on the behaviours they display. In short, self-theory assumes
that individuals determine their attitudes by observing their own behaviours.
Social Judicial Theory
Individuals adopt new knowledge about what they already know or feel
about the subject of the attitude (Kardes, 2002, p.163). According to this
theory, people interpret the information they obtain about an object

according to their existing feelings. However, the scope and level of the
person's information varies according to the individual. According to the
social judicial theory, a strongly connected attitude differs from the self-
reflection. In other words, by using the contrast mechanism, it is more likely
to disagree and disagree those views even more differently.
Balance Theory
This theory, which was developed by Heider (1958), took the name of
equilibrium theory because it argued that it was trying to balance one's
thoughts and emotions. In short, he focused on balancing the person's
attitudes in equilibrium. According to the theory, one's thoughts about an
object, the property of the object and the person's perception of it must be
compatible. If it is not compatible, tension is raised and the attitude is re-
established. The main idea of this theory is that an unbalanced system will
change in the direction of equilibrium. According to this theory, the
imbalance leads to pressure on the person to change towards a balanced state
(Ünal, 2008, p.57).
Mandatory Attitude Change
According to this theory, a person develops an attitude on a particular basis,
that is, the attitude meets his need. If this need is met, there is no need for
attitude or a new need arises, a change in attitude is seen in parallel.
Two Process Theory
Two processes are important for consistency in attitude change research.
These are attitudes that follow the rules of logic and attitudes that make
dreams seem real. Some attitudes are consistent with each other in
accordance with logic rules. On the other hand, some attitudes are consistent
with each other as the realization of dreams. It is natural that people will
attempt to resolve their inconsistencies in relation to their attitudes based on
logical relations between different subjects and their attitudes based on the
perception of dreams as false (false consciousness). However, when people
talk about the logical relations between objects in a certain subject, their
experiments can be changed in a logical way.
References Theories
The references theories, especially on people's regular tendencies,
friendships, likes, dislikes such as the subject of a reference (tendency or
behaviour of a particular reason), on the subject of how to do. Depending
on the situation, the citation process may lead to the formation of attitudes,
change of attitude or consolidation of the individual's current attitudes

(İnceoğlu, 2004, p.67).
Consumer attitudes in mobile marketıng strategies

The extended literature review is conducted in order to explore the effects
of mobile marketing on consumer attitudes. Customer purchase behaviour
in the mobile environment is rapidly evolving. Kamphuis and Ramnarain
(2012), mentioned the theory of cognitive dissonance which is one of the
most important theoretical concepts in explaining the integration of a single
attitude into an individual‘s attitudinal system. The theory is based on the
assumption that if discrepancy between several cognitions (i.e. consumer
attitudes, opinions) arises, consumers experience feelings of discomfort.
The behavioural intention are additionally connected by a causal
relationship such that attitude toward the act predicts behavioural intention
(Kamphuis & Ramnarain, 2012). Furthermore, according to Solomon
(2012), consumer behaviour is much more than buying things; it also
embraces the study about how having or not having things affects
consumers‘ lives, and how their possessions influence the way feel about
themselves – their state of being. Behavioural intentions mean various
determinants in the buying process; access, accept, intention, trial, purchase
and adopt (Shankar & Balasubramanian, 2009).
To identify and understand the determinants of the consumer‘s
acceptance of mobile marketing it is thus necessary to measure the factors
determining the attitude toward mobile marketing. The impact of mobile
marketing on young consumer attitude towards mobile marketing measures
by behavioural intentions in this research. In the model developed for this
study the acceptance construct is represented by purchase intention. To
identify and understand the determinants of the consumer acceptance of
mobile marketing it is thus necessary to measure the factors determining the
attitude toward mobile marketing. Bauer and Barnes (2005) studied in order
to find out the consumers attitude toward mobile advertising. In 2005
mobile advertising was such a new phenomenon that not enough consumers
had been using this service for such a significant amount of time in order to
allow the researchers to conclude on a stable attitude toward mobile
advertising (Bauer & Barnes, 2005). This means a consumer‘s attitude
toward mobile marketing can be best predicted by one‘s intention to use this
form of marketing. With this research for mobile marketing conducted ten
years later, mobile concept has become more accepted by consumers.
There is a significant relationship between the four characteristics of
mobile advertising and the general attitude of consumers. These features are
positive among amusement, information and reliability and attitude; there

is a negative relationship between irritation and attitude (Tsang et al, 2004,
p. 65).
The starting point of attitude research for SMS ads is based on models
describing attitudes towards online advertising and on structures in these
models. One of the theories used to explain attitudes towards SMS ads sent
via mobile is Rogers' theory of Innovations. Adaptation to new technology
is influenced by beliefs associated with five characteristics of innovation.
These five features of innovation are relative advantage, compatibility,
complexity, traceability and observability. These features are used to
explain user compliance and decision making processes. The relative
advantage is the degree to which an innovation is replaced by a thought or
object that is better understood. Compliance is the degree to which an
innovation is perceived by the existing values, past experiences and the
needs of potential adapters. Complexity is the degree of complexity in
understanding and using innovation. Stability is the degree to which
innovation can be tried at a limited level. Observability is the degree to
which the results of innovation can be observed by others. These five
features are described for mobile phones as follows (Rogers, 2003, p.211):
 Relative advantage: One of the main advantages of mobile phones

for business people; following up on appointments and avoiding
postponement is about two hours per week. Portable mobile phones
make the user independent of the space.
 Compatibility: Mobile phones are compatible with the existing
telecommunications system and allow users to communicate with
fixed telephones. The terms used by the users for mobile phones are
generally not technical terms, but they carry the positive images of
most nations.
 Complexity: From the user's point of view, the logic of a mobile
phone is the same as for fixed phones, and the user does not need to
learn new skills. When SMSs were first introduced, especially young
users gained the ability to send SMS immediately.
 Testability: A friend's mobile phone can be used for testing
purposes. In addition, other features of mobile phones can be tried in
sales stores.
 Observability: The use of mobile phones in the community reveals
the superiority of these devices for potential buyers. This innovation
is highly observable, both visually and audibly.
Another theory used to explain consumers' attitudes towards SMS ads is

the Theory of Actions. Attitude, tendency and behaviour are the three main
building blocks of the Theory of Caused Actions. The Theory of Caused
Actions relates beliefs, attitudes, tendencies and behaviour to identify the
psychological processes that mediate the observed relationships between
attitude and behaviour (Tsang et al, 2004, p.69).
The Technology Acceptance Model, which is another theory used in
explaining the subject of attitude, explains the behavioural tendencies of
individuals by using a system determined by two beliefs (perceived usability
and perceived ease of use). The Technology Acceptance Model is an
improved version of the Theory of Caused Actions. The Technology
Acceptance Model has a more comprehensive set of innovation features
than Rogers (2003) model as a precursor to the trend (Muk, 2007, p.181).
Conclusion
Attitudes occur in a psychological, intellectual formation with the influence
of social values, norms and relationships. According to some behavioural
scientists, attitude is a mental element, and some is an affective
preconception that directs behaviour according to some. In other words,
attitude is a tendency of the person to react positively or negatively to
objects, blood or environments. There may be a more complete relationship
or overlap between the process of formation of attitudes and the process of
socialization. Moreover, the socialization process can be realized in line
with the expectations, that is, in accordance with the requirements of the
order, it is possible with the coordinated functionality of behavioural,
mental (cognitive) and affective elements. These three factors in attitude
formation process are called attitude components and are included in
consumer behaviour with ABC model. Consumer attitude is one of the most
important factors when determining the marketing policies of companies.
One of the most important psychological factors affecting the buying
behaviour of consumers is attitude. This factor is an issue that needs to be
addressed in order to create consumer loyalty for mobile marketing
ecosystem actors. New technologies occupy a significant place in the world
of consumption. Mobile marketing is one of the applications that are
dominated by the digital world and which is important in consumer
behaviour. While determining mobile marketing strategies, it is tried to
determine the consumer attitudes and the pulse of target audience is tried to
be measured. Consumer attitudes, which are a very important issue for
businesses, have also become an area of particular interest, depending on
consumer behaviour in scientific terms.
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FUTURE OF CUSTOMER COMPLAINT
BEHAVIOUR: A MULTI-AGENT PERSPECTIVE
WITHIN E-RETAILING INDUSTRY
CANSU YILDIRIM AND GÜL DENKTAŞ ŞAKAR
Introduction
Imagine you arrange an all-inclusive holiday package through a travel
agency. You longed for this holiday as Cambodia and Vietnam are both
included in your bucket list. However, the problems start as you arrive at
the airport for your travels. First, the flight was delayed for hours, then after
landing, you had to wait an hour for your shuttle to the hotel. When you
arrived at the hotel, you discovered that it is nothing like the pictures, thus
you are tired, frustrated and disappointed.
After experiencing such a problem, who do you think the guilty party
is? To whom are you going to complain? Or are you going to complain at
all?
This scenario may seem as an exaggeration; however, failures like these
are common in service industries. Although, previous literature is rich in
terms of service failures, customer complaint behaviour, and service
recoveries within diverse contexts, the multi-agent perspective of these
subjects is neglected. Therefore, the aim of this study will be to further
explore customer complaint behaviour from a multi-agent perspective by
focusing on service failure within e-retailing context.
Service failure
The aim of most businesses is to provide a service or product that exceeds
or at least meets customer expectations (Kim et al., 2009). When this aim is
combined with a focus on service quality, practitioners strive towards “zero
defects”, and “seamless customer service”. However, due to its nature, a
service encounter is social (Czepiel et al., 1985) and thus it relies on the
interpersonal skills of service employees/providers (Nikolich & Sparks,
Cansu Yıldırım and Gül Denktaş Şakar 509
1995). This creates the heterogeneity characteristics of services, and when

these are coupled with the limitations of providers’ control over customer
interactions (Schoefer & Ennew, 2005), inseparability characteristic of
services (concurrent production and consumption) and the co-production of
value with consumers, the service delivery process becomes more complex
(Miller et al., 2000). As Rio-Lanza (2009) argues, even if an organization
has a customer orientation with the strongest quality program, it is not likely
to avoid failures due to the specific characteristics of services (Fisk et al.,
1993).
Service failures can be defined as situations in which service providers
are not able to respond to customers’ requirements (Bitner, 1990). Bell and
Zemke (1987) explain failures by highlighting the difference between
consumers’ perceptions and expectations. Similarly, according to Hoffman
and Bateson (1997) failures are performances that cannot meet consumer
expectations or experiences. Thus, service failure occurs if consumers
perceive that the service is flawed or careless (Palmer et al., 2000).
From another perspective, some researchers tried to define failures by
creating some form of classification. For instance, according to Bitner et al.
(1990), service failures occur if there is a delayed service or if the service
fails to meet consumers’ expectations. Service failure classification studies
including failure types and frequencies are significant as they help to reflect
the consumer’s perspective of effective performance and help service
organizations to identify and try to minimize common failure situations
(Hoffman et al., 1995). As a result, previous literature is rich in terms of
studies focusing on service failure classification.
Following the definition, for instance, in another study, Bitner et al.
(1990) classify service failures as the employee response to service delivery
system failures (e.g. unavailable service, unreasonably slow service), the
employee response to customer needs and requests (e.g. response to special
needs consumers), and unprompted and unsolicited employee actions.
Following in the footsteps of Bitner et al. (1990), McColl-Kennedy &
Sparks (2003) provide four categories of service failures: (1) Failures
related to the service product, (2) Failures related to service providers, (3)
Failures which are outside the service provider’s control, and (4) Customer-
related failures. Holloway and Beatty (2003) on the other hand made a more
detailed classification of failures including delivery problems, web site
design problems, customer service problems, payment problems, security
problems, miscellaneous, and others. However, previous literature (e.g.
Bitner et al., 1990; Hoffman et al., 1995; Keaveney, 1995; Smith & Bolton,
2002) generally uses a basic classification including process or outcome
failures. Process failures emphasize the manner of service delivery, whereas
510 Future of Customer Complaint Behaviour
outcome failures indicate that a basic service need is not fulfilled, or the
core service is not performed (Parasuraman et al., 1985; Smith et al., 1999;
Smith & Bolton, 2002).
Besides the classification of services, previous literature (e.g. Smith et
al., 1999; Weun et al., 2004) also concentrates on service failure severity or
criticality, which could be referred to as the impact of situational factors
(Webster & Sundaram, 1998). In other words, it is “the magnitude of loss
that customers experience due to the failure” (Hess et al., 2003: 132),
meaning that it is the consumer’s perception of the intensity of a service
failure (Wang et al. 2011; Weun et al. 2004). Therefore, the more severe the
failure is perceived to be, the greater are consumers’ reactions (Hess et al.,
2003; Smith et al., 1999). This means that if the situation/products/services
are important for consumers, their feelings of dissatisfaction and frustration
are more likely to be higher than for a minor failure (Blodgett et al., 1993).
Accordingly, it is possible for consumers to demonstrate intensive,
immediate and emotional reactions such as anger after experiencing a
failure (Seiders and Berry, 1998), which leads to retaliatory behaviours
(Bonifield & Cole, 2007). In general, previous literature (e.g. Lewis &
McCann, 2004; Maxham III, 2001; Tax et al., 1998) states that consumers
have negative behavioural outcomes such as dissatisfaction, reduced
repurchase intentions and loyalty, customer defection, negative word-of-
mouth, and switching behaviour. These reactions have a negative impact on
companies’ costs, revenues, employee morale, performance, and
satisfaction (Lewis & McCann, 2004), and thus on profits (Sparks &
McColl-Kennedy, 2001). Therefore, understanding the reactions of
consumers after experiencing a failure is essential for companies as well as
scholars.
Hirschman (1970), on the other hand, gathered these consumer reactions
into three groups: Exit, Voice and Loyalty. Later, Hirschman’s (1970)
typology was enhanced with the addition of “neglect” as a response to
dissatisfaction (Farrell, 1983). Exit refers to leaving the company silently
and never repurchasing from that company again, thus companies have no
control over exit behaviour (Sparks & McColl-Kennedy, 2001) as they have
no idea regarding the reason for exiting. Loyalty means keeping on
purchasing from that company despite dissatisfaction as the consumer
thinks that things will get better or the failure is going to be amended (Black
& Kelley, 2009; Ok et al., 2007), whereas neglect refers to being careless
and staying away (Rusbult et al., 1982).
Voice is, however, an alert for companies as it is the consumer’s way of
demonstrating dissatisfaction to the company. In that sense, consumers may
choose to complain directly to the company (Sparks & McColl-Kennedy,
2001) in the hope of contributing to the correction process, getting

compensation or preventing further failures (Oflaç et al., 2012). However,
they may also prefer to complain to third parties such as their acquaintances,
families and friends (McColl-Kennedy & Sparks, 2003), and this causes
companies to lose both existing and potential customers (Miller et al., 2000;
Nikbin et al., 2012).
Despite seeming bad for companies, voice is a more constructive
response. With voice, consumers are giving out a signal to companies that
something is going wrong and that they should change it. Thus, voice means
consumers are complaining about the problem to friends, consumer
associations, and/or the company itself with the expectation of change in,
for instance, company policies, practices, or responses to failures (Crie,
2013). Therefore, if companies encourage the customer’s voice or customer
complaints, they may have an opportunity to turn a dissatisfied customer
into a satisfied one (Sparks & McColl-Kennedy, 2001). As keeping existing
customers is less costly than gaining new customers, voice and exit have
been widely studied in previous literature as “customer complaint
behaviour” (CCB). CCB could basically be described as a combination of
consumer responses to dissatisfaction (Crie, 2013), and as the fundamental
premise of this study is to understand customer complaint behaviour, this
subject will be detailed in the next subsection.
Consumer complaint behaviour

In achieving a positive marketing outcome, feedback from customers is
accepted as an important factor (Tax et al., 1998; Voorhees et al., 2006).
Such customer feedback relates to customer complaining behaviour and
how customers express their negative feelings regarding a product or a
service. In the light of competitive pressures and customers’ increasing
attention to satisfaction and service quality, service companies need to
understand and pay attention to customer feedback and complaints
(Zeithaml et al., 1996). Complaints are considered as a natural consequence
of any service activity since “mistakes are an unavoidable feature of all
human endeavour and thus also of service delivery” (Johnston, 2001:60).
Complaining is considered as an interpersonal post-purchase stage causing
dissatisfaction (McQuilken & Robertson, 2011).
Accordingly, a commonly cited definition of customer complaining
behaviour by Singh (1988: 94) is “[. . .] a set of multiple (behavioural and
non-behavioural) responses, some or all of which are triggered by
perceived dissatisfaction with a purchase episode.” CBB is generally
associated with an unsatisfied consumer and unpleasant experiences.
Unpleasant experiences can lead to negative feelings and complaints.

Hawes and Arndt (2007) dictated that a dissatisfied consumer is the result
of a higher level of consumer complaints. When good experiences lead to
positive feelings and compliments, bad experiences result in negative
feelings and complaints. There are various factors affecting complaint
behaviour. Demographic factors such as age, gender and education level can
be considered as critical ones that affect complaint behaviour (Han et al.,
1995). Lee and Ferrer (1999) stated that older people are less likely to talk
about a dissatisfying experience compared to younger people. It was found
that better-educated people are more prone to complaining since they know
where and how to complain (Han et al., 1995). In the case of psychological
factors, consumers who are less assertive and conservative were found to
have lower self-confidence leading to decreases in complaint behaviour
(Keng & Liu, 1997).
Effective complaint handling can have considerable impacts on the long-
term sales and profits of the company (Fornell & Wernefelt, 1987). Other
positive impacts are listed as; consumer trust and commitment (Tax et al.,
1998); enhancing the likelihood of repurchase and decreasing negative word
of mouth (WOM) (Blodgett et al., 1993) and a positive impact on financial
performance (Blodgett & Anderson, 2000). Brown (2000) stated that
effective complaint handling could be considered as an important positive
investment for a service company with a return of 30-150% on investment.
A complaint expressed to the company can be considered as an opportunity
to enhance the bond between the customer and the company from the
service recovery perspective (Svari et al., 2010: 33). A complaint is viewed
as an opportunity for service recovery and a chance to educate the customer,
increase loyalty and spread positive word of mouth (Reichheld & Sasser,
1990; Shields, 2006). Through complaint handling management, companies
can protect their businesses from the potential risks of negative WOM and
can secure the image and reputation of the company (Richins & Verhage,
1985). Dissatisfied customers generally express their displeasure in the form
of negative WOM to current and potential customers (Ah-Keng & Wan-
Yiun Loh, 2006; Voorhees et al., 2006). Companies can determine how to
decrease the impact of a complaint by understanding the complaint process.
In addition, handling customer complaints by keeping them satisfied is
mainly considered as a cheaper solution than acquiring new customers in
the long term (Fornell & Wernerfelt, 1987; Johnson & Selnes, 2004).
Customer complaints also provide a considerable amount of information to
the company as; generating marketing intelligence data (Harrison-Walker,
2001); measuring service quality (Marquis & Filiatrault, 2002); supporting
strategic planning (Johnston & Mehra, 2002), developing service design and
delivery (Tax & Brown, 1998; Marquis & Filiatrault, 2002).

