RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SOCIAL MEDIA AND CONSUMPTION: A RESEARCH ON INSTAGRAM ACCOUNTS OF POPULAR CELEBRITIES

Abstract

Today, consumption has become an activity that is seen as a status indicator rather than meeting the needs. Individuals' dependence on technology is increasing day by day. Statistics related to the time people have spent on the Internet and especially on social media prove this situation. Social media that emerged as a result of developments in communication technologies is an important medium that enables people to express themselves. It is also a fact that on social media tools sharings that show consumption habits are often. When considered from this point of view, it can be said that social media has important effects in determining consumption habits as in almost all fields. Sharings of social media accounts of celebrities which are among the indispensables of our daily lives, are followed by millions of followers. Every kind of sharing of these people, especially deemed as role models by young people, affect the thoughts and behaviors of their followers. Consumption and purchasing behavior are the ones of them. This study aims to investigate whether celebrities use Instagram, one of the most popular social media tools, as a tool to guide individuals to consumption, and the interest of their followers on the sharings in question. Descriptive method and document analysis which is a qualitative research type were used in the study. For this purpose, the accounts of the top 10 Turkish celebrities with the highest number of followers on Instagram were scrutinized. Their sharings that include brand names, product names and product images that can lead the followers of those celebrities to consumption were evaluated by content analysis method.

Keywords

• consumption
• consumption culture
• consumption society
• social media
• instagram.