The main reasons for customer complaining behaviour are listed as
providing information to the company about the problem, asking for
compensation, and making a change in the case of a problem (Stauss &
Seidel, 2004). Wetzer et al. (2007) gave the eight basic aims for negative
WOM as; a comfort search, venting, a search for advice, bonding,
entertaining, self-presentation, warning other customers and revenge.
Similarly, dissatisfied customers prefer to seek redress from the company in
the form of a refund, exchange or repair, etc., and others choose to do
nothing about it (Stephens & Gwinner, 1998). Both decisions of the
consumers impact their subsequent customer behaviour. Dissatisfied
customers who do not seek redress may prefer to get even by telling others
about their negative experience and by discontinuing his/her relationship
with the company (Blodgett et al., 1995). However, if companies
concentrate on encouraging dissatisfied customers to seek redress, they may
get an opportunity to solve the problem which may make them more
competitive (Blodgett & Anderson, 2000).
Models on consumer complaint behaviour

Consumer complaint behaviour and firms’ complaint handling processes
have attracted the attention of many scholars (Bach & Kim, 2012; DeWitt
et al., 2008; Fornell & Wernerfelt, 1987; Gursoy et al., 2007; Karatepe,
2006; Kim et al., 2010; Sparks & Fredline, 2007; Tronvoll, 2007).
Considerable research findings indicated that effective and efficient
management of consumer complaints leads to higher customer satisfaction
and loyalty. Dating back to the 1970s, research on consumer complaint
behaviour passed through various stages in terms of the development of
definitions and models. In early studies, the main aim was to understand
who complained and why they complained (Hustad & Pessemier, 1973;
Mason & Himes, 1973). Then, the main focus was on suggesting conceptual
models regarding complaint behaviour including antecedents and responses
(Day & Landon, 1977; Singh, 1988). Nasir (2004) listed the six main
research areas in CBB as; (1) the theoretical background of CBB, (2)
consumer satisfaction and dissatisfaction, (3) determinants of CBB, (4)
consumer reactions to dissatisfaction, (5) characteristics of the problems
faced by the consumers, antecedents and determinants of CBB, and (6) the
Internet and CBB. Tronvoll (2008) classified the studies on consumer
complaint behaviour into three categories: motives for complaining,
antecedents to complaint behaviour and types of complaint response.
In the case of motives for complaining, Keaveney (1995) pointed out
three main reasons for complaint behaviour as; core service failure, service
encounter failure and response failures. Tronvoll (2008) suggested four
basic antecedents to a consumer complaint: situational factors, individual
factors, the service provider/service factor and lastly market factors.
Situational factors are basically related to economic criteria, perceived
benefits and the seriousness of the problem. Individual factors are related to
the personalities of the people complaining about a product or service.
These may be affected by demographic, psychological, emotional, cultural
and social factors as well as personality and experience. The third
antecedent indicates that a problem arises from the service provider or the
service. The last antecedent is related to market factors such as degree of
competition, and the industry structure (Tronvoll, 2008).
There are various customer reactions to dissatisfaction ranging from
negative WOM to taking no action or preferring other products or services.
There have been some attempts to classify consumer-complaining
behaviour into different categories. Day and Landon’s (1977) theory of
dichotomy and Singh’s (1988) theory of taxonomy are widely used for the
classification of CBB (e.g. de Matos et al. 2011; Singh & Wilkes, 1996;
Velázquez et al., 2010). In addition, Hirschman’s (1970) theory of exit,
voice and loyalty, Day et al.’s (1981) conceptualization, and Crié’s (2003)
diachronic approaches are also considered as seminal work in CBB. As
mentioned before, Hirschman (1970) developed a three-level model (exit,
voice, loyalty) which was considered a seminal work for the
conceptualization of consumer complaint responses. In this model, it is
accepted that the customer can prefer to voice a complaint to the seller or a
third party and exit the relationship through switching or determination.
Another model is Day and Landon’s (1977) dichotomy and it is a three-
level hierarchical classification model. This model is also widely used in the
CBB literature (Harrison-Walker, 2001; Mattila & Wirtz, 2004). It is
assumed that the consumer’s complaint decision is a result of the
relationship between the dissatisfaction level, the importance of the
purchase, the perceived benefit from complaining and the personality of the
consumer. According to the model, in the case of dissatisfaction, consumers
must “take an action” or “perform no-action”. Complaining actions are
classified as “private actions” and “public actions”. While private actions
are representative of stopping further purchases, ending the relationship
with the retailer or warning friends; public actions include looking for
redress, making complaints to third-party consumer affairs agencies and
legal actions.
Building on Day and Landon’s hierarchical model, Singh (1988)
proposed a three-dimensional model including the private response (e.g.
negative WOM), the voice response (e.g. asking redress from the seller) and
the third-party response (e.g. legal actions or complaints to an external third
party). According to Singh (1988), the private response means actions
expressed within the customer’s own social environment and these may
include warning friends against using a retailer or service provider or
abandoning the relationship with the service provider. The voice response
is about complaining directly to the service provider. This could be a
customer expressing his/her complaint through various communication
means. “No complaint action” is also included in this category. The third-
party response refers to complaints directed to an external party that is not
linked with the service provider. However, third parties may have control
or influence over the service provider. Examples of the third-party response
could be the actions of customers contacting lawyers or newspapers due to
a negative experience or dissatisfaction. Exit occurs when the customer
starts a personal boycott against the retailer or service provider in order to
prevent a repeat of the original transaction, which resulted in dissatisfaction.
Singh (1990b) also presented a typology which considered changing the
dissatisfaction response styles of consumers: passives (they do not take
action, and do not complain), voicers (they complain to the seller in order
to get redress), irates (they complain to the seller and change the provider
and become involved in negative WOM), and activists (they engage in
formal third-party complaining, and they use all channels of complaining,
both for individual redress and social concerns).
Day et al. (1981) proposed possible CCB responses by providing a
detailed set of complaining actions. When a consumer has an unpleasant
experience, the unhappy consumer first needs to decide between
complaining or staying silent. If the consumer decides to take action, then
he/she needs to decide which complaining action to take. Such decisions are
shaped according to the consumer’s evaluation of costs and benefits, the
probability of success of the complaint, the market conditions, legal issues,
etc. Crié’s (2003) diachronic approach uses Day and Landon’s (1977) two-
dimensional model, which proposes “action” and “no action” alternatives as
the first reaction for an unpleasant experience and distinguishes final actions
into public and private actions. Crié’s (2003) approach dictates that
consumers may combine different types of response rather than adopting
only one. This approach suggests that complaints should not be viewed as
individual actions and should be considered as a combination and
interaction of different variables.
Considering the main approaches and models in CCB, it can be
concluded that these models are basically constructed on the traditional
marketing interactions between the company and the consumer. However,
considerable changes have occurred in marketing approaches due to the

developments taking place in information and communication technologies.
Hence, computer-mediated interaction has become a very critical
component for both customers and companies (Dellacoras, 2003). Hence,
new perspectives of marketing as well as of interactions in CBB are part of
the agenda of today’s companies in order to remain competitive, achieve
customer satisfaction and create superior value for the customer. The
following section sheds light on the CBB concept within the perspective of
digital marketing.
Consumer complaint behaviour in digital marketing

The American Marketing Association (AMA) defines digital marketing as
“activities, institutions, and processes facilitated by digital technologies for
creating, communicating and delivering value for customers and other
stake-holders” (AMA, 2019). Organizations increasingly focus on
establishing a digital relationship with customers (Phillips, 2015). The use
of digital technologies creates value in new ways in terms of digital settings.
Organizations enabled by digital technologies establish considerable
capabilities for the creation of value for both their customers and
themselves. Emerging trends have been observed in negative WOM
communications due to technological developments. Considerable evidence
dictates that dissatisfied and angry customers express their negative
impressions through the Internet. Four categories of corporate complaint
websites used for negative WOM were listed by Bailey (2004) as; (i)
individual sites developed by dissatisfied customers or former employees,
(ii) corporate complaint sites, (iii) intermediate sites, and (iv) consumer
protection agency sites. Consumers search for information about the
products or services, purchase them and interact with other consumers about
their experiences through various channels. This has resulted in the
increasing use of digital marketing channels. As Stephen (2016)
highlighted, future consumer marketing will be dominated by social media
and mobile settings. This shows the necessity for consumer research to
explore consumer behaviour in digital settings. Although there has been an
increasing amount of studies concentrating on digital consumer behaviour
over the last decade, Stephen (2016) argues that the current literature is still
in its infancy and more research is needed to consider the digital settings in
which consumers are situated.
Considering the phases before digitalization, in the case of a dissatisfied
and angry customer, companies could expect that these customers would
tell their friends about their unpleasant experience. In the case of a response
category, most negative WOM was communicated person-to-person.

However, in today’s world, one dissatisfied customer “could potentially
impact your business negatively in front of hundreds or even thousands of
prospects” (Cockrum 2011: 2) since technological developments have
provided opportunities for consumers to communicate negative WOM
through the Internet or via social networks. As Tripp and Gregoire (2011)
asserted, complaints through the Internet and social networks are likely to
increase in the future. For instance, Keates (2007) stated that web sites such
as TripAdvisor and customer “reviews” on various e-retailing sites, which
were private in the past, are now open to the public. Since the complaints
are rarely person-to-person, person-to-network interactions leave room for
negative consequences of customer comments and one unhappy customer’s
circle of impact can reach unprecedented proportions (Pinto & Mansfield,
2012). Thus, the person-to-network approach becomes critical as any
complaint stated in any of the channels can be apparent within the overall
network influencing many other actors.
Furthermore, the Internet has triggered the use of a number of such
channels for expressing the negative and positive feelings and experiences
of consumers. As Lee and Cude (2012) dictated, the Internet provides
opportunities for consumers to use one-to-many communications regarding
personal ideas, opinions about products or services to Internet users without
any boundaries and time limitations. In addition, the Internet expedites
many-to-many communications so that consumers can comprehend their
potential consumer power (Pitt et al., 2002). In their research, Cho et al.
(2002) investigated the differences between online and offline contexts in
terms of antecedents of CCB. The findings showed that the effect of
dissatisfaction on the propensity to complain was higher for offline than
online customers. Hence, different consumer reactions to complaint
behaviour can exist in various shopping settings. Omni-channel retailing is
an emerging topic in today’s marketing environment due to developments
in digital technologies. Through digital technologies, retailers can integrate
emerging channels and customers’ touchpoints (Seck & Philippe, 2013).
This approach provides opportunities to create value with customers and
partners through seamless customer dialogue (including social media) from
the pre-purchase to post-sales stages (Deloitte, 2014). Denktas-Sakar and
Surucu (2018) proposed a framework which included three main
components: retailers’ value propositions, suppliers’/partners’ value
propositions, and customer-based value propositions within the perspective
of omni-channel retailing and digital technologies. The existence of
retailers, suppliers/partners as well as customers in omni-channel systems
as well as the various digital channels necessitates a comprehensive
understanding of consumer complaints. Denktas-Sakar and Surucu (2018)

stated that retailers should strive to integrate their in-store, mobile, social
media and web sites in order to offer seamless customer shopping
experiences. A similar approach can also be employed by the companies for
complaint handling procedures in order to build consumer trust.
This change in the perspective from traditional to digital marketing
approaches necessitates an evaluation of past and new models. These
models and approaches may be evaluated by understanding their
perspectives and most of these models are basically derived from the
traditional goods-dominant logic (G-D logic) of marketing. These are
generally considered as static models treating CCB as a post-purchase
phenomenon (Tronvoll, 2012). As G-D logic suggests, in the case of a
failure after the exchange, the customer will be dissatisfied and complain as
a post-purchase activity (Singh, 1990a; Stephens, 2000). On the other hand,
as service-dominant logic (S-D logic) views the service as the basis of
economic exchange (Vargo & Lusch, 2008), when customers are
dissatisfied about the service during the value creation process, they may
promptly provide feedback, complain and express their negative experience
to others. This shows that a complaint should be considered as a behavioural
process during the service process rather than a post-purchase phenomenon
as indicated in previous models (Tronvoll, 2012). Considering the
characteristics of digital marketing and the changing expectations and needs
of consumers, CBB is also expected to adapt its understanding to such
changes in the marketing environment. Table 1 displays the changing CCB
understanding from goods-dominant logic to customer complaints in the
digital era.
Table 36-3. Changes in understanding of customer complaints behaviour
from the traditional perspective to the digital marketing era
Descriptions Previous New Customer
understanding understanding of complaints
of customer customer in the digital
complaints complaints era
Perspective Goods- Service-dominant Service-
dominant logic logic dominant
logic within
the digital
marketing
perspective
Customer- Static/transactio Dynamic/relations Person-to-
provider nal hip network
interaction approach,
various
channels
Complaint Post-purchase Intra and post- Intra and
phase interaction post-
interaction
Basis of Product failure Failure or missing Unpleasant
complaint (based on the competence experience
expected (based on the
attributes) perceived value
proposition)
Result of Dissatisfaction Negative e-WOM
failure impression shared within
the network
Nature of Listening to the Dialogue with the Communicati
communicati customer customer on (mostly
on online) with
the network,
influencing
others
Aims of Correcting Learning and Building trust
service specified adjustment during and empathy
recovery product failure the co-creation
Obtaining a process
satisfied Strengthening the
customer relationship
Source: Adapted from Tronvoll (2008)
Complaints may take place in intra and post interaction phases since
there is no specific limitation for the consumer to share his/her negative
thoughts with the overall network. While the basis of complaint was mostly
related to product failure in goods-dominant logic, failure or missing
competence has been considered as the main focus of complaints in the new
marketing perspective. When the digitalized marketing environment is
considered, more experience-based outcomes regarding the failure become
apparent and consumers’ unpleasant experiences are accepted as the key
issues to be handled by the companies.
Service recovery is basically conducted to eliminate any service failures
and problems experienced by the consumer. The effort is viewed as a critical
determinant in consumer complaint behaviour. When considerable effort is
anticipated, consumers are more prone to switch service providers or spread
negative WOM to social networks to state their negative thoughts rather

than express a complaint to the company (Singh, 1990b). The increasing use
of social media acts as an effective platform for dissatisfied consumers to
complain online and spread e-WOM (Kim & Hardin, 2010). One type of
online customer interaction, which has been widely studied, is the online
review (e.g. electronic word-of-mouth, or e-WOM). E-WOM encompasses
customers’ knowledge about the products, their usage, experience,
recommendations, and complaints, and is generally perceived as
trustworthy and reliable (Kannan & Li, 2017). For instance, more than half
of two billion users of Facebook share their experiences regarding products
they purchased (Mei et al., 2018). In the light of the increasing use and
power of social media and influencer marketing, positive as well as negative
vibes can be disseminated to huge communities. This is also because
algorithms of social networks select content with high engagement levels
(Schaffer, 2017). An example shared by a loyal customer of Amazon on
Facebook regarding the company’s problematic deliveries is given below
(Schaffer, 2017):
Dear Amazon, stop taking pictures claiming you delivered
my stuff when you didn't and force me to find your
customer support chat link, which is conveniently hidden
deep in your website, in order to find out if my order was
"lost in transit" or "delivered to a wrong address." You're
now late on my most recent two orders––and although on
two occasions your customer service people said that the
packages would be resent, now you're tell me they are not.
Am I the only one dealing with epic Amazon fails these
days?
An answer to this complaint is sent to the customer; a post apologizing
for the unpleasant experience, explaining actions already taken by the
regional quality manager to understand what is needed to ensure the safe
and on-time delivery of orders to the customer, and advising of extra refunds
and the delivery of a $50 promotional credit to the customer’s account as a
gesture of goodwill. The consumer, on the other hand, expresses his feelings
in a positive way and continues to be a loyal customer of Amazon. This
shows that building trust and empathy is the expected outcome of CCB in
modern consumer marketing activities. Even a polite post, apology and
expression of understanding that the company is “with the consumer” can
decrease tension and increase customer satisfaction in the long term.
According to Kannan and Li (2017), understanding the impact of
emerging digital technologies on consumer behaviour is an important
research area. Digital marketing enables various platforms and
opportunities for customers in their decision journey. Consumers can collect

information from search engines and other customers’ comments on
retailers’ sites or forums not managed by the seller. Hence, the motive to
purchase could be triggered by seeing a post on a social network and
consumers can move through their buying decision processes in many novel
ways (Kannan & Li, 2017). In addition, customers can influence other
current or potential customers through online reviews and social media,
during both the pre-purchase and post-purchase stages (Court et al., 2009).
Various digital technologies and devices including smartphones, the
Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence, augmented and virtual
reality will soon provide considerable changes in the consumers’ lives
(Kannan & Li, 2017). Therefore, considering the argument above, it is
critical for companies to manage and monitor online complaints in the
digital marketing environment.
Theoretical lenses for service failure and customer

complaint behaviour in the digital era
Imagine you arrange a trip to Rome; you bought an airline ticket from web-
site and experienced a delay with no explanation, and then you arrive at your
hotel with feelings of anger and disappointment. In this case, the failure of
one (e.g. the airline) may create an opportunity to enhance favourable
perceptions of the other (e.g. the hotel), and this situation is described as
“one firm’s loss is another’s gain” by Allen et al. (2015). These studies show
that there are multiple providers/parties within online channels and by
forming a service delivery network or a supply chain, they aim to create a
seamless customer journey. However, although these situations are
common, the previous literature on service failures and consumer complaint
behaviour demonstrates less interest in the multi-agent perspective.
This multi-agent perspective also demonstrates itself within e-retailing
context. For instance, you buy a pair of trainers from Adidas, but a small
package carrier (SPC) company, for instance UPS, delivers your goods. As
the technologies become accessible, the volume of e-commerce is
increasing accordingly. A research by Nielsen shows that the online
shopping market will reach 100 billion dollars in 2022, and finds that 55%
of Generation X, and 61% of Generation Y have bought at least one product
online within the last 3 months while, 60% of American consumers made
these purchases through their cell phones (Altan, 2018). With the increase
in volume of e-commerce, the business volume of these SPCs has also
expanded. According to a report by TÜİK (2016), nearly 25% of consumers
doing online shopping experience problems, and the most common failure
mentioned is related with deliveries (44.9%). This demonstrates that

consumers are dissatisfied with physical distribution quality which may
have been a differentiation factor and a source of competitive advantage
(Gil Saura et al., 2008) for both e-retailers and SPCs.
Although service failures and complaint behaviour are studied in diverse
settings such as banking (e.g. Colgate and Norris, 2001), hospitality and
tourism (e.g. Lee et al., 2013; McColl-Kennedy and Sparks, 2003),
restaurants (e.g. Hoffman et al., 1995), and airlines (e.g. Bamford &
Xystouri, 2005; Keiningham et al., 2014), studies focusing on service
failures by different parties in an e-commerce setting are scarce. Thus, the
rest of this part will provide examples from an e-commerce setting while
trying to explain some theories which may shed further light on multi-agent
failures and the relationship between multi-agents and consumer complaint
behaviour.
Agency Theory
First, agency theory may be beneficial to better understand the relationship
between multi-agents. The theory states that one party (the principal, i.e. an
e-retailer) delegates the work to another (the agent, i.e. a small package
carrier) to act on his/her behalf (Eisenhardt, 1988). This creates a situation
in which the welfare of the principal depends on the agent’s acts (Jensen &
Meckling, 1976; Wright et al., 2001). There are two sides to this
relationship, one is from a business-to-business perspective indicating a
principal (i.e. an e-retailer) and an agent (i.e. an SPC). The other is the
business-to-consumer perspective, which indicates a principal (i.e. a
consumer) and two agents (i.e. an e-retailer and an SPC, See Figure 1).
Figure 36-5. Multi-agent perspective in B2C perspective

According to the theory, the parties may have diverse goals and risk
preferences. The principal’s demands might be costly for agents, and they
may behave opportunistically (Bergen et al., 1992). This means agents may
mislead, deceive or shirk their duty for their own benefit (Wright et al.,
2001) and this may decrease competitiveness for either party (Wright &
Mukherji, 1999). Within the context of e-commerce if you consider the
consumer as the principal, his/her goal is to obtain the right products in the
right condition at the right cost, place and time. Similarly, the goal of both
the e-retailer (principal and/or agent) and the SPC (agent) is to create value
for the consumers with the right products in the right condition at the right
cost, place and time. However, in logistical terms in order to decrease their
delivery costs, agents need to consolidate the deliveries, which may not be
possible in every case. Moreover, if consumers are dissatisfied with the
product, there is a reverse movement, which increases the costs. As the
demands of consumers are too costly for both agents, they demonstrate
opportunistic behaviour. Furthermore, when the consumer is considered as
the principal, information asymmetries occur between the principal and the
agents. Consumers' knowledge regarding the agents’ actions for the job is
not compete or precise, however, both agents have information that the
consumer wants to have (Bergen et al., 1992). This may also create a basis
for agents’ opportunistic behaviour.
For instance, one of the most common complaints (or opportunistic
behaviours shown by agents) is the sticker stating that “we came to deliver
but you were not at home”. Consumers get frustrated because these stickers
are used even though the consumer is at home waiting for the delivery. This
excuse is very common, and to avoid such failures, Amazon has recently
developed a delivery application (Altan 2018b; see Figure 2). However,
even this kind of new technology-based solution is being criticized by
consumers (see the other Amazon example above).
Figure 36-2. Amazon’s application
Most SPCs do not deliver the product a second time if the consumer is
not at home, so s/he will need to travel to the nearest hub of the SPC. This
is especially difficult for people working from 09.00 a.m. to 18.00 p.m.,
since these hubs are mostly closed at 18.00 p.m. Another way of
demonstrating opportunistic behaviour is by refusing to take products
(especially if they are heavy) to high-rise flats. The employees of delivery
companies sometimes demand money, cigarettes, etc., in order to carry
products to those flats. From the e-retailer’s side, these opportunistic
behaviours are mostly related to finance. For instance, after the consumer
returns a product, s/he complains about not getting a refund, or a late
reimbursement through several channels such as social media or complaint
web sites. Furthermore, although delivery failures are mostly related to
SPCs, sometimes late deliveries are caused by the suppliers of e-retailers.
For example, despite not having the product at that time, they are showing
it on the e-retailer’s web site without the e-retailer’s knowledge.
Table 36-4. Examples of customer complaints
Zoe: “I bought the product from retailer X, not from Eksisözlük
the Y cargo company. Thus, the addressee is retailer
X. However, retailer X could not solve my problem
and does not take responsibility for this failure.”
Cathars: “I got a call from the supplier stating that
‘We made a mistake by putting that product with that
price on the e-retailer’s web site. That’s why we sent
another model which is really similar to what you

ordered.’”
Melisa: “They are showing the logo to state that they Sikayetvar.com
are selling original products, but they are selling fake
ones. Never again with Retailer X !!!”
Mert: “Retailer X is a corporate washout… I guess Sikayetvar.com
losing trust is not important for this company. I am
not recommending this shopping site to anyone from
now on.”
Ahmet: “I got an empty package; thus I made a Sikayetvar.com
complaint to the e-retailer. They investigated and
looked for the camera records of themselves and the
cargo company. However, they cannot find anything.
I paid 409 TL for the sunglasses. It’s obvious that
someone opened the package and stole them. I am
pressing charges against both of the companies.”
Due to these opportunistic behaviours and information asymmetry, the
competitiveness of both agents decreases since consumers complain by
showing their dissatisfaction, non-repurchase intention, and negative
WOM. It may be expected that consumers only complain about these SPCs
on delivery failures. However, consumers also send complaints to e-
retailers, and state that if they continue to work with that SPC, they are not
going to purchase from them again. Such complaints can be found on
complaint web sites (e.g. sikayetvar.com), social media (e.g. Twitter), or in
user-generated content dictionaries (e.g. eksisözlük) (See some examples in
Table 2).
Attribution Theory
Due to the information asymmetry that a consumer faces, s/he wants to
understand the causes of events (Heider 1958) before deciding who is to
blame. The question of which party is going to be blamed for a failure is
related to consumers’ attribution behaviour. Although attribution theory is
largely studied in service failure literature, we believe the theory can also
shed further light on CCB from a multi-agent perspective.
Attribution theory is trying to explain an individual’s behaviour by
focusing on causes and effects (Heider, 1958; Wimer & Kelley, 1982). This
interpretation of perceived causation is important for interpersonal
relationships (Heider, 1958) as well as consumer–company relationships
since the reactions of consumers are dependent on their interpretations of
the company’s actions. Consumers especially need causation for negative
and/or unexpected events such as service failures because it is found that
negative events originate more causal attribution compared to positive

events (Folkes, 1984; Rozin & Royzman, 2001).
Attribution theory investigates causality in three dimensions: locus,
stability and controllability (Heider, 1958; Weiner ,1980).
The locus is involved if the cause of a negative event (i.e. failure) is
internal or external (located somewhere else such as the production or
distribution of the product) to the consumer (Folkes, 1984; Heider, 1958).
To protect self-esteem, consumers are prone to attribute positive events to
internal causes, whereas they attribute negative events to external causes
(Folkes, 1988). For instance, if a consumer perceives that the reason for
failure is related to himself/herself, s/he may not file a complaint against the
agents and will demonstrate loyalty to both companies since this may seem
like a threat to his/her self-esteem stating that the individual is not
competent or intelligent (Larson, 1977). However, if the cause of the
problem is external, s/he may get angry and want revenge (Folkes, 1984),
thus s/he may demonstrate voice and file a complaint. Moreover, in dyadic
relationships, it is easier to decide on the external cause of a negative event.
However, if there are multi-agents (both the e-retailer and the SPC),
complexity arises (Oflaç et al., 2012). In such a situation, if a consumer has
no information regarding the cause, it is possible to blame both agents (see
Table 2) by demonstrating negative word-of-mouth through different
channels (i.e. social media). The result may become catastrophic for both
agents as they may lose existing and potential customers, profits, and brand
image.
Stability is consumers’ perception of causes regarding their temporary
(e.g. a negative event which happens just once) or permanent nature (e.g. a
negative event that happens repeatedly). If the causes of a negative event
are permanent (stable), consumers are prone to quietly walk away (exit)
(Rio-Lanza et al., 2009). However, if the causes are attributed as temporary,
consumers may give a second chance to the company (Raju et al., 1990).
The stability dimension may be affected by two concepts: prior
expectations and brand perception. Consumers’ pre-existing assumptions
and expectations regarding companies may have an impact on the
attribution process (Harvey & Weary, 1984). Weiner (2000) stated that
customers’ good prior experiences become frozen and act as a buffer or
insurance against negative events or failures (i.e. DeWitt & Brady, 2003;
Dawar & Pillutla, 2000). Therefore, if a consumer has good prior experience
of a company, s/he may perceive that the failure is temporary (Yi & La,
2004), and may not demonstrate complaining behaviour. However, if
failures are perceived as permanent, consumers’ expectations of future
performances have been negatively affected (Folkes, 1984) which leads to

increased consumer voice.
Similarly, brand reputation may protect a company after a failure by
acting as a buffer (Hess, 2008) since high reputable brands are associated
with delivering superior services (Sengupta et al., 2015). As consumers trust
the brand, they attribute less responsibility for the failure, and are less likely
to focus on negative information (Sengupta et al., 2015). Therefore, they are
prone to consider that the failure is temporary and are less likely to raise
complaints.
Controllability is the perception of consumers regarding the company’s
ability to have an impact on or prevent the negative event (Hess et al., 2003).
Similar to the stability dimension, if the consumers are loyal, or have good
prior experiences, they are prone to attribute the cause of the failure as
uncontrollable (Yi & La, 2004). If consumers think that the negative
outcome is uncontrollable (e.g. a flight delay due to weather conditions),
they vent their anger and remain silent (Parlamış, 2012). Thus, they forgive
the service provider and tend to repurchase (Johnson & Rapp, 2010).
However, if consumers consider that the company should have controlled
or prevented the negative outcome, they get angry and a complaint is
initiated (Weiner, 2000). Furthermore, since highly reputable brands create
higher expectations, consumers experience shock and betrayal (Brady et al.,
2008), which lead to unfavourable evaluations of failures (Mattila, 2004).
Thus, they may seek help from other customers or from their own social
network regarding the complaint process or the process of obtaining
compensation (Sengupta et al., 2015).
Like the locus dimension, if there are multi-agents (both the e-retailer
and the SPC), complexity arises (Oflaç et al., 2012). For instance, although
it is the e-retailer’s failure, the consumer may see the cause of the failure as
temporary and uncontrollable due to his/her good prior experiences with a
highly reputable e-retailer, and thus s/he may still blame the SPC.
Regardless of the failure or the responsible party, a remedy needs to be
provided to turn a dissatisfied customer into a satisfied one. In order to
sustain performance and good relationships with customers, these agents
need to learn how to provide effective service recoveries (Schoefer &
Ennew, 2005; Wang et al., 2011).
Due to developments in technology, and the ease of complaining in a
digital world, complaint management is getting harder for companies.
Furthermore, with the complexities arising in multi-agent cases and the
negative impact of complaints, companies need to create clear clauses
regarding service failures and proper policies regarding complaint
management and service recoveries, especially if there is more than one

agent (Yildirim et al., 2018).
Suggestions for further research

Future studies on CCB can be suggested in two main streams as theoretical
and empirical ones. CCB is a fertile field with various theories such as
prospect theory, equity theory, justice theory, etc., utilized in its
development. Despite the abundance of various theoretical approaches in
the CCB literature, multi-agent perspectives remain unexplored. Hence, the
involvement of various actors in the service provision process, ending in an
unpleasant experience for consumers, needs to be explored regarding their
impacts, relationship types, ways of communication, characteristics of
complaints, etc.
From the empirical perspective, new methods that include the dynamic
processes and consequences of the interactions between the principal and
the agents can be employed. The development of new methods can lead to
new perspectives for scholars in the CCB field. Comparative surveys from
the perspective of both the principal and the agents can be conducted in
order to reveal the roots of the problem–complaint and to identify the
possible ways of dealing with it. Another area that needs to be studied is the
impact of the digital marketing environment on the CCB behaviour of the
consumers. More knowledge is needed regarding the new marketing
environment from the CCB perspective. For instance, the online
infrastructure and platforms developed between the principal and the
agent(s) and their negative or positive impacts on CCB can be suggested as
possible areas for further study. Moreover, the way in which the use of
various communication channels impacts the relationship between the
company and the consumer, and the pros and cons of various social
networks in terms of complaints, can be studied from various actors’
perspectives. Although service recovery was not within the scope of this
study, it is of special interest to investigate how the service recovery
attempts of companies impact consumer attitudes for diverse parties in e-
retailing environment. As consumers are satisfied by the service recovery
attempts of organizations, it may be expected that these can be reflected in
their e-WOM communications and the identification and analysis of such
processes by considering consumers’ communication channels and their
behavioural processes which can add more knowledge to CCB research.
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INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES AND THEIR
EFFECTS ON USING LEISURE TIMES
MEHMET SİNAN BAŞAR
Introduction
Leisure has often been defined as a part of time outside of working hours,
whereas it can be considered as an important part of the job because it
provides opportunity to rest and relax. In this sense, it has been defined that
free time is a necessary time for the reproduction of working. In the
historical process, leisure is perceived in different ways; For example, it can
be considered as a rights of privilege of upper class, social categorization
and stereotyping and time which required for people to consume something
.In addition to these negativities, there was also positive understandings
about Leisure time, such as personal development and integrate socially.
As a result, some concepts redefined according to virtual world, such as
socialization, culture and activity. This also radically changes the perception
of leisure time and the ways of how to people using it.
Conceptual framework
Time
The existence of time is accepted by everyone, but the time concept is
difficult to define and understand in the physical meaning; time is the
progress of the future from to the past to present. It is the way of change
people’s themselves and their environment therefore time is relative. Main
describing of time is; time is a thing which cannot be saved, borrowed,
rented and reproduced. Time can be measured mechanically and expressed
using units. The distance between two points where are pointing on a
linearly displayed time scale is duration.
540 Information Technologies and Their Effects on Using Leisure Times
Time management
All of the planning, implementation and audit activities which performed to
use time effectively are called time management. The main features of time
management are (Uluç 2019):
- It is about decision and planning,
- Includes individual and institutional dimensions,
- A process (not a result),
- Refers to managing the measured time (not the subjective time),
- Aims to work more efficiently (not to work harder).
In order to manage time correctly, it must be partitioned according to the
intended use and shape. According to the time management approach, there
are three types of time (Yılmaz 2019):
- Biological time
- Working time
- Free time
Time, used for basic biological needs such as eating, sleeping, body
cleaning, is called Biological Time. Working time which spent on activities
to earn an income back in return. The presence of the tasks that people have
to do is the main characteristic focus of working time (Öztürk 2018).
Leisure and free time
These two concepts have been used in similar terms in the literature. The
time, out of Biological time and working time, is free time. Leisure is the
time a person will use for activities that he can do with his own free will.
Leisure can be used for rest, entertainment, travel, learning or social
activities (Kahyalak 2018). The activities to be used for leisure time have
psycho-sociological, social or economic functions. Activities such as
personal development, contribution to society or nature and avoiding stress
are within the scope of psycho-sociological function. Social functions
include activities to meet social needs.
End-of-work (afternoon) leisure time, Weekends, Short-term holidays
are short-term leisure time. Leisure time, such as Childhood period, annual
leave periods, retirement period, is called long-term leisure time.
Barriers and facilitators
Possible obstacles must be foreseen and taken into account when planning
leisure time. Barriers are factors that negatively affect an individual's
motivation, leading to a lack of participation in leisure activities or a
reduction in participation frequency. (Jackson, 1988 – Köse and Lapa

2018). Facilitators are factors that reduce the negative effects of obstacles
and support the person to cope.
Both barriers and facilitators can be personal, interpersonal or structural
factors. Individual or internal factors are caused by individuals and related
to their psychological status. Interpersonal factors are based on relationships
or conflicts of different individuals. Structural constraints or supports is
related to infrastructure, facilities, transportation and so on.
Recreation
The most general definition of recreation is the activities performed outside
of work time. These activities can be done in daily living areas or specially
prepared areas. Recreation is called all of the activities performed to
evaluate leisure time. Recreation activities are carried out for the purpose of
resting, relaxing, having fun, improving oneself, and generally for non-
business subjects. People can earn an income as a result of their recreational
activities. Fishing and selling at the weekend is an example. However,
activities aimed solely on income and which needs compulsory time, is not
considered within the scope of recreation.
Leisure activities are divided into five groups:
1- Physical: Sport, travel etc.
2- Artistic: Painting, music etc.
3- Practical works: Small production and repair works etc.
4- Intellectual: To read, to receive training on a subject etc.
5- Social: Entertainment, chat, social responsibility projects etc.
Leisure activities can also be classified as ordinary activities (such as
strolling in the park, watching fireworks, going to a picnic, sleeping at
lunchtime) and systematic activities regularly monitored (Arslan 2011).
Historical framework
Leisure as an autonomous field is associated with modern societies.
However, the existence of leisure has been perceived and considered since
ancient times (Aytaç 2002). According to the classical view represented by
ancient Greece, leisure was unrelated to the concept of work. Leisure was
seen as a necessary period of time to deal with and reflect on superior values
such as goodness, truth and knowledge (Osmanlı and Kaya, 2019)
According to the classical view, while it was the duty of the lower class to
work, leisure was a privilege of the elite. The view that leisure is a symbol
of the social class was accepted until the age of industry, though not in the
first place.
The Romans used their non-work time for fun activities. Leisure was a
time left from productive activities and was used to reproduce the work.
Especially rest and relaxation were seen as supporting activities and
reinforcing the work (Juniu, 2000). The view that was effective during this
period was that leisure time was separate from one's obligations to the
family and society. According to this view, leisure time should be used for
activities such as relaxation, entertaining and increasing knowledge.
In the Middle Ages, the understanding of leisure time began to resemble
the antic age. Leisure was seen not only as a time of rest and activity, but
also as a social representation for the upper social class. At the end of the
Middle Ages, where slave labour was dominant in Europe, the use of leisure
time, which began to turn into pretension, luxury, pleasure and waste,
became a sign of nobility (Aytaç 2005).
With industrialization, there have been significant changes in social and
cultural life. Within industrial society, individuals have own autonomous
habitats with certain boundaries and rules. This is the result of the organized
and prescriptive structure of working time in the industry (Kraus, 1998). In
industrial society, free time is entirely personal and is excluded from the
working time, the work-related time and the time allocated to the main
activities of life. This view is the most widely accepted and used opinion in
the historical process and today.
An important impact on working life in the early period of the industrial
revolution was the increase in working hours significantly. This increase
adversely affected the working conditions and use of leisure time. In this
period, the main idea about the leisure time is to bless the study and to
perceive the leisure time as negative.
In the second period of industrial revolution, the need to increase
consumption, due to increasing competition and global economic crises, has
emerged. As a result, the idea that the worker should be not only a producer
but also a consumer when he was not engaged in production became
widespread. New technologies have been developed to reduce working
hours and shorten working life. In industrialized societies, machines
replaced human labour, and production capacity increased while working
hours decreased. In this way, people could produce more products with less
time and less effort and spend time on consumption. The understanding that
leisure is a state of existence emerged in this period. For more leisure,

people needed to work more effectively and efficiently. For an efficient
work, free time should be evaluated for personal development, satisfaction
and self-enrichment.
After the first and second phases of industrialization, in the third phase,
which focused on production and competition, the capital-based production
system aimed at organizing not only working time but also leisure time. As
a result, free time has become a time in which one is directed to
consumption, leaving the context of the part of time that he can freely use
for himself. When consumption goes beyond the necessity and becomes a
status indicator, a means of individual satisfaction and socialization, free
time became the address of no longer individual serenity, intellectual depth
and free choices, but commodities, fictional life experiences, shopping
activities (Baudrillard 2006).
Nowadays, capitalism aims to demand more free time for everyone
because of its economic interests; however, for the same reasons, it does not
intend to leave this time "free". At this time, one of the main goals of the
capitalist system, perhaps the most important one, is the conquest and
management of free time, whether it is created by social struggles or direct
technological advances (Argin, 1992).
Sociological evaluation
Although the individual comes to the forefront when defining leisure time,
both individuality and socialization affect and determine each other.
Socialization is an interaction activity and communication is the main mean
of interaction. The main factors that determine the individual and society
are norms and values. Communication and interaction play a decisive role
in shaping the individual's opinions and behaviour patterns (Bilton et al.
2008). This decisive role is also applied to leisure activities.
Different models and classifications have been developed regarding the
psychological and sociological phenomena that people are affected in
determining what to do in their spare time. Leisure time methods can be
explained by a psycho-social perspective with a four-step model:
1- Passive participation
2- Emotional participation
3- Active participation
4- Creative participation
At the first level of participation, the main objective is to relieve fatigue.

Active roles are avoided at this level, when participation in social activities
takes place as audience.
The level of emotional participation is like the first level in many
respects. The main difference between them is the emotional choice
between similar activities. For example, listening to music is the first level
of participation, but choosing a type of music that you love is emotional
participation.
In active participation, the person plays a role that is determined by the
organizers or directors of the event. In creative participation, the participant
sets up the game and decides what the rules and the roles are going to be.
In this model, two more levels (zero level and below zero) are defined.
However, participation at these levels is negative or destructive.
Leisure management
Leisure management is a new concept in human resource management. As
a concept, time management includes the planning and effective use of
working time. Leisure management can be defined as the effective and
efficient use of non-business time in coordination with both working time
and biological time. Leisure management includes five factors (Klerk and
Bevan-paint, 2014):
- Defining free time,
- Setting goals and methods,
- Programming,
- Problem solving (emergency response)
- Evaluation.
All management activities include a series of decisions for planning and
implementation. For this reason, the first step of leisure time management
is planning the time. The main purpose of this plan and program is to use
leisure time positively and beneficially (Havziu and Rasimi 2015). At first,
it is decided what to do, when and how to do it. The work to be done in the
next stage is determined and programmed as it processes. The type and
duration of leisure (daily, weekly, annually, etc.) is important, and variables
such as age, sex, and work of the person having leisure time should be
considered as the part of the planning.
Time management includes individual and corporate dimensions. To
reach their leisure management objectives, voluntary participation of the
individuals is important. Therefore, a business should consider the

preferences and orientations of individuals when organizing leisure
activities for their employees. The orientations that separate individuals
from each other and complicate the planning and implementation of leisure
management can be grouped into four groups (Tabarsa et al. 2013):
-Social orientation,
-Temporal orientation,
-Planning orientation,
-Polychronic orientation.
Social orientation refers to people's preference for leisure activities
alone or with other people.
Temporal orientation implies that one's relative importance between
past, present and future may be different from others. If a person cares about
the past, he can choose the activities that will create the moment; if he cares
about the present, he can choose activities to entertain and rest; and if he
cares about the future, he can choose personal development activities.
The planning of orientation points out the need to consider that people
can make different choices between planning everything and allowing
everything to flow.
Finally, some people may focus on one job at a given time, while others
may prefer to divide time into several jobs and manage the processes
together. This is called polychronic orientation.
An important issue to consider when planning and managing leisure
activities, is the balance between the individual dimension and the social
dimension. It is necessary for the person to distribute his / her time in a
balanced way to his / her work, family and social environment where he /
she belongs, as well as to allocate time to himself / herself as an individual.
A person's inability to allocate time for oneself will cause him / her not to
regenerate energy. This leads to important psycho-social problems that may
adversely affect work and social life. It is necessary to balance both social
roles and time sharing between work and family. Particularly, it is an
important social problem to spend less time on the family than needed.
While balancing the total time in a right way between work, family and
other social relations, at the same time, a balance should be provided in
many subjects such as skills, perspectives, psychological status, and cost-
return status.
Information technologies
Information and Communication technologies directly or indirectly affect

the daily life of people, in every subject. Because of this, new meanings,
new fields and forms of application are emerging for resting, entertainment,
education, socialization and many more concepts.
The impact of information technologies on human life can be grouped
under three headings:
- Ability to obtain, store and access the information
- Communication ability
- Mobility and asynchrony
Although these effects are mostly positive, negative effects are also
observed. Adverse effects are often caused by wrong or improper use that
can occur in the form of use less than necessary, overuse, or lack of
information to use.
When examining the effect of technological developments on the use of
leisure time, it is necessary to think about the definition and perception of
leisure time with the information age concepts.
Technology and speed
One of the most important advantages of technology is speed. Speed is
defined as doing a job in a shorter time or doing more work at a unit of time.
Increasing the speed of processing and communication by using technology,
affects leisure time in two ways:
The first effect is the shortening of the working time and the
prolongation of the leisure time. People can do more and more activities
through this effect.
Computer networks and mobile networks
Being online and using interactive applications has added a virtual
dimension to recreation activities. Internet has made it possible to
participate in activities such as the radio, cinema and theatre as an audience
without having to be physically at a specific place. In addition, people can
publish their own content open to users around the world and receive
feedback from them.
There are important advantages of the internet in shopping, which is a
prevalent leisure activity. Some activities that normally require a lot of time
and energy (such as product and price comparison, getting the opinion of
others), can easily be done through the internet. People can shop without
physically going to the store, sell their products in virtual stores or virtual
marketplaces.
In addition to taking all the advantages of computers and the Internet,
mobile networks also provide access to these advantages from anywhere.
Social media
Socialization is one of the basic human needs. People are members of many
communities at the same time. The roles, responsibilities and norms can be
different for each group that people involved such as family, school,
workplace and friends.
Communication is the most important fundamental of establishing and
maintaining relationships between people and forms the basis of social life
with this feature. Media, which is one of the basic elements of
communication, has gained speed and talent with digital technology. With
the spread of the Internet, the communication environment that has evolved
and digitalized, has been called “New Media”. The main purpose of the use
of new media is the social interaction of its users. The most common
applications of new media are wikis, blogs, forums and social media. In the
new media era, which is called the second media age, one of the most
comfortable ways of communicating is social media. The main differences
of a social networking site from other social entities are (Ellison and Boyd,
2013 - Çizmeci, 2015):
- Participants can have custom profiles that are created by themselves or
from data provided by other users and the system.
- They can openly share their social relations to everyone or to certain
groups of their choice.
- They can interact, consume, or produce user-oriented content streams
provided by links on the site.
Social media can be used to get information about the world in which
they live, to improve human relationships in the context of sharing
something in common, or to feel as part of a community (Giddens, 2012 -
Çizmeci, 2015). Social media allows people, from various and different
cultures, to communicate with each other, make friends, create groups and
share. From past to present, the connections existed between people but not
seen in concrete terms, have become more visible in the environment
created on the internet (Taşçı and Ekiz 2018).
Education
One of the activities that can be done in leisure time is to work for
personal development, to be trained in a job that is related to his own
business or purely as a hobby. However, it is difficult for people to find an
educational institution that they can receive training in every subject and
close to where they live. Another challenge they will experience, is the
possibility that their training hours conflict with their work hours and
another one is the inability to fund the cost of education.
Information technologies give everyone the opportunity to receive
training wherever they are, at the right time and cost-effectively (or free of
charge). This training model is called distance education where training
activities are performed in a virtual environment, digital training materials
are used, and training processes are stretched according to the free time of
the person. People do not only support their personal development through
distance education in their free time, but they can also have a diploma or
certificate.
Technology addiction
When the definitions of leisure are examined, it appears that perhaps the
common word used in each definition is volunteering. Voluntary
participation is very important in order to achieve the purpose of leisure
activities and to obtain the expected benefit from these activities. When the
voluntary requirement is considered together with information
technologies, technology addiction appears to be an important problem.
Technology addiction is a kind of impulse control disorder in which the
person is exposed to the harmful effects of technology as a result of
excessive use of computers, internet, video games and mobile devices
(www.mentalup.net 2019). The most important symptom of addiction is
attention and behavioural disorders caused by deprivation. When
technology addiction is considered, important questions about leisure time
use come to mind. Here are some examples of these questions:
A mobile game that is played for recreation and entertainment in leisure
time is a nice activity. But if one feels the desire to play all the time and
everywhere and cannot think of anything else, can this game be regarded as
a leisure activity?
In an environment where several friends get together to chat, if everyone
is busy with the social media application on their mobile phone and no one
is talking to each other, is this a social activity?
Due to excessive time spent on a computer or smartphone, if a person

goes to work sleepless and tired, has an inefficient working day, or even
failed to fulfil his responsibilities, how appropriate is this state for the
purpose of recreation and regeneration?
Conclusion
The use of leisure time is an important scale showing the personality and
development levels of both individuals and societies.
Leisure has been perceived in different ways in the historical process
and was first defined in the Roman period, as, time outside working hours.
But even when leisure time is granted to employees as a right, nobles,
managers or bosses have always wanted to have a say in deciding how to
use it.
Nowadays, when leisure time is more than working time, this situation
is still valid but instead of forcing people about how to use their spare time,
convincing them with fashion, trend and liking methods is preferred.
Technology provides benefits such as facilitating human life, supporting
access to information, and supporting leisure activities. However, in
addition to benefits, it can also lead to negative consequences, such as
dependence instead of desire, win recognition instead of receiving pleasure,
and mimicking common pleasure and global patterns of behaviour instead
of preferring.
While Internet and technology are transforming our lives in a positive
way, we must fight against the risk of losing our freedom to use leisure time
as a result of addiction and misuse.
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HOW CAN DIGITALIZATION ENHANCE
CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE? THE ROLE OF
EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES
KETİ VENTURA
Introduction
Digitalization has brought new opportunities for marketers in

communication between the brand and its customers. One of the most
important changes is the increase in the number of touchpoints used to reach
customers. These have evolved from phone calls to live chats (Patwa et al.
2018). Particularly, with the emerging technologies, including the Internet
of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), and virtual and augmented
reality (VR-AR), machine learning (ML) has already transformed the way
marketers create and involve customers in several touchpoints through the
new, evolving customer journey.
Today, the world is encountering the “fourth industrial revolution,”
namely Industry 4.0. Although the convergence of digital technologies has
a great impact on production processes, the emerging technologies, which
allow the boundaries to disappear between the real and virtual worlds,
transform customer communications and interactions (GTAI 2014).
McKinsey Global Institute (2013a) estimated the potential economic impact
of the emerging technologies and applications to be, respectively US$14
trillion and $33 trillion per year in 2025. Within these technologies there is
the mobile Internet, the automation of knowledge work, IoT, cloud
technology, autonomous and near-autonomous vehicles, and so forth. This
evolving trend forces companies to invest in these technologies to create a
new domain of customer experience (McKinsey 2013b; Venkatesan 2017).
Digitalization can provide several opportunities for companies to enhance
customer experience. Although there may be various negative effects
sociologically, it is obvious that it is a great tool to understand, interact,
collaborate and engage with individuals. The increase in the development
of information technologies will lead to a greater number of alternatives to
552 How Can Digitalization Enhance Customer Experience?
create new experiences for customers. These experiences can be in several

forms like Schmitt’s (1999) classification of experiences (sense, feel, think,
act and relate). In recent times, it can be seen that all of us are exposed to
interact with a digital screen, projection or robotic person in our daily lives.
In this case, the traditional ways of creating customer experience transform
to a more digitally oriented version. AR-based games in retailing may create
sensation and enjoyment which will be useful in interacting with consumers.
Besides, some AR experiences may speed up the decision-making process
of customers by letting them try the product virtually or AI applications may
be allowed to respond logically to customers while shopping. These
technologies also enable customers to interact with other users and allow
the sharing of their creations on social networks (Scholz & Smith 2016).
One of the most impressive experiences that can be created by these
technologies, is the chance of integrating individuals into the new product
development process of virtual prototypes in virtual platforms that will
allow high interaction and engagement with customers to achieve
personalized products (Füllera & Matzler 2007). As it can be seen, digital
technologies are transforming the way to create Schmitt’s (1999) sensory,
affective, cognitive, physical and self-identity experiences.
Although the usage and adoption levels of these technologies differ in
developed and developing countries, they can facilitate the way people live,
increase the speed of service, provide them with an experience of the
product/service and encourage them to be involved in the design and
development process of the product. On the supply side, companies can
gather thousands of data, analyse their responses in real time and offer more
personalized products and services. Thus, interaction and collaboration with
customers can be improved and this can lead to higher levels of brand
engagement.
The purpose of this chapter is to explain the most commonly known
technologies that are popular in recent days and present the impact of these
technologies on customer experience. The chapter begins with a brief
description of the digitalization and transformation process of the customer
experience from the past to the present, and then moves on to explore the
emerging technologies, as well as the potential that these technologies might
have to be triggers to create new interactions and experience types with
customers. The chapter concludes with propositions for research and
practice in the area.
Background
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Digitalization is the adoption of digital technologies in an organizational or

business environment that changes the working models, the way businesses
operate, and the valuable offerings to customers (Parviainen et al. 2017).
Companies are rapidly integrating digital technologies with their processes
and transforming their business models to more digitalized platforms.
Legner et al. (2017) described digital transformation in three waves since
the advancements in technology beginning with technologies replacing
paper with computers as the first wave, then moving on with the birth of the
Internet as the second wave, which created new business models.
Afterwards, the authors stressed the importance of the third wave––the
converging technologies of social, mobile, analytics, and cloud computing–
–which is being experienced now. As today’s enterprises are struggling with
the ongoing developments of disruptive technologies, it becomes more
difficult for marketers to compete in creating new experiences and enduring
value. On the other hand, it becomes a must for companies to adopt
digitalization in order to sustain their competitive strengths. Hence, they
need to monitor emerging technologies and develop the competencies to
utilize these technologies. Once new technologies are adopted, companies
should focus on managing the new business models and digital
transformation, which often requires organization-wide changes (Legner et
al. 2017).
Within the context of business, converging technologies particularly
impact the way business operations proceed, the products and services
offered, and the organizational aspects analysed (Matt, Hess, & Benlian
2015). As Kumar (2018) stressed, rapidly changing technology in a dynamic
business environment has emerged as a powerful integrator of markets that
forces companies to rethink their business/product portfolios to differentiate
themselves and to create more value for the stakeholders, which he called
“transformative marketing.” Rogers (2016) claimed that digitalization was
reshaping: (1) the way companies create value and communicate with
customers; (2) the way they compete; (3) the way data are gathered and
analysed; (4) the way the business innovates; and (5) the way companies
create value for customers. However, acquiring these technologies,
integrating them into marketing processes, effectively managing and
continuously improving to provide a sustainable customer experience have
been some of the most crucial issues that are encountered, particularly by
developing countries as their legal structure and/or digitalization
consciousness has scarcely evolved.
As fierce competition grows, the dynamic demand structure and shifts
in the preferences of consumers lead companies to improve their marketing
strategies. We are now living in a world of monitoring each movement made
digitally. Posting a personal picture via social media, social commerce, the
usage patterns of mobile apps, interaction with catboats, surfing on the web
and the number of clicks, a person’s web search history and all the other
acts in digital platforms cause big data generation which is a great
opportunity for giant companies to analyse and develop personalized
experiences for their customers. Today, we are all exposed to marketing
activities digitally, via an app or a game which is full of enjoyment, fun,
interaction and excitement, and involved in various activities and processes
such as being part of designing a product. Hence, it is certain that in the near
future the utilization of emerging technologies in marketing activities will
be increased and used as a competitive weapon more frequently. Thinking
about the speed of technological development, companies will compete on
the basis of creating unique experiences for their customers.
Despite the capability of generating valuable customer experience,
relations and engagement have been studied by some authors separately
(Raynor & Sniderman 2015; Sterne 2017; Ahram et al. 2017; Grewal,
Roggeveen, & Nordfält 2017; Horwitz 2018; Farshid 2018; Pramanik, Pal,
& Choudhury 2018). The studies that show the impacts of the most
commonly known technologies on creating customer experience are a field
that needs to be studied more as market dynamics and technology are
rapidly developing. The following sections will present the transformation
of customer experience and the applications of emerging technologies ones
in generating experience.
Transformation of customer experience: Conventional vs.

digitalized practices
Today, the focus of marketing has changed dramatically from a commodity
focus (Kotler 1972) to a holistic view. Especially in the 1990s, the
importance of being customer-oriented and market-driven has arisen,
replacing product and sales focused philosophies. Customers were just seen
as relational decision-makers making evaluations of products’ functions and
benefits, ignoring their emotions, intuitions, needs and wants. Over time,
the traditional approach has started to be insufficient to better understand
the customers and create value. Therefore, a broader approach is needed,
namely, a total customer experience to create value and strengthen the
competitiveness in the market (Schmitt 2003). As Gilmore and Pine II
(2002) mentioned, traditional messages broadcasted to customers are no
longer seen as valuable by customers. Instead, customers need to be deeply
involved in the experience where they can perform the experience in real or
virtual life.
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Schmitt (1999) defined the customer experience in a holistic way and

introduced experiential modules, with the tools to implement different types
of experiences: sense, feel, think, act and relate. Although there had been
some attempts at conceptualizing the customer experience since the mid-
1980s (Holbrook & Hirschman 1982; Addis & Holbrook 2001), it was then
presented as a fourth economic value that actually occurs at the “emotional,
physical, intellectual, and even spiritual level” (Pine II & Gilmore 1998)
during all moments of contact in the customer journey (Shaw & Ivens
2002).
Ongoing digitalization within processes is used extensively nowadays,
which facilitates new forms of value creation (Amit & Zott 2001). The use
of new technologies cannot be considered apart from the traditional ways of
creating the customer experience, as they will be beneficial for co-creating
value in the case of digital, physical, and social realms used in a holistic way
(Bolton et al. 2018). It can be seen that the customer experience concept has
gained many insights with the evolution of the marketing discipline since
the 1970s. The flow of transformation of the customer experience and
expectations for the future are summarized in Table 1. As the world
becomes more connected, the options increase for marketers to enhance the
customer experience. VR and AR have started to be used in different
contexts in different industries for unique experiences. They provide
opportunities for the customer to view the components of a product through
help applications, enable customers to talk with a virtual assistant about the
functionalities of a product, and make customized suggestions based on
their past data (Grewal, Roggeveen, & Nordfalt 2017).
Table 37-1 From past to present: development of the customer experience
1970s  Experience is provided by undifferentiated ads and face-
to-face interaction with an employee
 Developments in primitive call centers
1980s  Collecting and processing large amounts of data to
understand customers
 Beginning of customer loyalty programs
 First mobile phone with 1G network
1990s  Spread of customer loyalty programs
 Usage of the Internet increases. Customers can reach sellers
by e-mail, chat and websites
 Call center-CRM-SFA software is introduced
 Cross-selling campaigns and target marketing practices are
implemented
 First smart phone has been launched
 Major advances in all areas of AI, especially in machine

learning, data mining, natural language understanding and
translation, VR, games, etc.
2000s  Growth of the CRM software market
 Widespread use of call center outsourcing
 Development and widespread use of mobile technologies to
customize business offers
 Creation of social media
 Widespread usage of AI, e.g. Honda's AI robot is able to
deliver trays to customers in restaurants, recommendation
technology
2010s  Customized ad experiences and interaction with customers
on social media
 Rise of cloud that allows the consolidation of customer data
 Improved customer analytics of big data
 AI based smart phone apps that use natural language to
answer questions, make recommendations and perform
actions.
Source: Adapted from Nash, Armstrong, & Robertson 2013; Cookson 2017
Additionally, machine learning and blockchain technology can be used for

several purposes and several industries as well. Measuring in real-time,
sentiment mining of consumers (Vinodhini & Chandrasekar 2017), sorting
garments in fitting rooms by relevance (Hauser et al. 2017) or topics, such
as data security, marketing personalization, and online recommendations
(ITU 2012), are some of the benefits of ML in terms of the customer
experience.
On the other hand, blockchain facilitates smart contracts, engagements,
and agreements with robust, cyber security and enables faster product
innovations, closer customer relationships, and quicker integration with the
IoT (Ahram et al. 2017). Finally, the IoT enables the monitoring of instant
information relating to actual customer transactions (Merrifield 2015) by
using real-time interconnectivity, mobile telecommunications, and sensory
systems technologies (Bauer et al. 2014). Moreover, these technologies
have been used in several industries, such as retail, health, entertainment,
tourism, and so on. For instance, in retail, while shopping AR-based digital
assistants can enhance the customer’s experience by tailoring the answers
according to the customer’s gathered data, and making suggestions by using
predictive analytics (Grewal, Roggeveen, & Nordfält 2017). On the other
hand, travel companies can use VR technologies to provide a unique
experience with virtual brochures (Deloitte 2016).
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Emerging technologies and customer experience

The integration of disruptive technologies in every moment of our lives
facilitates the way we shop and interact with businesses. Today’s customers
need a deep engagement with companies via social media or any other
digital platform, and want to be actively involved in a two-way interaction
process of buying (Gloor et al. 2017). Moreover, as they are highly
connected with one another, several networks and objects from everywhere,
they have several types of interactions, such as information sharing,
conversation, and so on (Verhoef et al. 2017). It is apparent that today’s
customer is very strong, as he or she can share, offer, or criticize all the
services experienced. Thus, it should be a necessity for companies to adopt
this dynamism of creating value and gaining the competitive advantage.
Digitization still continues to evolve and provides a great opportunity to
businesses to create unique experiences to be able to motivate customers to
buy and gain real-time insights. IDC (2017) forecasted the VR and AR
market to increase 100% or more. Total spending on AR/VR products and
services is expected to reach nearly US$215 billion worldwide in 2021.
Moreover, Cisco (2018) estimated IoT connections will be more than half
(14.6 billion) of all global connected devices and connections (28.5 billion)
by 2022. Finally, mobile data traffic will increase at a CAGR of 46 percent
between 2017 and 2022, reaching 77.5 exabytes per month by 2022 which
will enormously increase the connectivity and opportunities for marketers
to present new ways to engage with customers.
Some technologies that create and enhance customer

experience
It can be seen that technological advancements have a huge impact on the
way marketers find new methods to involve customers in experiencing their
products and services. Here are some of the technologies that are used to
create and enhance customer experience.
Internet of Things (IoT)
Recently, retailers have become more conscious of consumers being more
demanding and expecting a more personalized experience. This fact forces
them to deliver the right experience for the right customer. Pure online
retailers have started to open brick and mortar businesses using data-driven
structures in designing their offline stores to deliver the full experience
(Deloitte 2018). In this respect, IoT technologies can provide great
opportunities for businesses to create unique experiences.
IoT was first announced by Kevin Aston (2009), who has defined the
concept as using radio frequency identification (RFID) and sensor
technologies to gather information about people and the objects with which
they interact, helping them to understand the way they see, hear, and smell
the world. As Merrifield (2015) stressed, IoT technologies can gather every
moment of the actual behaviour of a customer from all the things he is
connected to in real time. Radio frequency identification (RFID), wireless
sensor networks (WSN), middleware, cloud computing, and IoT application
software are some of the commonly used IoT technologies (Lee & Lee
2015). Within the context of the customer experience, IoT technologies can
change the relationship between customers and companies, as they can be
used everywhere. IoT starts to store data as soon as someone turns an
ignition key, uses a wearable technology, such as a watch, or has a smart
product in his house (Raynor & Sniderman 2015).
Especially in a retail setting, with the help of sensors in IoT devices, data
can be gathered and transmitted back to the store. Thus, retailers can learn
the time spent in the several locations of the store and create real-time
promotions for consumers to motivate revisits. These types of experiences
will enhance the sales volume and customer satisfaction (Horwitz 2018).
On the other hand, IoT devices can simplify consumers’ daily lives and find
solutions for different scenarios. For example, parents worry about whether
their children arrived home safely from school. With the help of data
integration and app convergence, driving behaviour can be tracked and
reported; also, it can automatically alert a driver about speed limits.
Moreover, people may want to be offered more customized solutions that
will help them to make better decisions. Apps can alert a person to
alternative bus routes using predictive analytics by combining the data on
the person’s and his or her friends’ calendar, or offer alternative
transportation modes by prescriptive analytics (Verizon 2016).
As mentioned, IoT becomes a great opportunity for consumer marketers
to create new experiences for customers. The IoT can connect several
devices from satellite sensors in a B2B environment to thermostats in
customers’ homes (Forrester 2016). In addition to consumer markets, the
IoT can generate very customized solutions for business customers. For
example, Litum IoT, a subsidiary of the Litum Group, provides IoT, real-
time location systems (RTLS), and wireless tracking solutions for business
customers to maximize asset utilization, work safely, and operate more
efficiently (Figures 1 and 2).
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Figure 37-6. IoT in the entrance of a warehouse

Source: Litum Group
Figure 37-2 IoT in a factory setting

Source: Litum Group
In one mental hospital, Litum IoT set up IoT devices in the corridors and
produced wristbands (Figure 3) for doctors and all hospital personnel. The
wristbands were pressed in the case of an emergency or to attract hospital

staff towards a physician in need of assistance. In this way, every staff
member could be aware of a threat, know in which department the threat
existed, and which doctor was being attacked or experiencing an emergency
through the use of the mobile devices equipped with both sound and light
warning systems. The wristbands were also used to track some patients.
IoT applications, as can be understood from the examples, for both
consumer and business markets, can mostly enhance the cognitive,
problem-solving experiences of customers which Schmitt (1999) named as
“THINK” appeal. They can solve problems to facilitate life or create
opportunities for dealing with the problems or prevent them before they
occur.
Figure 37-3. Wristbands

Source: Litum Group
Virtual, augmented, and mixed reality (VR-AR-MR)
The growing importance of digitalization encourages new and creative ways
of experiences that will be aroused in the minds of individuals at an
emotional, physical, intellectual, and spiritual level (Pine & Gilmore 1998).
VR and AR are the technologies that are being used very frequently
nowadays. VR is based on the sense of being in one place, which consists
of the concept of “presence” by using electronically simulated environment
systems (Steuer 1993). VR technologies have been used in several areas to
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enhance the customer experience, like new product development (Nambisan

2002), physical and virtual stores, the service industry (Huang et al. 2013),
and so on.
VR technology gives one a sense of being immersed in a virtual world.
On the other hand, AR provides the experience in both the real and virtual
world (Füllera & Matzlerb 2007). As marketers position digital information,
such as text and videos, over objects in the physical world, consumers can
easily experience and interact with the brand via their mobiles. In turn,
through consumer responses to these applications, firms can redesign them
to be more effective (Scholz & Smith 2016).
AR, VR and MR technologies are not new; however, they are rapidly
integrating into many areas of our daily lives, and by combining with the
other technologies, they can create a unique experience for customers. As
the buying potential of millennials and their interest in technology increase,
the need to create new experiences has become more crucial. VR and AR
are used in several areas in marketing. For example, by developing new apps
for e-commerce sites, a virtual agent (chatbot) can ask for the sex, age, size,
and color preferences of the customer. Afterwards, the customer may be
recommended different colored items, and he can choose one of them and
try it out by using the AR board and its smartphone cameras (Figure 4). In
this way, the customer can decide whether to buy the item or try another
virtually (Arunachalam 2018). These kinds of apps are being used by
several retailers, from cosmetics to automobiles. Today, it is becoming more
popular to redesign the e-retailing experience with AR-based apps, which
can simultaneously examine the responses of consumers and their
preferences (Plummer 2018). Besides VR-AR, there is the concept of MR,
which involves the sense of being in both the physical and virtual
environments and interaction with real and virtual objects (Shah & Shay
2019). It allows customers to experience new scenarios that do not actually
exist (Farshid 2018).
Major technology businesses are investing in these technologies to
create new experience opportunities for their customers. For example,
Microsoft’s HoloLens allows people to interact with holograms and work
with the digital content (Akhtar 2018). In the retail industry, one can easily
try the product, test it, and make a decision about whether to buy it or not
without ever touching the product (Pando 2017). Another example of this
technology is that it can also be used for the persuasion process of tourists
to visit the destination and enhance their experience (Jung et al. 2016).
Mixed reality (VR & AR) environments are very important to influencing,
providing a sense of social presence, and creating unique customer
experiences (Kang & Gretzel 2012; Jung et al. 2016).
The above examples and applications show that VR-AR-MR can mostly
enhance sensory, affective and social-identity experiences, named by
Schmitt (1999) as “SENSE”, “FEEL” and “RELATE” appeal respectively.
Although we can use the applications via a digital screen, and we cannot
touch the environment, they can create the sense of presence and excitement
in both the physical and virtual environments. Besides, entertaining content
can lead to strong emotions of joy which will motivate consumers to engage.
The chance of sharing a co-created content in social media can be linked to
the individual’s desire to be appreciated and approved of by their friends or
followers.
Figure 37-4. AR-based apps
Artificial intelligence (AI)
Artificial intelligence (AI) is the study of complex information processing

problems, which are solved by a method and implemented by developing
algorithms (Marr 1976). AI is a huge discipline that consists of visual and
voice recognition, natural language processing, expert systems, affective
computing and robotics (Sterne 2017). Within the business context, AI can
be used in several areas that require human decisions and analysis to manage
strategic business and, within the context of this chapter, marketing issues
(Martínez-López & Casillas 2013). McKinsey (2018) has reported that AI
has mostly created value for business functions such as marketing and sales,
and also operational functions such as supply chain management and
manufacturing. Marketing problems are based on both quantitative and
qualitative issues, which require analysis and judgment. AI helps marketers
to solve problems such as finding the most appropriate type of sales
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promotion, screening new product ideas, automating the interpretation of

scanner data, predicting customer responses, and the retention or churn rate
based on past data, etc. (Wierenga 2010). In the retail industry, especially
e-commerce platforms as there are many interactions digitally, data can be
gathered in real time and AI applications can utilize the data. On the other
hand, in brick and mortar businesses, AI can be used for product assortment,
inventory management, and so on (McKinsey 2018).
Today, AI usage in marketing activities has become widespread and will
be penetrating in all areas of marketing, especially for high-level decisions
that are made by marketing executives. One form of AI, machine learning,
obtains the response rates of a particular advertisement, runs the algorithm
to produce, and takes action according to the data-driven insights. In this
way, a company can customize its activities and create new experiences in
real time (Sterne 2017). Within the marketing concept, AI-based digital
assistants or apps, such as Siri on Apple phones, have a very precious impact
in terms of customer experience. In a virtual or physical shopping
environment, digital assistants can answer an individual’s questions
regarding the functions of a product and its location. It can make
recommendations for potential combinations and customize answers
(Grewal, Roggeveen, & Nordfält 2017). Thus, it is a great experience for
customers to get personalized services that will make them joyful. It is also
a useful technology that processes customer data gathered from several
points, such as from previous inquiries, transactions, and market data.
Afterwards, natural-language processing and machine learning allow the
information to be delivered through chatbots and suggest answers to
customers (Riikkinen et al. 2018). In this way, any customer problem can
be solved easily and new personalized offers can be gained. Moreover, the
rapid penetration of social media and smartphones encourages companies
to develop social chatbots. Social chatbots allow companies to recognize
emotions and monitor emotional changes during the conversation. They can
also respond to customers in terms of their unique preferences, needs and
interests. However, they can easily analyze users’ responses and present
appropriate reasoning. Afterwards they can try to motivate customers by
recommending some topics that they may be interested in to make the
conversation longer (Shum, He, & Li 2018).
Another important characteristic of AI is to transform IoT to the level of
being able to decide, analyze, and learn from past data. As the connectivity
of several devices increases, millions of data are generated. However, the
important thing is to analyze data correctly to obtain valuable information.
AI can enhance the ability of making powerful analysis in real time
(Pramanik, Pal, & Choudhury 2018). In this way, a customer can get a new
offer while shopping that he doesn’t even guess which will make him
surprised and pleased. Thus, this convergence can enhance the level of
customization and the value of the experience.
It can be seen that AI technology can mostly create affective, cognitive
and physical experiences which are called Schmitt’s “FEEL”, THINK” and
“ACT” experiences (1999) respectively. AI-based digital assistants’
personalized answers may especially create a feeling of happiness due to
the fact that they can talk with them like a friend and can provide meaningful
responses which can create amusing moments. On the other hand, AI
technologies can be used in creating problem-solving experiences while
shopping which they will be surprised at and make them think about the
service they get. Besides, with real time campaigns, these technologies can
motivate and trigger buying behaviour.
Blockchain
Another important technology popular today is blockchain technology. It
allows one to record and trigger transactions between two parties, which
enhances their efficiency and verifiability in a permanent way. Blockchain
technology can protect individuals and all parties from deletion and
tampering in every transaction, as they can be easily recorded, validated,
and shared within a digital code (Iansiti & Lakhani 2017). Within the
context of the customer experience, the usage of blockchain technology is
rapidly increasing. In retail, as data are the main driver of creating
customized experiences, they need to be utilized effectively. It can store all
the records of encrypted customer data for the use of customer analytics.
Blockchain can easily track the supply chain process in terms of the
package’s condition, location, shipment, date, time, and so on, in real time.
It can also be used to forecast the demand of a specific location and reduce
the risk of the customers’ payment processing in real time. Another
important capability of blockchain is transparency, which enables
stakeholders to learn about the product’s components, whether it consists of
any harmful components, or if it is produced using child labor and/or
counterfeiting, which increases the customers’ trust (Chakrabarti &
Chaudhuri 2017).
As blockchain technology is increasingly used in various industries, it is
thought that it can mostly create affective and cognitive experiences which
Schmitt (1999) called “FEEL” and “THINK”. The encryption and
transparency capability of this technology can create a feeling of confidence
in the minds of customers which will enable them to securely pay, give
personal information or consume the product. Also, it can solve many
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customer problems with its capability of tracking the product in its supply
chain with any instant modifications and enhance cognitive experience.
Solutions and recommendations

In this chapter, the potential of emerging technologies and their impact in
creating or increasing the customer experience is clarified. However, due to
the enormous advantages of emerging technologies, they may create some
risks in terms of a customer’s adoption of these innovative models. As IoT
increases the ability to connect all devices with humans and everything, it
allows companies to obtain all the consumption patterns, behaviours,
responses and preferences, and for the B2B markets, business data are
essential for business customers. This may create privacy and security
concerns for customers. Although there are many encryption systems, in
most countries the legislation about these issues has not yet been completed
(Pramanik, Pal, & Choudhury 2018). For this reason, companies in the
digitalization process need to analyse their processes and identify the
possible threats from internal sources like employee error and external
sources such as hackers and cyber terrorists (Xu, David & Kim 2018).
Bandyopadhyay & Sen (2011) stressed the emergence of enhancement
technologies, protection laws, and standards. The most important thing that
will motivate consumers and business customers to try new experiences or
adopt new technologies is the level of perceived risk and trust. In terms of
giving out personal/business data or using the emerging technologies while
shopping or in all other settings, the perceived risk will cause a resistance
to be involved in such an experience. For example, perceived reactivity and
loss of control can cause anxiety and a reluctance to rely on digital assistants
while traveling or shopping (Fast & Horvitz 2017).
The solutions to these issues can be solved by implementing well-
established laws and standards. The adoption of customers to experience
these technologies can take a long time, especially in developing countries.
Demographic profile, the degree of innovation adoption, and the
commitment of regulatory institutions towards technological expansion are
some of the issues that need to be resolved.
Future research directions

Recent technological advancements are one of the most important drivers
that change the way marketers operate and customers shop and behave. The
integration of online and offline platforms encourages customers to get
highly involved in marketing activities (Moorhouse, tom Dieck, & Jung
2017). The impact of these technologies on several areas of marketing,

including retail, service, mobile, or e-commerce activities, has been studied
by several researchers. In the future, as Euromonitor (2018) stressed in its
“Global Consumer Trends” report, the buying habits of a new generation of
sharers, renters, and subscribers, namely millennials, will continue to evolve
and spread, and the emphasis on their need to share their experiences is
especially thought to be essential for future studies.
Within the concept of technological improvements, second generation
VR applications will develop and start to replace desktops. Entertainment,
360 video and VR applications will enable customers to visit virtual worlds
collectively (Rosedale 2017). In the near future, every object will be
connected to the Internet. Nonetheless, it will create an unpredictable
synergy when these developments converge and are used for creating
customer experiences. The impact of these developments on the customer
adoption process, their responses, and the transformation of companies to
various digitalization processes will need to be studied in the near future.
The integration of supply chain management and the marketing function,
supported by these advancements, is studied very rarely (Ardito et al. 2018)
and needs to be analysed and worked on.
Conclusion
Marketing concepts have encountered many different changes from a
commodity focus (Kotler 1972) to a holistic view. The role of the customer
has also dramatically changed from a relational to an emotional decision-
maker (Schmitt 2003). Today, it can be observed that the new generation of
“millennials” just wants to access rather than take ownership of a service
he/she is going to buy. They want to share, rent, or stream, and have much
more interest in those brands that create valuable experiences. Their main
focus is to share their experiences by using several digital devices.
Moreover, they want to be in the role of creator, involved in the processes
from design and production, to promotional activities (Euromonitor 2018).
This view, of course, encourages marketers to find new and digitalized
experiences for and by different technologies. As the usage of Internet
technologies and mobile devices increases, it will be easier for companies
to adapt to technological advancements, which will create new experiences.
As the individuals are independent in terms of time and location, there will
be a data flow every moment from various touchpoints to CRM to support
a holistic customer experience (Heavin & Power 2018).
The emerging technologies and their effects on creating experiences
should also occur at the “emotional, physical, intellectual, and even spiritual
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level” (Pine II & Gilmore 1998), as in the conventional ways. They can also
get the sensory, affective, cognitive, physical and social identity experiences
(SENSE, FEEL, THINK, ACT and RELATE) of Schmitt (1999). Once the
customer feels all of these levels in all moments of contact with the customer
journey (Shaw & Ivens 2002), marketers are thought to be more successful,
as the new customer likes to share, co-create, and engage. As it can be seen
from several examples, VR-AR, AI, IoT, and blockchain technologies are
currently adjusting the way services are presented. In the near future, some
authors (Rosedale 2017; Ardito et al. 2018) who studied future
technological developments in detail, suggest there will be a huge area in
marketing and, particularly in the customer experience, to make valuable
contributions to the literature.
On the side of practitioners, to be able to be involved in this
digitalization journey, the needs, wants, preferences, and concerns of a
businesses’ target market need to be carefully analysed and the most
appropriate one identified. Moreover, companies who decide to be involved
in a digital transformation journey need to prepare a strategic plan and
generate a corporate culture for the adoption of technological change (Kane
et al. 2015). However, the most critical point is the necessity of having a
legitimate environment that protects customers, which will create trust
towards involvement in these experiences.
Acknowledgment
This chapter’s research was supported by the Litum Group in terms of
presenting information and images about their implementation of several
technologies in different industries. The author further extends thanks to Mr.
Kamil Sozen, co-founder of the Litum Group, for sharing information about
their successful cases.
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MEASURING CUSTOMER PREFERENCES
WITH CONJOINT ANALYSIS
TUTKU TUNCALI YAMAN
Introduction
According to marketing professionals, in order to create a customer-centric
organization, it is vital to understand what their customers really want or
need. Within this context, measuring customer preferences is essential to
uncover the most influential product attributes. Using digital methods in
designing and/or marketing phases of the products, will affect the target
audience more. In addition to that, with the increase of internet usage,
obtaining the digital data became more convenient for marketers. In this
chapter, conjoint analysis, which is one of the analysis methods on customer
preference/perception measurement that can be easily applied on digital
platforms, will be discussed.
Conjoint Analysis
Conjoint analysis, which is defined as a kind of “thought experiment” by
Hair, Anderson & Tatham (1998), is basically a technique used to measure
how a multi-product choice is made by consumers. Therefore, in today's
markets where a wide range of products and services is available, new
product development and the improvement of existing products are among
the methods applied. Undoubtedly, the area where conjoint analysis is most
relevant is marketing research. The technique was developed based on the
“Conjoint Measurement” of Luce & Tukey (1964). After the emergence of
the analysis, it was first used to measure the differentiation of consumer
preferences on the basis of multi-featured products (Green & Rao 1971).
The technique has also been widely discussed in academic research (Green
& Srinivasan 1990). In the late 1980s, in addition to academic studies,
Cattin & Wittink (1989) examined the industrial use of conjoint analysis.
Most of these studies were based on new product development, competitor
analysis and segmentation. After the introduction of computer software
576 Measuring Customer Preferences with Conjoint Analysis
developed for analysis by Green & Srinivasan (1990), different approaches

were developed by Sawtooth Software. The software working within the
framework of these approaches provide the user with the opportunity to
simulate the importance of product features in a variety of scenarios.
If the general objectives of the analysis are evaluated by the business science
point of view, it is necessary to:
 Identify the contribution of product characteristics and levels to
consumer preferences (marginal contribution).
 Create a model that can explain consumer decisions.
 Design products with optimum features.
 Learn the characteristics of preference among products with different
characteristics.
 Have the capability of capturing product opportunities that are not
currently on the market but may have a chance of selling potential.
 Be able to identify consumer groups that give importance to different
properties of products.
Since the 1980s when the industrial and academic use has become
widespread, numerous applications have been made for the purposes of
determining consumer preferences for products and services in almost every
sector, new product/service design, simulation and market segmentation.
When the subjects of the studies done in recent years are examined, it is
found that there are also different researches, which bring new approaches
to various problems encountered in the conjoint together with the ones
oriented towards the application. For example, in the studies that determine
the price and brand characteristics, a change in the customer's perception of
the product, the calculation of brand value, an increase in the estimation
efficiency using different methods, applying the analysis in heterogeneous
groups, introducing innovations to benefit estimation algorithms and
combining the conjoint with different methods can be given. However, the
selection algorithm is no longer just for the product or service managers in
marketing departments, but for all factors of the business.
Green, Krieger & Wind (2001) proposed the following topics as the
subjects that are expected to be studied with conjoint analysis in the future
through the development of conjoint analysis and the areas of use until the
date of publication.
1. New simulation optimizers that maximize market share or earnings;
2. Solutions to new marketing problems: a bundle option in
telecommunications or banking applications;
3. Providing more visual and realistic presentations of the features and
levels of the product to the respondents;
Tutku Tuncalı Yaman 577
4. Conjoint applications in different fields: Tourism, entertainment and

health;
5. New application areas: Internet based hybrid applications;
6. New methods to measure the reliability and validity of the conjugate
model;
7. The transfer of customer-based applications between the enterprises,
the employees, and other business stakeholders or state institutions;
8. New dynamic simulators that take cause-effect behavior into
account; and
9. Prototype simulators: Get customer preferences based on experience
by testing the product.
In the course of the literature research by Green, Krieger & Wind (2001),
various studies have been started on these topics and are still continuing.
Please refer to the following up-to-date studies in order to reach the detailed
applications of the analysis in digital marketing: Lee, Yan & Kim 2017;
Feng-Lin & Hung-Liao 2010; van der Rest, Cordella, Loosschilder &
Schwartz 2016; Leib, Reynolds, Taylor & Baker 2018; Vishnu Menon &
Sigurdsson 2016; Chaparro-Peláez, Agudo-Peregrina & Pascual-Miguel
2016; Lehto et. al. 2018.
Application of Conjoint Analysis

Conjoint analysis is a technique used in the measurement of preferences and
uses as a decompositional approach. While the parameters are determined
directly by the decision-maker in the measurements made by the
compositional approach, the parameters designed and defined by the
researcher in such separation-based approaches are now obtained through
the holistic evaluation of the answers of the decision-maker (i.e. taste,
preference, tendency to buy, preferred options). The statistical process
behind the analysis works by calculating the contribution of each attribute
and its level to the formation of the profiles. According to Green &
Srinivasan (1990), the basic steps of applying the analysis are based on the
selection of:
1. Attributes and levels;
2. The stimulus of the product profiles;
3. The presentation method of the product profiles;
4. The scale of the data collection method and the measurement;
5. The preference model and the estimation method; and
6. The simulator.
These steps are described in detail below.
Selection of attributes and levels
The selection of attributes and levels to be used in the conjoint studies is

made in the context of the answers to the following questions:
1. What attributes should be used?
2. How to define the attributes to be used?
3. How many attributes should be included in the analysis?
4. How many different levels of each attribute should be defined?
5. How many levels should be included in the analysis?
The key determinant of deciding which attributes should participate in
the conjoint study is the uncertainties associated with the product by the
managers of the subject product. These may be the profitability of the
product and the expected profitability of the new product. However, the
value of the product as perceived by consumers and the position of the
product against competing products are also important. Therefore, in the
selection of the property, whether the choice of a new product or the
improvement of the current product is intended, those who do not have
administrative importance are not included in the study.
The attributes to be included in the research are generally selected from
being functional/physical and psychological. Examples of physical
properties are; the engine power for cars, the daily price for hotel rooms or
the aroma for chewing gum. The evaluation of the product set design, which
is created with such features, is undoubtedly an advantage for research and
development departments. These types of product features directly affect
consumer choice. On the other hand, consumer evaluation of some
psychological characteristics of the product may not be as easy as evaluating
physical or functional features. These types of features can be defined as
benefits (utility) for the consumer as they have symbolic meaning or
characteristics for personal tastes. An example is the car's safety features or
the quality of service at the hotel. The incorporation of such abstract features
into the design is important for product development or improvement, but
the process of operationalization works differently.
There are two important aspects to be considered in conjoint studies. These
are the price and brand of the product. Because the brand tends to show
interactive effects with other features, this also provides information about
the brand value of the product to the researchers (Park & Srinivasan 1994).
The price can cause some problems because of the interaction with
environmental factors. Many features of the conjoint design have a certain
price. Designs that exceed this approach cause unrealistic product profiles
to be evaluated. Some researchers can follow a method such as giving the
price of each property within the property's own definition. In this case, the
lower values of the price-difference characteristics also reflect the
importance of the price and eliminate the possibility of being evaluated

independently of the price.
Conjoint applications are generally used to limit the number of features
to be used. One of the main reasons for this is that the evaluation of all
features defining the product is decisive and tedious in terms of decision-
making. In typical studies, this number is determined to be a maximum of
30 based on the data collection method (Wedel & Kamakura 2000: 298).
Another limitation is the requirement to limit the number of properties that
are required to be evaluated in each product profile. Green & Srinivasan
(1978) recommend not to use more than six features in each profile.
Although the use of a fractional factorial design can increase the number of
features available for each profile, 40-50 items in industrial studies causes
the problem to remain unresolved.
In such cases, the preferred approach can be summarized as follows: Firstly,
fractional factorial design is used to create profiles so that the number of
profiles consisting of properties is restricted. Restricted designs are
collected as subgroups of alternatives. These subgroups can then be
presented as different (random) samples. The disadvantage of this approach
is that there is a problem due to inadequate information at the stage of
determining the importance of the lower levels of data. One solution is the
support method proposed by Albaum (1989). Here, subgroups are used in
separate experiments, which are then aggregated as a single common
feature. Since the method is used for a specific purpose, the statistical
process behind it is not very clear. The final solution proposition is a hybrid
conjoint approach that is both self-explicated and suitable for full profile
data (Green 1984) or adaptive conjoint analysis based on the self-defined
and paired comparison data (Johnson 1987). The methods of self-
identification provide the significance levels of the characteristics directly
from the respondents. For example, participants are asked to evaluate the
importance of the vehicle's price, motor capacity and horsepower on a 5-
point scale. In a hybrid approach, the benefit function is obtained from self-
defined, full profile evaluation results, while in the adaptive approach, the
profile pair chosen for each participant is evaluated in terms of a limited
number (two or five) of characteristics and lower importance points are
obtained. When the participant tends to choose any of the products in the
profile pair, the estimates of these part-worth scores are updated. The next
pair of profiles to be displayed is determined based on these updated sub-
severity points. The adaptive method is suitable for designs with a larger
number of features, but the profile design of the method is no longer
orthogonal, and the method can be defined as partially compositional
(Wedel & Kamakura 2000: 308).
Once the attribute selection is completed, the number of levels to be

included in the design for each property must be determined. There is also
a trade-off for determining the number of attributes. As the number of levels
increases, the number of profiles to be evaluated by the respondent and the
information to be obtained will increase and the quality of the information
will decrease due to respondent fatigue. Evaluation of any trait in two lower-
level contexts is easier than evaluating with three or four lower levels. On
the other hand, the definition of any attribute with only two levels gives only
linear effects, while the use of three levels will allow the estimation of
quadratic effects. A potential problem in conjoint studies is called the level
number effect. In conjoint studies, the results are usually summarized at the
level of the importance of the factors and this is defined by the differences
between the highest and the lowest importance scores. As the severity levels
of the characteristics are affected by the number of levels defined, the
addition of intermediate levels to some of the features defined by extreme
values will increase the significance scores of these features (Steenkamp &
Wittink 1994).
Conjoint designs where all possible attributes and levels are evaluated
by the participant are called orthogonal factorial designs (Addelman 1962).
This is the most commonly used approach. If four two-level properties are
to be used, the full factorial design will require a total of 2n = 24 = 16 product
profile evaluations. The advantage of a full factorial design is that it can
predict the interactive effects between properties. On the other hand, in such
designs, the number of profiles to be evaluated by the participant may
sometimes be far from providing a healthy assessment and can be very high.
An orthogonal fractional factorial design is often used in such cases (Green
& Srinivasan 1990). This method allows the prediction of the main effects
of the properties, and a compromise design can predict the more limited
(e.g. first level) interactional effects. For example, a full profile design in
which five two-level attributes will be evaluated (32 profiles), can reduce
the number of profiles to be evaluated by a half-replicate design approach
from 32 to 16. In such a design, some of the main and interactive effects can
be confused. Although this method is used in some applications, the number
of profiles to be evaluated still remains high, so some profiles are assembled
into blocks and a partially balanced block design is made. In practice,
respondents evaluate the different blocks of profiles.
Conjoint selection experiments mostly use restricted designs (Louvière
1988). In such tests, consumers choose from sets that are formed from
profiles rather than individually evaluating each profile in an isolated
manner. These profile sets are created with a restricted design approach. In
the approach proposed by Louvière (1988), a common or basic alternative
is determined, which ensures the orthogonality of the design and fixes the
utility scale between different selection sets. For example, with the addition
of a basic alternative (such as adding the “existing brand” or “none” option)
to a reduced design from 32 to 16 with a semi-copy design, 8 selection sets
with 3 alternatives can be created, two of which are new and one is the basic
alternative.
Representation of product profiles
After creating product profiles, the researcher should decide how to display
these options to participants. Conjoint studies generally use the following
methods:
1. Verbal identification: Writing and displaying a text that verbally
defines the product profile.
2. Profile cards: Display of product profile cards with descriptions of
each feature and levels.
3. Visual identification: Display of the drawing or photograph of the
product to be evaluated.
4. Computer-aided design: Method to show product designs that are not
already present.
5. Physical evaluation: Display of the product itself.
Although the most popular method used up to now is the use of profile
cards, visual evaluations can be both more interesting and clearer for the
participant. Of course, the use of this method is possible when evaluating
the visual properties of the products. Similarly, the computer-aided method
has been prominent for the evaluation of products that have not been
produced yet and are not on the market (Wedel & Kamakura 2000: 299).
Data collection and measurement
Due to the complexity of the conjoint studies, it is probably considered that
the most appropriate data collection method will be face-to-face interviews.
In this regard, data collection by telephone or mail is not preferred in the
context of making the profiles difficult to understand. On the other hand,
online and/or computer-assisted interviews are evaluated as the most
appropriate solutions for choice-based conjoint methods (Lilien,
Rangaswamy & DeBruyn 2013: 167). Data collection methods other than
these are as follows:
1. Full-profile approach: The respondents evaluate all the profiles
consisting of combinations of all attributes respectively.
2. Trade-off approach: The respondents evaluate combinations of all
levels of the two attributes.
3. Pairwise comparison approach: Respondents evaluate profile pairs

that include combinations of all attributes.
4. Experimental choice approach: The respondents select one of the
profile sets, where each profile is determined by all attributes.
In recent studies, a full profile approach is used as a data collection
method rather than a trade-off matrix. This is due to the increasing interest
in behaviour-oriented structures that tend to buy and to experiment rather
than to traditional tastes of choice and preference. In this case, full profile
approaches seem to be more appropriate since they provide a complete
definition of the product or service of interest. For similar reasons, the
choice-based conjoint approach also gained popularity. In both the full
profile and trade-off approaches, evaluation can be based on ranking or
scoring. Scores are usually made on an equal-pitch scale of 7 or 9. However,
due to the monadic nature of the method, such evaluations are sensitive to
errors. As a solution to this, Steenkamp and Wittink (1994) achieved a
magnitude estimation and obtained results in a ratio scale. The pairwise
comparison approach is used in the adaptive conjoint analysis method. In
such evaluations, the ranking or selection measure can be taken for the
option pairs that are scored. In the choice-based conjoint, the selection scale
is saved for one of the profile sets, where each profile is determined on the
basis of all properties.
Today, different conjoint analysis techniques are used in different
studies in marketing research. Each one of these approaches, which can
basically be grouped under three types, has advantages and disadvantages.
Choosing the appropriate method for the purpose of research is one of the
important points to be decided. These approaches are:
1. Adaptive Conjoint Analysis: Adaptive conjoint analysis developed
by Sawtooth Software is preferred due to the ease of use. In some cases it is
also inadequate to give optimal results. The major advantage of this method
is that the full profile method can be used to implement the application
without considering all product features of the respondent at the same time.
However, with this approach, more than six attributes cannot be evaluated
effectively at the same time. This method, which is effective in estimating
price sensitivity, requires computer-based research.
2. Conjoint Value Analysis: This method can be used to determine the
interactions between utility values and attributes for each profile by using
the full profile, pairwise comparison or trade-off approaches. The practical
application of the value analysis method can also be done with pen and
paper.
3. Choice-based Conjoint Analysis: Choice-based conjoint analysis is
a more up-to-date method than others, but it also allows the calculation of
interactions of product attributes. In this method, the respondent selects

from the product profiles defined according to various characteristics
instead of ranking or rating. If the purpose of the research is to determine
the preference of the product or the service of interest, it should be taken
into account that no product will be preferred as in real life. Because if the
respondent does not find the features he/she wants in any of the defined
products, naturally he/she will not choose one. Although the researchers
argue that each respondent has distinct characteristics and that some features
cannot be clearly seen unless the answers are analyzed on a person-by-case
basis, the paired comparison method in the choice-based conjoint analysis
allows the determination of the essential variables, particularly in the studies
where the product price is included, by ignoring certain product
characteristics. When scoring or ranking is performed, these features may
not fully demonstrate their importance. Another advantage of this method
is that the calculation operations are relatively short and easy.
Modeling and estimation
In the context of conjoint analysis, there are four basic models defining the
functions that express the multiple characteristics of consumers. These are
the vector model, the ideal point model, the part-worth model and the mixed
model. According to the vector model, preferences increase with the
increasing values of the attributes. Ideally, the ideal point model predicts
that the preferences are on the maximal point and that the tendency of
preference decreases as they move away from this point. Each level of
attributes has a distinctive significance in the part-worth model. The mixed
model is a combination of the three models mentioned above. The most
commonly used method is the part-worth model which requires more
parameter estimation. The utility values of each level of each attribute are
estimated separately using the dummy variable. The mathematical
representations of these four models are as follows (Wedel & Kamakura
2000: 301):
𝑝
1. Vector model: 𝑦𝑛𝑘 = 𝑐𝑛 + ∑𝑝=1 𝛽𝑛𝑝 𝑥𝑘𝑝
𝑝
2. Ideal point model: 𝑦𝑛𝑘 = 𝑐𝑛 + ∑𝑝=1 𝛽𝑛𝑝 (𝑥𝑘𝑝 − 𝑎𝑛𝑝 )2
𝑝 𝐿𝑝
3. Part-worth model: 𝑦𝑛𝑘 = ∑𝑝=1 ∑𝑙=1 𝛽𝑙𝑝 𝑓𝑙 (𝑥𝑘𝑝 )
4. Mixed model: Combination of the three models detailed above.
l=1,...,Lp: levels of attribute p
𝑥𝑘𝑝 : level of attribute p in profile k
𝑦𝑛𝑘 : nth person's judgment (preference) for profile k
𝑎𝑛𝑝 : nth person's ideal point for attribute p
𝑓𝑙 (𝑥𝑘𝑝 ): Indicator function for level 1 of attribute p in profile k
Many different methods have been used for the evaluation of the
conjoint data. The choice of appropriate method is based on the scale used
by the respondent in the assessment of preferences for product profiles. The
three basic scales used in the conjoint are: metric/ratio and ordinal/nominal
(choice-based) scales. For estimation by metric data, generally the ordinary
least-squares (OLS) method is used and the significance levels are obtained.
The most commonly used methods for estimation are MONANOVA
(Kruskal 1965) and LINMAP (Shocker & Srinivasan 1979). The
MONANOVA algorithm follows a two-step iteration method. Firstly, the
importance of the attribute levels with the OLS is estimated: Β t =
(Χ′Χ)−1 Χ′Y t−1 . In the second step, monotone conversion is made to the
predicted preferences. The order of the predicted preferences thus matches
the observed preferences: Y t ~M(Y ̂ t−1 ). The monotonous conversion M(A)
corresponds to the approximate mean while the values of the pairs obtained
as a result of the estimation are not in the same order as the data values of
the pairs. This two-step process is repeated, one step after the other until
convergence. The MONANOVA algorithm is suitable for both full-profile
and trade-off matrix data. LINMAP is the linear programming method for
the same type of data. An alternative approach to the analysis of sequential
data is the multinomial LOGIT model (Chapman & Stealin 1982;
Kamakura, Wedel & Agrawal 1994). This approach is only valid under the
assumption of independence from irrelevant alternatives (IIA) in select
models.
Another alternative is the multinomial PROBIT model which does not
require the assumptions of the LOGIT model (Kamakura & Srivastava
1984). However, in the estimation of this model, when the set subject to the
selection contains more than three alternatives, it may be problematic that
the numerical solution of the fourth and higher dimensional integrals cannot
be made. In such cases McFadden (1989) proposed the use of simulation
methods for integral calculus.
The conjoint procedures of both Sawtooth Software and IBM SPSS
softwares are easy to use and are useful for estimating the results. For the
choice-based, adaptive and value analysis approaches, Sawtooth's
estimation and simulation model provides more detailed results than that of
IBM SPSS (Green, Krieger & Wind 2004).
While testing the validity of the model used in the result of the analysis,
Spearman's rho coefficient or Kendall's tau coefficient is used for the data
measured by the ordinal scale. Pearson's R coefficient can be used if the
data are evaluated on an equally spaced or ratio scale (Johnson 1987).
As described above, the conjoint operation can be performed for
different purposes. One purpose is to investigate the impact of a new
product design or improvements in existing products on consumer

preferences. The effects of the product characteristics on the purchasing
behavior of the product will explain the effects of the changes in the market,
the presence, changes and innovations of new, existing or modified
products/services with competitors in a more realistic perspective. In order
to do this, a marketing decision can be given by calculating the preference
ratios (market share) of the interested product and other products in the
market. In the following section, the approaches used in this decision are
explained.
Choice simulators
After the conjoint results have been obtained, the effects of newly designed
or modified products using the selection simulator can be seen in the context
of competitors and the product range. The outputs obtained from these
simulations are generally a preference ratio (market share) for each product.
Simulations can include a single product or a range of competing products
or product bundles. The selection can be made according to four basic rules:
1. Maximum Utility Rule: The market share of the product of interest
is determined by the number of consumers who give the highest utility to
this product. In determining the total market share, sometimes each
consumer needs to weigh each alternative with the possibility of buying.
This is the size of the relative volume of purchases made by the consumer
in the relevant category (Lilien, Rangaswamy & DeBruyn 2013: 170).
∑𝐼𝑖=1 𝑤𝑖 𝑝𝑖𝑗
𝑚𝑗 = 𝐽
∑𝑗=1 ∑𝐼𝑖=1 𝑤𝑖 𝑝𝑖𝑗
I: Total number of respondents participating in the research
J: Total number of products offered to a consumer including new
products
𝑚𝑗 : Market share of product j
𝑤𝑖 : The relative volume of purchases made by the ith consumer
(average volume is found by indexing all consumer values to 1)
𝑝𝑖𝑗 : Rate of purchase of product j for the ith consumer
2. The Rule of Utility Share (Bradley-Terry-Luce): This rule is based
on the assumption that the product will more likely be purchased if the
utility for a customer is higher. The utility share of each product is
calculated by proportioning the share of the relevant product to the
consumer's share of the purchase.
𝑢𝑖𝑗
𝑝𝑖𝑗 =
∑𝑗 𝑢𝑖𝑗
I: Total number of respondents participating in the research

products
𝑢𝑖𝑗 : Estimated utility score of product j for the ith consumer
The market share of product j can be found with the average of 𝑝𝑖𝑗 values
obtained for all customers. If necessary, a weight can also be added in the
manner described in the maximum utility approach. This method can be
used for products that are frequently purchased but where there is little
commitment from the consumer (e.g. packaged fast-moving goods, etc.).
The main reason why this selection rule has a wide range of uses is that
it gives good results for market share estimates. As Luce (1959) stated in
his study, this method requires the measurement of utility values by the ratio
scale. For example, consumer preferences can be used in their
measurements on a constant-sum (e.g. 100) scale.
3. LOGIT Choice Rule: This rule is similar to the utility share rule,
but the underlying theory is different. The certainty of the utility functions
is assumed to applyto the utility-share model, but the effect of fairness can
be triggered when converting the selections into utilities. When applying
the LOGIT choice rule, the calculated utility values consist of a random
process. Therefore, the brand with the maximum utility varies from one
purchase to another. The choice rule indicates the proportion of the number
of purchases for which product j will have the maximum utility (Lilien,
Rangaswamy & DeBruyn 2013: 171).
𝑒 𝑢𝑖𝑗
𝑝𝑖𝑗 =
∑𝑗 𝑒 𝑢𝑖𝑗
I: Number of respondents participating in the research
products
𝑢𝑖𝑗 : Estimated utility score of product j for the ith consumer
Both the utility share and the LOGIT rule are valid under the assumption
of independence from irrelevant alternatives: IIA. The choice probabilities
obtained from any subset of alternatives are based solely on alternatives
covered by the set and are independent of other alternatives that are not
included. This feature can be categorized as follows: Adding an alternative
to another normal coke (an unrelated alternative) between options to a
consumer who opts for a light coke instead of a normal one does not affect
the likelihood of choosing a light coke.
The question of how to make the most appropriate choice among these
rules is frequently raised. While the maximum utility rule is simple and
effective, the choices are not affected by the positive linear transformations
in the utility function when predicted by this rule. This rule is an appropriate
method for the product or product category where consumers are sensitive
about the purchase decision. In addition, this method is used to estimate

market shares in very extreme values. For example, contrary to other rules,
there is a tendency for market share estimates of 0 to 1. However, small
changes in benefit values may not yield very strong estimates if they are
making sharp changes in their market shares. On the other hand, when the
market shares are made with the utility share or LOGIT rule, the scale in
which the benefit is measured becomes important. For example, market
share estimates based on the utility share may change if a fixed value is
added to the calculated utility value for each product. However, it does not
change if each utility value is multiplied by a fixed number. In the LOGIT
rule, a change is observed in the opposite way. As can be seen, each method
has its own advantages and disadvantages.
A proposed method to choose from these three rules can be explained as
follows: First, market shares for each rule are only estimated for existing
products. Then, using the choice rule, the market shares of these products
that are closest to the actual market shares are obtained. This approach is
arranged according to another choice rule called “Alpha” which is proposed
by Green & Kreieger (1993).
4. Alpha Rule: This rule can be defined as a weighted combination of
the maximum utility and utility share rules. The weight is chosen by
assuming that the market shares to be calculated are as close as possible to
the actual market shares of the existing products. The alpha value in the
formula below should be selected to estimate the market shares observed
for existing products as close as possible to the actual values.
𝑢𝑖𝑗 𝛼
𝑝𝑖𝑗 =
∑𝑗 𝑢𝑖𝑗 𝛼
When determining the most appropriate value for alpha, it is necessary
to minimize the entropy representing the difference between calculated
market share values and actual market shares for current products.
𝑚𝑗
𝐸𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑝𝑦 = ∑ 𝑚𝑗 𝑙𝑛 ( )
̂𝑗 (𝛼)
𝑚
𝑗
j: jth current product
𝑚𝑗 : Current market share of the jth product
𝑚̂𝑗 : Estimated market share of the jth product according to a
Orme & Huber (2000) proposed a more recent rule called randomized
first choice. The rule can be considered as a combination of the alpha and
LOGIT rules.
In some cases, having a high market share may not lead to high
profitability for a company because market share calculations do not cover
the production cost for each product. The contribution of any product to the
business can be found in a simple way (the price-unit cost) by placing it on
the basis of the margin accepted. It is then compared with the underlying
product costs, taking into account the additional cost (plus or minus) for
each level of each feature. Finally, by taking the potential income index as
100 for the base product, the income index of the other product is generated
according to this basic level.
Market segmentation
So far, in the sections where the aim of conjoint analysis and its application
is explained, an individual market behavior estimation is made as well as an
attempt to explain the individual customer’s behavior. In other words, all
customers were considered as a single group with the same characteristics.
At this point, if there were different customer groups in the market, there
are a few different solution methods for the question of how to do simulation
studies. These are:
1. Post-Hoc Segmentation: Using segmented value data, customer
segments can be identified by the traditional clustering analysis method
according to preference differences.
2. Latent Class Segmentation: This is the most appropriate method
when the number of segments in the market is not known in advance. But it
requires working with a large sample.
3. Hierarchical Bayes: Consumers are considered to come from one or
more (finite number) populations. However, each of these populations has
a different and specific distribution function (e.g. Gaussian Distribution)
that is suitable for a fractional value function. Consecutive point estimations
can be made from the partial value function which is conditional on each
consumer's own segment. These segmented value estimates can be used to
determine the expected market share for a product in the entire group or in
any segment. Andrews, Ansari & Currim (2002) compared the implicit class
with hierarchical Bayes in their study. They concluded that hierarchical
Bayes made more effective predictions. The method can also be calculated
based on the choice-based conjoint data. In addition, the consecutive point
estimations obtained from this method are more consistent. Further
information can be found in Allenby & Ginter (1995).
Conclusion
Firms, based on the increasing competitive conditions in recent years, are
based on the privatization of the products and/or services for both
production and consumer presentation and marketing. In addition to the
variety of products in the market and the enrichment of promotional

platforms through digital marketing, customer satisfaction has become even
more important with the increase in consumer awareness. In this context,
companies are grouping their own customers according to their measured
characteristics and they make plans to communicate with different
marketing mixes and channels according to these characteristics. Conjoint
analysis is a method of better understanding the consumers for their
companies as well as providing more successful results of their activities.
However, conjoint analysis sheds light on the marketers' strategies related
to the product as it allows the consumer to evaluate the importance of each
attribute of any product or service together with all the other aspects.
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THE USE OF INTERNET MARKETING IN
HEALTH SERVICES BY HOSPITALS AND
MEDICAL DOCTORS
AYDA GÖK
Introduction
The position of the service sector in a country's economy is considered as a
measure of development. One of the important sub-sectors that constitute
the service sector is the health sector. The health sector is well developed in
countries with high levels of welfare. In this respect, health is a concept that
shows the basic level of development of countries and also plays a role in
the economic development of societies.
That a sensitive issue, such as health, is considered as an economic
activity with profit receives reaction. However, the inadequacy of state
hospitals to meet the demand for health services in capacity, the increase in
the number of private hospitals, the importance of quality issues, the
development of human rights, patient rights, patient satisfaction, the
importance of economic cost and profitability in terms of competition
caused hospitals to direct themselves towards the concept of business in
their management.
Marketing, which is one of the basic business functions, consists of
various activities. Internet marketing is discussed within the scope of
marketing communication within the marketing discipline. It is used for
direct connection, promotion, public relations, branding, advertising and
sales with the customers who constitute the target audience of the enterprise.
The use of internet marketing in the field of health is aimed at introducing
health institutions, publicizing their services and creating a positive image.
The aim of marketing practices in the field of health is not to sell
unnecessary treatments or drugs to patients. The aim is to inform the
patients and provide success by encouraging them to become more involved
in the diagnosis and treatment processes.
Health services are vital and carry risks. Therefore, patients and their
relatives need to be informed about the services provided by the hospitals,
Ayda Gök 593
their staff, experience, competence, achievements and diseases before

purchasing health services in non-emergency situations. Due to the nature
of the disease, patients may not have the opportunity to look for information
in an emergency. The widespread use of mobile phones and mobile internet
is advantageous for quick and easy information. Hospitals and doctors are
able to offer some health services such as education of patients and their
relatives, preventive care and self-care while providing their expertise,
experiences and achievements to the public through their websites.
The internet has a supporting and educative role in protecting
individuals' own health. This study is related to the use of internet
marketing, which is a current issue, in the promotion and presentation of
health services. In this chapter, firstly internet marketing was pointed out
then the use of internet marketing in health services for hospitals and doctors
was mentioned. Finally, the definition and types of social media and their
use in health services marketing were discussed.
The Development, Definition and Types of Internet

Marketing
The Development of Internet Marketing
The innovations in communication technologies have led to changes in both
social and business life. More people, institutions and businesses are having
access to internet network day by day compared to the times when it was
first used by scientists and limited number of researchers. Its unique
characteristics have played an important role in the rapid advance of internet
technology. Starting in the 1970s and spreading rapidly after the 1990s, the
internet technology has evolved into a communication network
incorporating individuals, companies, profit-seeking or non-profit
organizations and states.
Today, thousands of organizations and billions of people surf the
internet, get information, play games, and shop. As of the end of 2019, the
number of internet users in the world is about 4.574 million (58.7% of the
world's population), according to the statistics published by Internet World
Stats (2020). The internet has changed into a very effective platform that
change the way we work and means of communication.
With the internet starting to be used by a huge number of users, a
community that can communicate with each other online, access various
information resources, discuss and create forums has come into being. Many
users who spend most of their times on the internet have created an
‘electronic community’ (Kırcova, 2012: 22).
594 The Use of Internet Marketing in Health Services by Hospitals and
Medical Doctors
The internet has promoted many enterprises and revolutionary

innovations to its users until the 2000s. This process can be examined in
three periods (Marangoz, 2014: 45-46):
The beginning of the 1990s: This period was not at its prime because of
a limited number of technology-friendly users of the internet and the fact
that it was its primary years since it came into existence.
The years of 1996-2000: In this period, many companies have focused
on selling and marketing on the internet and the new competitors have
joined together. In these years when internet marketing has gained
momentum, advertising has not shown a correct orientation and companies
have made inaccurate attempts to determine domain name in the hope of
attracting attention.
2000 and after: The 2000s, with the innovations in internet technology,
were a period when the internet has rapidly spread and expanded its area of
use.
Commercial activities have shifted to the internet due to the rapid
increase in the number and type of electronic communities. As a result,
some of the traditional business functions have started to emerge in this
area. Commercial internet is the fastest growing area on the internet. It is
followed by research and education sectors. At the base of the development
of commercial internet lies some activities related to meeting consumer
needs (Kırcova, 2012: 24-27).
Internet users differ in some characteristics from consumers who shop
in traditional ways as a consumer profile. This consumer population is
mostly young, educated, high-skilled, wealthy, males (Kotler, 2000: 663),
who know how to use computers and are interested in technological
products.
When we look at the historical process of marketing, it can be said that
the printing press, telephone, radio, television was developed in parallel
with the advances in technology. Thus, mass media through which the
necessity of having the same place at the same time to communicate was
eliminated have emerged. With each new technology, new promotion and
marketing channels have been created and the opportunity to reach a wider
audience has been created. It is seen that there has been a great change in
the use of the internet and information technologies in marketing. The 21st
century is called the digital age. It is no longer necessary for a business to
occupy much space in this age. As a virtual company, it can conduct
business activities over the internet and away from the limitations of
geographical location and working hours. Virtual companies connect to
each other and their customers through uninterrupted virtual networks.
The Definition and Types of Internet Marketing
Ayda Gök 595
The internet is a collection of networks connecting computers in the world.

Internet marketing methods and principles are similar in terms of traditional
commercial methods. Therefore, it is seen as an innovation that occurs in
parallel with the development of communication and information
processing technologies and facilitates trade, not a set of commercial
procedures that is an alternative to traditional marketing (Marangoz, 2014:
50).
Chaffey and friends (2003) defined internet marketing as follows; “the
use of digital technologies such as the internet and alike in order to realize
marketing goals and support the modern marketing concept” (Paşalı, 2009:
126).
Many products and services can be marketed on the internet: software,
movies, video and music albums, books, newspapers, information
databases, internet banking, health services, customer services, education,
travel and tourism services. Internet marketing is a tool that can be used for
sales and marketing as well as a communication channel that can be used
for publicity purposes.
Internet marketing is mainly done in 5 ways:
 Business to Consumer- B2C: It is the sale of products and services
to consumers by using virtual stores. It is the most known type of
internet marketing.
 Business to Business- B2B: It is the sale of products and services
over the internet by companies. Businesses using this model do not
sell products to customers. For example, we can give an example of
a hospital’s purchase of devices from a manufacturer selling hospital
devices on the internet.
 Business to Government- B2G: It includes operations such as
selling goods and services over the internet to public institutions,
public procurement, customs procedures, tax payments and social
security.
 Consumer to Government - C2G: It is the way public institutions
provide public services through online communication with citizens
and each other. This system is known as “electronic state”.
 Consumer to Consumer- C2C: It is the fact that consumers are able
to make sales, become a member of reliable web sites, contact other
consumers and sell products. Sites such as Ebay.com,
Sahibinden.com and Letgo.com provide this opportunity to its
members.
The Benefits and the Weaknesses of Internet Marketing

Medical Doctors
Traditional marketing often requires face-to-face contact with customers.

This necessitates a certain investment. Internet marketing is a faster and
more cost-effective option if used properly. It is useful to address the
benefits of internet marketing separately for consumers and marketers.
The main benefits of internet marketing for consumers are (Kotler, 2000:
665) convenience, purchasing with comfort, rich information gathering,
interactivity with the sellers and speediness.
The benefits of internet marketing for marketers are below:
 Developing and expanding markets
 Quick adaptation to market conditions (Kotler, 2000: 665)
 Interactivity, close relationship with customers and rich
information
 Low cost and increased efficiency (Mucuk, 2010: 252)
 Saving of time
 Equality of opportunity (Kırcova, 2012: 61)
 Possibility to follow the results (Marangoz, 2014: 59).
There are also problematic areas of internet marketing, despite its
benefits and strengths for consumers and marketers mentioned above. The
weaknesses of internet marketing are listed below.
 Access to a limited number of customers
 Security issue
 The demographic and psychographic characteristics of internet
users being different from the general population average
 Ethical issues about the learning of private life by consumers and
misuse of their information
 Lack of confidence in the businesses that carry out marketing
activities on the internet
 Legal legislation on electronic commerce is not fully established
(Marangoz: 2014: 61)
 Digital inequality related to the access of business enterprises and
individuals (Kırcova, 2012: 68).
 Lack of control over distributed information
 Lack of control over the dissemination and stealing of information
(Kırcova, 2012: 70).
 No opportunity for product examination and experimentation.
In general, the internet still has some problem areas, but its benefits are
predominant. Efforts are underway to address problem areas.
Internet Marketing Process

Ayda Gök 597
Businesses can benefit from the internet in a variety of ways as a marketing

tool. Internet is used mainly for internet research, marketing research,
development of products or services, introduction to the market,
measurement of customers' initial reactions, database marketing, and
internet sales. Some businesses can use the web page only for corporate
promotion. Corporate websites include information on the company's
history, mission, vision, organizational structure, human resources,
products and services, service standards, successes to date, awards and
corporate news.
A carefully prepared web page will contribute to a positive image of the
public. It is useful for businesses that only operate on the internet or sell on
the internet to start by creating their goals and strategies. Once the objectives
and strategies are decided and the target groups of buyers to be reached are
identified, a suitable marketing mix is developed and continued. The
marketing mix related to services should include decisions on product,
price, promotion, distribution, participants, physical environment and
process management.
The success of a website for marketing purposes is closely related to its
technical features. The site needs to be planned in detail from the accessible
to the color design. The internet user has some differences: Each user has a
lot of options on the internet, which are very easy to access. Therefore, the
technical side of the network system is also important in internet marketing.
The main technical features stemming from the nature of the internet can be
listed as speed, simplicity, visuality, and update.
Speed is an indispensable concept with regard to the internet. The
concepts such as access speed, connection speed, speed of data transfer from
the site, speed of navigation within the site, order speed, delivery time are
specific to the internet environment. Another feature of the website is that
the navigation and site functions within the site can be provided in
simplicity. Linking to each section on the website from the main page,
accessing the details using as few links as possible within the site is among
the features of a good website. Visuality is a separate area of expertise. Web
sites must be designed to look pleasing in terms of color matching, graphic
design and other visual elements. Update is both a technical and strategic
feature. Keeping the site up-to-date, installing new and useful information
at regular intervals makes the site attractive and useful (Kırcova, 2012: 89).
Businesses should focus on user needs when creating web pages. It is
useful to create a system that is easy to use, useful, understandable, free of
typographical errors, and a live 24-hour system. Supporting illustrative texts
in web pages with visual materials such as photos, graphics, videos, etc.
Medical Doctors
provides evidence for the information presented and makes the page look
attractive.
The Use of Internet Marketing in Health Services

Marketing is an activity that has been practiced by commercial enterprises
from past to present. Today, political parties, private schools, associations,
trade unions, hospitals and other health institutions have also started to
implement marketing techniques and strategies in order to achieve their
goals. Health services are offered by individuals and organizations in the
public and private sectors. The first thing that comes to mind is hospitals as
far as the introduction of health services are concerned. Although hospitals
do not seek to profit, they have to use limited resources to maximize service
delivery.
The aim of foundation, municipality, university, state hospitals and the
clinics, polyclinic, and family medicine centers established by them is not
profit. While these organizations provide health services in order to provide
services to the community, they survive with the funds from the state and
sometimes they may experience financial difficulties. At this point, they act
as a private institution and give more importance to patients and donors.
Therefore, they have started to adopt the marketing approach
(Tengilimoglu, 2016: 38). These organizations have started to recognize the
target markets better, investigate their demands, needs and values,
modernize their products and programs and provide more effective
communication (Tek, 1997: 24).
Marketing is related to goods, services and ideas. Diagnosis, treatment
and care services are provided for the purpose of curing the patients in the
health sector. The main objective in modern marketing is to ensure
consumer satisfaction. Patient satisfaction is replaced by consumer
satisfaction in the health sector.
Odabaşı and Oyman (2002: 30) defined Health Services Marketing
stating that “It consists of activities aimed at determining the needs of
patients and their relatives, providing services to meet these needs and
ensuring that patients receive these services”. Although health services are
considered a whole, they can be examined in four main sections
(Tengilimoğlu, 2016: 184):
1- Protective health services
2- Therapeutic health services
3- Rehabilitation health services
4- Health improvement services.
Ayda Gök 599
The internet is increasingly used for healthcare delivery. For the

companies in the service sector, the internet is an effective tool for
increasing the quality of services, increasing the speed while presenting to
the patient, reducing the costs and providing competitive advantage. There
are thousands of health-related websites in the virtual world.
The aim of marketing studies in the field of health is not to sell
unnecessary treatments or drugs to patients. The aim is to inform the patient,
convince them about the benefits of using health services, bring them to a
more participatory position in the diagnosis and treatment process and thus
facilitate service delivery (Tengilimoğlu, 2016: 264).
Patients demanding health services; doctors, nurses, health technicians,
pharmacies; medical device manufacturers, medical companies, medical
service providers, support providers and personnel providing health services
and products; social health insurances are included in this sector. Although
the health sector is so comprehensive, hospitals and doctors, which are the
most comprehensive services in the provision of health services, are
considered first in the health sector.
Internet Marketing Activities of Hospitals
Nowadays, many hospitals have started to use the innovations brought by
the internet. Hospitals' web pages include institutional information, medical
units, and doctors working in the hospital, doctor's work schedule, and
patient guide, asking questions, patient wishes and suggestions, events,
newsletters, phone book, contact information. Services provided online on
the web pages of hospitals include live support service, e-appointment, e-
result, e-pulse, ask price, e-baby, e-get well wishes, e-thanks, e-suggestion,
e-complaint application. Having a carefully prepared website on the internet
is effective in creating branding, recognition, interacting with patients,
creating a positive image and reputation for hospitals.
The main task of hospitals is to provide health services to the
community. The risk perception in the pre-purchase buyers is high due to
the fact that the services cannot be touched, hand held, invisible, pre-bought,
and exhibited, production and consumption are realized simultaneously. In
addition to these features, the risk perception of healthcare services are
increasing as they are vital services. Hospitals' use of information
technologies, web pages to promote themselves, patients and patient
relatives are useful in meeting the need to obtain information. These pages
make it easier for patients to learn about which health services they can
receive, and to choose a physician. The presentation of the hospital
positively contributes to the patient's adoption of the hospital, easy service
delivery from the hospital, patient satisfaction and service efficiency.
Medical Doctors
In a study conducted in 2006 (Çolak et al.), the websites of private

hospitals licensed by the Ministry of Health in Turkey were examined. In
the examination conducted on 253 private hospitals in 81 provinces, it was
determined that 46% of the hospitals had web sites. It has been observed
that the information on the web sites of the private hospitals examined
differed due to the lack of a specific standard structure. For this reason, it is
concluded that those who want to receive health services through the
websites of hospitals cannot reach the information they want to benefit from
which hospital they can benefit from in a more qualified and efficient way.
Internet Marketing Activities of Medical Doctors
Nowadays, doctors - like hospitals - create a web page to promote and
communicate with patients. Doctors’ web pages include expertise,
experiences, training information, achievements, events, disease
announcements, videos, announcements and contact information.
Doctors use the internet to prescribe more prescriptions, look at
laboratory results, exchange opinions with other doctors, plan
appointments, and inform patients about new diagnosis and treatment
methods. The use of the internet can reduce the costs of doctors and increase
their efficiency. Thanks to the websites, doctors can participate in various
physician organizations and promote themselves (Kassirer, 2000).
The use of the internet for diagnosis and treatment services offered by
doctors is limited to certain areas. In most of the services offered for
patients, the patient and the doctor should be in the same place. It is
important and necessary for a doctor to see and examine the patient, listen
to his or her complaints and diagnose him or her. For this reason, remote
diagnosis and treatment via the internet may be possible in cases where this
is not necessary or preferred by the patient. In some cases, patients who do
not prefer to communicate face to face with the thought of protecting their
privacy and confidentiality, find the communication through the internet
more convenient. It is easier to communicate with the doctor via the internet
or follow the treatment via e-mail in cases such as geographical distance
where face-to-face communication with the doctor is limited or that the
patient is elderly or disabled. In the literature, there are studies on the
provision of medical services on the internet.
In a study conducted in 1999, participants were directed over the
internet, and a new smoking cessation program was implemented three
times in 6 months. At the first stage, 12 months after completing the
program, it was reported that 52% of the smokers out of 102 smokers, and
43.4% of the 122 smokers who can be considered addicts were able to quit
smoking successfully. As a result of the first stage, 30 percent of the
Ayda Gök 601
participants came to the clinic of the researchers, where they were

interviewed face-to-face and their breaths were tested (Takahashi et al.,
1999).
Cline and Haynes (2001) report that patients in the U.S. use the internet
to discuss healthcare professionals, and many patients continue to
communicate with doctors through e-mail. In the study, it was stated that
one in five doctors communicated with the patients and 3.7 million patients
contacted their doctors via e-mail and 33.6 million patients wanted to do so.
Patients also use e-mail to communicate with 'cyber doctors' - 'interactive
virtual doctors' offices.
In a study conducted in 2013, internet-based remote psychological
assistance practices (online therapies) were examined. Online therapies
have an important function, especially when face-to-face therapy is not
available or preferred. According to the results of the study, online therapy
is considered suitable for the treatment of some diseases while it is not
suitable for the treatment of others. It is preferred because of some reasons
including low cost, flexible working hours and the desire to express the
problems of individuals by being anonymous. However, it is stated that the
standards for the implementation and ethical rules should be determined
(Bozkurt, 2013).
In Turkey, a study has been done to examine the habits of family
physicians who provide primary health care services about the internet and
social media and to determine how and how much they use these new
communication tools in their profession. Data were collected from 716
family physicians using the online survey technique. The rate of physicians
going online every day was found to be 85.6%. The percentage of
physicians who had an average of 1-3 hours per day on the internet was
45.8% and 19.3% stated that they spent more than 3 hours a day on the
Internet. Of the family physicians, 89.1% reported that they use WhatsApp,
Facebook (78.5%), Instagram (40.8%), Twitter (33.7%), while1.8%
reported that they have no social media. While 39.8% of the participants
agreed to the proposition that “Every family healthcare center should have
a social media account”, 60.2% disagreed. Social media is widely accepted
among physicians; however, this situation is not sufficiently reflected in the
professional and health fields (Erdem, 2018).
The idea that a revolutionary and innovative program to be implemented
in health services on condition that relevant software is developed was put
forward by Aktaş (2005). The author's proposed Interactive Virtual Health
Consultancy (IVHC) program is a web software that can be used on the
internet in order to provide online health service on the internet. In short,
the program simulates disease according to the patient's complaints and
Medical Doctors
directs to the relevant doctor and health service. The patient is called to the
hospital if needed for the test and examination procedures. The patient,
doctor and all health services are registered to the database in a web
environment. All activities related to health will be merged in a portal
through the IVCH program. In the portal, registration of patient information,
monitoring and reporting activities of the doctor and patient for diagnosis
and treatment, and work flow timing will be done. Thus, with the help of
technology, the delivery of health service to homes and the provision of
family healthcare environment will be easier. With this application, health
service will be more transparent, effective, high quality and easily
accessible.
The Role of Internet Marketing in Public Health Protection and Education
One of the main purposes of the internet is access to encyclopaedic
information. The web pages prepared by hospitals and doctors can be used
for informing the society in addition to making their own publicity. The
internet is a supportive position for individuals to have knowledge about
their own health and diseases and to protect their health.
The internet has the potential to educate and strengthen the community
by providing information on health and health services (Powell et al., 2003:
74). In order to determine how internet users use the internet as a health
source, according to the results of a survey conducted in the United States,
it is determined that those who do not have insurance, especially those who
have chronic diseases, are more prone to doing research on the internet than
those insured. Individuals who need to travel longer to go to the usual care
resource have used the internet for health-related communication more than
shorter travellers. It has been observed that the group, who has serious
health needs and who face significant obstacles to access to health services
in traditional settings, applied to the internet for health information
(Bundorf et al., 2006).
Individuals experiencing a health problem have received drug and
treatment advice from family elders or friends in the past and nowadays they
are doing research on the internet. The advice based on experienced events
is very important especially regarding health. Today, health protection,
disease care and treatment recommendations are spread from referral sites,
blogs or social networking sites. Advice has become an important
promotional activity for the health sector, as the advertising and publicity
activities of the health sector representatives on newspapers, radio and
television are limited by legal regulations.
In a study conducted in Europe, the health use of the internet, the results
and the expectations of the physicians of the citizens about e-health services
Ayda Gök 603
were investigated. Data were collected via telephone interviews from a

sample of 7934 participants in Norway, Denmark, Germany, Greece,
Poland, Portugal and Latvia. It was determined that 44% of the total sample
and 71% of the internet users used the internet for health purposes. Factors
affecting the use of the Internet in a positive way were listed as young,
higher education, white-collar or paid work, long-term illness or disability.
It has been observed that women are the most active internet users in relation
to health. A quarter of the participants stated that they used the internet to
follow or prepare their doctor's appointments. After using the internet for
health purposes among participants, trust was found to be twice as common
as anxiety. More than one third of the sample found e-health care important
when choosing a new doctor (Andreassen et al. 2007).
In another study, L. Shahab et al. (2014) conducted with adults over 18
years of age in the US about seeking health information and support from
the internet. In this study, it was aimed to determine whether health-related
internet use has a difference on common behaviours such as excessive
alcohol consumption, smoking, insufficient vegetable / fruit consumption,
sedentary life style, unprotected sun exposure or obesity. Data were
collected from 3911 participants through a survey. It was revealed that 78%
of the participants used the Internet and 78% of the internet users obtained
health-related information on the internet in the previous year.
Approximately half of the internet users (47.8%) in the study used the
internet as the first source of health information in the previous year while
56,9% used it to get support in terms of behaviour. In the study, it was
concluded that smoking cessation service can be provided over the internet.
However, it has been reported that internet-based services may be less
effective in modifying these behaviours because the use of Internet access
and health-related information is more limited among people with
inadequate sun protection and low fruit and vegetable consumption. It was
stated that it would be beneficial for health institutions to provide support
with printed materials and advertisements.
The field of health communication is a wide area covering many topics
such as health literacy, risk communication, medical decision making,
patient-centered communication, and overcoming barriers to culture and
language. Today, health professionals and consumers are turning to
interactive health communication. Robinson et al. (1998:1264) define
`interactive health communication' as “the interaction of an individual—
consumer, patient, caregiver or professional—with or through an electronic
device or communication technology to access or transmit health
information or to receive guidance and support on a health-related issue.”
Medical Doctors
People's perceptions and behaviours about health issues are influenced

by health communication studies. In Turkey and around the world, mass
media are used in many issues related to health studies including smoking,
alcohol and drug use, epidemics, organ donation, obesity, and birth control
(Tosyalı and Sütçü, 2016: 11). There are studies that have successful results
in health promotion and practices aimed at educating individuals. In a study
conducted on 76 women with eating disorders, it was concluded that
internet-based guidance had a significant effect on reducing risk factors
(Celio et al., 2000).
The above-mentioned studies show that the internet can be used as a
suitable tool for the promotion of health services and the provision of some
services over the Internet. In terms of health services, it is seen that the most
appropriate use of internet marketing is for the areas of protective health
services and health promotion services. In the context of preventive health
services for society, internet marketing can be used for training purposes
including health protection, immunization, vaccination, personal hygiene,
early diagnosis of diseases, nutrition, family planning and food hygiene.
Health promotion services are the services provided to raise the health
conditions of healthy people to a higher level. These are services to increase
physical and mental health, quality of life and life time. Communities can
be directed through internet marketing on stress management, coping with
the challenges of life, balanced nutrition, sleep health, exercise, and rational
use of antibiotics.
Within the scope of rehabilitative health services, internet marketing
may be partially appropriate for health services to ensure that the individual
lives physically and mentally dependent on others. The use of the internet
for therapeutic health services is not appropriate, it can be partially used as
a supporter.
When the internet is used properly and appropriately, it contributes to
the protection of public health. However, there are some concerns about its
use. Overuse of the internet can lead to health problems such as addiction
and orthopaedic disorders. Apart from those prepared by health
professionals on the internet, there are a lot of health, disease information
and recommendations published on various web pages. This information
may be inaccurate, incorrect or incomplete, and may have harmful effects
on health. On the other hand, some information on the internet has been
created directly from doctors or other health care providers, but in most
cases, it is not adapted to a specific patient through a personalized
interaction. Therefore, it may not be suitable for every patient.
Health Services and Social Media Marketing

Ayda Gök 605
The definition, types and development of social media

There have been two major developments in the evolution of the internet in
recent years: social web and mobile technology. These two innovations
have changed the way people use the Internet. In 2000, the transition from
the first-generation internet web 1.0, which provides one-way
communication, to the web 2.0, which allows two-way communication,
increased the interaction of people on the internet. Mobile technology has
made it possible for more crowded access over the internet.
With the help of many technological products such as computers,
tablets, smartphones, blogs and applications, social media has succeeded in
making its impact on everyday life. Blogs, forums, personal, commercial
and corporate web pages constitute social media which is a new form of
media following the newspaper, radio and television we have defined as
traditional media, (Tosyalı and Sütçü, 2016: 9).
Social media can be expressed as “online communities that allow their
users to connect and communicate with each other, as well as to create a
personal network as much as sharing personal content”. On these sites,
members create their own personal profiles and provide them to other users.
(Enders et al., 2008, 201). Social media tools have facilitated the
dissemination of ideas and information faster and more widely than
traditional media. The success of social media is due to the fact that most of
them are free of charge.
As social media becomes widespread, the world of communication and
business practices have undergone significant and radical changes. In the
new interactive environment, users can write their feelings and thoughts
about each subject and express their suggestions and criticisms (Çelik,
2014: 29).
Thanks to the internet and social media, users have become freer to share
and comment. Access to a variety of resources has been possible to obtain
and read information.
Social media platforms vary according to their intended use. However,
they are categorized similarly in many sources. The main types of social
media are blogs, microblogs, social networks, social markings, photo and
video sharing sites, podcasts, wikis and forums (Kırcova and Enginkaya,
2015: 41).
Social networking sites are virtual environments where users can create
a fully or partially open profile, communicate with each other, and monitor
other users' profiles and relationships. The main social networking sites are
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, Myspace, Pinterest,
Snapchat, Google +, Foursquare, Tumblr.
Medical Doctors
YouTube has health related channels. There are also social networking
sites that are health-specific, allowing users to share their knowledge and
experience online with each other on health issues: dLife.com, stickK.com.
Wikis are environments that allow different users to create and submit
content. Wikihealth.com is available in the field of health (Mendi, 2015:
283).
As of January 2020, the number of active social media users in the world
was 3.80 billion (49 %), according to the Digital 2020 data published by the
British social media agency We are Social. The world’s most-used social
media platforms are listed as Facebook, YouTube and WhatsApp (We are
Social, 2020).
Businesses are also using social media. Social media provides
businesses with the opportunity to introduce themselves and learn the
wishes of their customers. Businesses use social media as a marketing
communication channel to increase their reputation, brand awareness and
gain loyalty of their customers.
Social media has created online stakeholders and these stakeholders are
more active, more knowledgeable, more technological, more interactive,
and more impressive than others. By creating content and sharing the
content they create with others, online stakeholders are actually doing a
voluntary word-of-mouth marketing activity. By encouraging their
customers to become members of social media, upload videos and photos,
create creative works and blog, businesses pre-train them in their own
marketing communication activities, and in the future, they gain supporters
in online environments (Çelik, 2014: 39). Similar marketing strategies can
be implemented by hospitals. Hospitals can adopt social media strategies to
make their tasks related to health services more effective.
Marketing of health services on social media
Marketing communicators register the logos of brands belonging to
corporations as a member of social media sites. They upload their logos,
product photos, advertising films, music and all kinds of visual and audio
materials to their profiles and share them with millions of members (Çelik,
2014: 35). Today, social networks are used to raise awareness of health
issues and spread information on protection from diseases. For this purpose,
marketing of health services through social media provides integrity with
social marketing concept.
Social marketing is defined as “the controlling, implementing and
designing of programs to facilitate the adoption of social ideas by utilizing
tools such as product planning, pricing, communication, and distribution
and marketing research” (Tek, 1997: 46). Social marketing is the use of
Ayda Gök 607
marketing techniques to improve social welfare (Oyman, 2013: 35). The

campaigns to raise awareness by hospitals, doctors and other social media
users along with their shares about ALS, diabetes, cancer, and Alzheimer’s
disease on social media are practices of social marketing.
Social media platforms create new opportunities for publicity,
promotion, reputation management and patient relationship management of
health sector representatives. Users resort to social media platforms in order
to read the comments about the hospitals and doctors, investigate the
symptoms and side effects of drugs, follow the shares and success stories of
people who have similar diseases and communicate with the specialist
doctors about the diseases they caught up with (Tosyalı and Sütçü, 2016: 5).
In health services new media tools such as blogs, instant messaging
platforms and video chat change the way that doctors and patients interact
in healthcare services, from large hospital networks to patient support
groups. Social media makes it easier for patients to access health-related
peer support through virtual communities. The international possibilities of
virtual communities allow those with rare diseases to find support.
Tengilimoglu et al. (2015) conducted a study to determine the status of
individuals using social media in the selection of physicians, dentists and
hospitals. According to the survey conducted with 418 individuals residing
in the central districts of Ankara (Turkey) Facebook (61.5%), YouTube
(41.4%), news sites (38.3%) and Twitter (27.3%) were located between the
most frequently used social media tools. It was discovered that the majority
of the participants used social media tools to obtain information (68.8%).
Social media is among the most frequently used sources of information in
the follow-up of health-related developments (66.7%) and in doctor-
hospital selection (45.5%) before receiving health care. Individuals who
participated in the study stated that they used social media in the selection
of physicians (29.9%), dentists (22%) and hospitals (29.4%). When the
respondents who stated ‘I sometimes use social media’ in regard to doctor
and hospital selection are added, it is revealed that more than half of the
participants (physicians: 52.4%, hospital: 52.8) benefit from social media.
The results show the importance of health organizations to benefit from
social media. The tendency towards explaining the satisfaction (91.9%) and
dissatisfaction (90.2%) to the health services was determined to be very
high. When the participants were asked about who / where they share the
satisfaction / dissatisfaction with health care, their responses were friends
(79.9%), family (77.3%), relative (56.7%), neighbor (40.4%), health
personnel (31.6%) and social media (29.2%).
The presence of strong social media supports the ability of hospitals and
doctors to attract patients. The effective use of social media and integration
Medical Doctors
of health institutions with other marketing communication activities will

contribute to a more effective promotion. The active use of social media by
health institutions will serve to provide information to patients and their
families and to speed up communication and to improve the quality of health
services. Below are the results of researches on the use of social media in
hospitals in different countries.
In a study examining hospital features related to social media use and
how American hospitals used Facebook, hospitals' websites and Facebook
pages were analyzed, seven out of 10 hospitals used social media, and 9%
of hospitals did not provide a link to their Facebook page. It has been
determined that social media is used more by large, urban, non-profit
hospitals. Hospitals use Facebook as a dissemination strategy to educate
consumers, recognize staff and share news about the hospital's rewards;
however, it was observed that the majority of hospitals did not actively use
Facebook pages. Therefore, it was concluded that hospitals lost a low-cost
opportunity to improve customer service, improve quality of care and create
loyalty (Richter, 2014).
Van de Belt et al. (2012) conducted a survey covering 873 hospitals (732
general hospitals, 141 university hospitals) from 12 Western European
countries. It was found that hospitals in the research countries used social
media, and there were significant differences between countries in the use
of social media. During the research, the use of social media in 12 countries
has increased over time. It has been determined that the use of YouTube has
increased from 2% to 20% and Facebook usage has increased from 10% to
67%.
Griffis et al. (2014) investigated the use of 3371 hospitals in the USA on
Facebook, Twitter, Yelp, and Foursquare social media. It was found that
94.41% of the hospitals had Facebook accounts and 50.82% of them had
Twitter accounts. Most of the hospitals have a Yelp page (99.14%) and
almost all hospitals are registered in Foursquare (99.41%). Most hospitals
have adopted at least one social media platform. According to the research
results, large-scale, city-centered, non-profit private hospitals and education
and research hospitals use these tools more.
It is important for social media to reach its goals as a marketing tool, to
focus on health-related issues, to contain accurate information and to be
prepared in a way that patients can understand. In social media, content is
produced by the communities of hospitals, including patients and their
families, neighbours, employees and potentially competitors. Hence,
hospitals may not have control over the content they produce. Issues such
as the protection of patient confidentiality, the security of the information
Ayda Gök 609
shared on the platform and the integrity of the shared information are other
concerns.
Conclusion
Internet and social media use are spreading rapidly in our country and in the
world. Internet and social media users use the internet and social networks
to learn about businesses, brands and products, and follow innovations.
Health services consist of planned studies to protect public health, treat
patients, enable chronic patients and disabled people to live without being
dependent on others and raise the health level of the society. The internet
has the potential to have a significant impact on health and health protection
issues. The internet offers the opportunity to provide effective and efficient
marketing of health services, improve the public health, and improve public
health, to prevent diseases, support the decision-making processes of
patients and their relatives in health-related matters, support the health
information of experts and interact between patients and health
professionals.
In the current research literature, it is seen that the internet and social
media have an effective channel in individuals' health care preferences,
information acquisition, purchasing decisions, and increased use in health-
related subjects in recent years. It has been determined that more and more
hospitals and doctors use internet marketing and social media. The most
used social media in the field of health is Facebook. While YouTube,
Twitter, Foursquare and Yelp are widely used in different geographies, there
are other preferred social media types in this area. Internet marketing and
the use of social media tools in marketing of health services positively affect
the health behaviours of the society. Research shows that health services
such as smoking cessation, treatment of eating disorders, and remote
psychological help in some psychological diseases can be carried out.
Internet marketing of health services is an issue open to improvement.
With innovative technological applications, it is possible to create a
simplified, efficient, fast, transparent and high-quality structure in the
provision of health services through integrated systems via internet. Similar
to internet banking services, a system can be developed that will guide
patients to go to the doctor or hospital only if necessary, remedy the crowd
in hospitals and allow doctors to work in a more focused manner.
Internet marketing offers the possibility of reducing inequalities in
health through remote distribution of health services and removal of access
barriers. For people with chronic diseases, people with disabilities, the
elderly, social security and those who have difficulty in accessing health
Medical Doctors
services, the health services provided over the internet will be of great
benefit. However, there are some concerns about the issues such as
information pollution, confidentiality and privacy protection. Considering
these concerns, there is a need for establishing control mechanisms and legal
regulations.
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CONTRIBUTORS
Hasan Ağdemir completed his MSc degree at Çağ University, Graduate
School of Social Sciences. Currently, he is pursuing his doctorate degree in
the Division of Public Relations and Promotion, at Ataturk University,
Turkey. His research interests include marketing and public relations.
Işıl Aktuğlu is a Professor at Ege University Faculty of Communication,

Advertising Department. Her research interests are brand management,
advertising management, account planning, and strategic planning in
advertising. She has written several books, articles and announcements
about advertising and branding.
Gülseli Aygül Ernek Alan is an Assistant Professor at Maltepe University

in the Faculty of Communication Public Relations and Publicity. Her
research interests are marketing public relations, consumer behaviour,
generation marketing, strategic communication, and brand management.
Melike Aydemir Arslan is an Assistant Professor at Ataturk University’s

Open Education Faculty. Her research interests are open education, distance
learning, metacognitive strategies in open education, educational
technology, and instructional design.
İbrahim Sena Arvas is a faculty member, and PhD, at Bolu Abant İzzet
Baysal University’s Faculty of Communication. His research interests are
social media, journalism, the history of media, and communication law.
Asiye Ata is an Assistant Professor at Ataturk University’s Open Education

Faculty and Public Relations and Publicity Department. Her research
interests are visual communication design, video, educational video,
MOOC, and digital culture.
Sait Sinan Atilgan is an Assistant Professor at Atatürk University’s Faculty

of Communication and Public Relations Department. His research interests
are organization communication, digital media literacy, and social media.
Pınar Bacaksız is an Assistant Professor at Istanbul Esenyurt University,

Faculty of Art and Social Sciences, Public Relations and Advertising
Department. Her research interests are consumer attitude, perception
management, neuro marketing, consumer behaviour on social media and
digital marketing. She has written several book chapters, articles and
announcements about marketing and consumer behaviour.
614 Contributors
Mehmet Sinan Başar is an Associated Professor at Atatürk University

Faculty of Open Education Business and Management Department. His
research interests are information systems management, communication,
education management, system analysis and design, E-commerce and
Tourism management.
Miray Baybars is a research assistant in the Department of Business

Administration at Ege University Faculty of Economics and Administrative
Sciences. She had completed her PhD is on the consumption patterns of
feminist mothers in Turkey. Her teaching and research interests include
marketing communications, consumer behaviour and resistance in the
context of consumer behaviour. She has published in national and
international journals.
Nilgün Sanalan Bilici is an Assistant Professor at Atatürk University’s

Faculty of Tourism. Her research interests are financial management,
accounting, and tourism.
Sinem Yeygel Çakır is an Associate Professor at Ege University’s Faculty

of Communication, Advertising Department. Her research interests are
consumer behaviour, corporate marketing, corporate branding, internet
advertising, and digital marketing in advertising. She has written several
books, articles, and announcements about advertising and marketing.
Arzu Kalafat Çat is a Research Assistant at Abant İzzet Baysal

University’s Faculty of Communication. Her research interests are
consumption culture, marketing, brand management, consumer behaviour,
marketing public relations, and new media studies.
Ülhak Çimen is an Assistant Professor at Atatürk University’s Faculty of

Communication and Radio Television and Cinema Department. His
research interests are theoretical communication, digital media, and the
media of sociology.
Fatih Değirmenci is an Assistant Professor at Ataturk University’s

Communication Faculty Public Relations and Publicity Department. His
research interests are political theory, political thought, political
communication, and press and democracy.
Ayhan Doğan is an Assistant Professor at Atatürk University’s Faculty of

Communication and Division of Public Relations and Advertising and
Public Relations Department. His research interests are public relations,
New Communication Approaches in the Digitalized World 615
crisis management, crisis communication, image management, and

marketing communication.
Bahadır Erciş is a masters student at Bolu İzzet Baysal University. His

research interests are marketing communication and communication
sciences in general.
Fatma Geçikli is a Professor at Atatürk University’s Communication

Faculty and Public Relations and Publicity Department. Her major interests
are public relations, image management, reputation management, and
organizational communication.
Merve Geçikli is an Assistant Professor at Atatürk University’s Kazım

Karabekir Faculty of Education and English Language Teaching
Department. Her major fields are linguistics, discourse analysis, genre
analysis, rhetoric, ESP and EAP. Specifically, she is interested in social and
cognitive genres mapped into the texts produced and consumed in different
discourses.
Ayda Gök was born in Malatya in 1972. She is married and has two
children. She is a graduate of the Department of Economics and
Administrative Sciences at İnönü University. She holds a PhD in Production
Management and Marketing. She is currently working in Malatya Turgut
Özal University in Kale Tourism and Hotel Management Vocational School
of Higher Education of the Marketing and Advertising Department. She has
academic studies in the field of service marketing, green marketing and
marketing communications. She has a good command of English.
İrfan Hıdıroğlu is an Assistant Professor and Head of the Cinema

Department, at Ataturk University’s Faculty of Communication, Radio,
Television and Cinema. He is also the director of Ataturk University’s
Communication Department. His research interests are theories on cinema
and communication, and the economy politics of cinema and narrative.
Kemal Kadirhan is a PhD student at Ege University, Institute of Social

Sciences, Advertising Department. His research interests are experiental
marketing, and digital marketing. He is also working as a freelance digital
marketing specialist.
Gonca Köse is a Lecturer Doctor at Dokuz Eylül University Bergama

Vocational School Public Relations and Publicity. Her research interests are
advertising research, advertising analysis, brand management, employer
brands, and marketing strategies.
616 Contributors
Oğuz Köprücü is a Lecturer at Amasya University, Turkey. His research

interests include marketing communications and consumer behaviour.
Ayşe Bilginer Kucur is an Assistant Professor at Atatürk University

Faculty of Communications, Radio TV and Cinema Department. Her
research interests are communications, new media studies, and transmedia
storytelling.
Olcay Besnili Memiş is a Research Assistant at Ataturk University’s

Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences Labour Economics and
Industrial Relations Department. Her research interests are the labour
market, skills mismatch, climate change, and social policy.
Necla Mora is an expert in Communication Sciences. She works on ‘Media

and Society’, ‘Intercultural Communication’, ‘Discrimination and
Otherization’. She is a Professor at the Department of Journalism, Faculty
of Communication, Atatürk University.
Rengim Sine Nazlı is an Assistant Professor at Bolu Abant Izzet Baysal

University’s Faculty of Communication, Department of Journalism She is
working on new media, critical media theories, and journalistic studies.
Özen Okat is an Associate Professor at Ege University’s Faculty of

Communication and Advertising Department. Her research interests are
marketing management, digital marketing, neuro marketing, advertising
design, and the visual design of advertising.
Meryem Okumuş is an Assistant Professor at Atatürk University’s Faculty

of Communication and Public Relations and Publicity Department. Her
research interests are public diplomacy, digital diplomacy, reputation
management, relationship management, rhetoric and persuasion, and media
literacy.
Derya Öcal is a Professor in the Public Relations and Publicity Department

of Ataturk University’s Communication Faculty. Her research interests are
public relations, advertising, brand management, popular culture, ethics,
environment, and media economy. She has published numerous articles,
papers, and academic studies in the international and national press, both as
an editor and author of original book studies.
Haydar Özaydın is a Lecturer at Recep Tayyip Erdogan University’s

Vocational School of Social Sciences, and on the Office Management and
Executive Assistance program. He is also a PhD student in the Atatürk
New Communication Approaches in the Digitalized World 617
University’s Public Relations and Publicity program. His research interests

are marketing management, integrated marketing communications, public
relations and advertising.
Muhsine Sekmen is an Assistant Professor at Atatürk University’s Faculty

of Communication and Radio Televisions and Cinema Department. Her
research interests are feminist media research, cinema, the social body, and
new media.
Keti Ventura has been working in Ege University, Faculty of Economics

and Administrative Sciences, Department of Business, since September
1999. Acquiring her PhD in Business in April 2008, Ventura was nominated
as Assistant Professor to the Department of Production Management and
Marketing in December 2008 and Associate Professor in April 2014.
Ventura is studying marketing, CRM and e-marketing fields at the same
faculty.
Tutku Tuncalı Yaman is an Assistant Professor at Beykent University’s

Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Management
Information Systems Department. Her research interests are multi criteria
decision making, applied & multivariate statistics and marketing research.
Uğur Yavuz is a Professor at Ataturk University’s Faculty of Economics

and Administrative Sciences Division of Management Information
Systems.
Hatice Nur Yıldız is a Research Assistant at Atatürk University’s Faculty

of Communication and Public Relations and Advertising Department. Her
research interests are marketing management, principle of marketing, brand
management, consumer behaviour, retailing management, and marketing
strategies.

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New Communication

Mehmet Serdar Erciş

Edited by Mehmet Serdar Erciş and Enes Emre Başar

This book first published 2020

Cambridge Scholars Publishing

Lady Stephenson Library, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 2PA, UK

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

Copyright © 2020 by Mehmet Serdar Erciş, Enes Emre Başar

ISBN (10): 1-5275-5050-8

Creating Experience in the Digital World: A Conceptual Study on

Cultural Slavery in the Digital Age

Managing Big Data Turbulence in the Industry World

Artificial Intelligence in Communication Technologies

Gender Differences in the Perception of Advertisements

Artificial Intelligence-Assisted Programmatic Advertising

Conspicuous Consumption and Postmodern Identity in the Global Show

The Use of Financial Reports in Terms of Communication and the Digital

Global Gender Construction of Social Media

The Importance of Marketing Public Relations for “New” Consumers

Discourse of Communication in the Digitalized World

A New Game Area in Competition of Brands by means of Digital

Melodrama and News

Use of Digital Materials in Education

Digital Media Literacy and Content Production in Social Media

Comparison of Feedback Given to Social Media Accounts of News

The Digitalization of Politics: The New Communication Devices and the

The Collective Intelligence and Its Use in the New Media

Excellent Public Relations Criteria

Transformation of the Relationship between Women and Technology

The New Rising Trend of Social Media: Micro Fame

Distance Education Applications in the Digitalized World

Communication Skills for Jobs in the Digital Era

Social Customer Relationship Management

The Role of E-Commerce in Green Marketing

Digital Destiny: Perception Management in New Media

New Advertisement Tools in the Digital Age

Modern Brand Ambassadors: From Opinion Leaders to Influencers

New Approaches to Corporate Communication in the Context of

Understanding New Consumers through the Lens of a Promising Market

Perspective on Consumer Attitudes and Importance of Attitudes in Mobile

Future of Customer Complaint Behaviour: A Multi-agent Perspective

Information Technologies and Their Effects on Using Leisure Times

How Can Digitalization Enhance Customer Experience? The Role of

Measuring Customer Preferences with Conjoint Analysis

The Use of Internet Marketing in Health Services by Hospitals and

Contributors ............................................................................................ 613

Terminologically, ‘the digitalized world’ refers to an electronic environment

Laura and Richard (2004) aimed to investigate the internet addiction

Digital media and digital media devices

The concept of addiction

such a case, for example, the wish to deal with technological

7. If you feel an unavoidable desire to look at your personal accounts

The concept of digital addiction

a necessary level of knowledge on the subject. Therefore, the use of digital

Types of digital addiction

1. Preoccupation with the internet;

Koolstra, C. M., Voort, T. H. A. & Kamp, L. J. (1997). Television’s impact

SİNEM YEYGEL ÇAKIR AND IŞIL AKTUĞLU

New generation consumers in changing conceptions