Reaching the Voter Through the Ideal Advertising Channel: An AHP Analysis on Social Media

Abstract

When the election processes in the world are evaluated from a universal and historical perspective, it is seen that the fate of the elections is determined by the 'impartial' voters, not the 'fanatic' voters. This assumption, which is also valid for Turkey, raises the question of how and through which channels impartial voters can be persuaded. While the answer the question of 'how' is hidden in a complex multivariate process involving persuasion and propaganda techniques, the way to seek a scientific answer to the question of 'from which channel' is to examine advertising channels. This study, which aims to determine the ideal social media channel for party advertisements, is operational research that provides foresight in the light of scientific criteria for advertisers. One of the multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) techniques, The Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), was used as the method in the study. The alternatives of the study were determined as Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube, social networks that provide intense propaganda flow during election periods. Twitter and Whatsapp are excluded from the scope as they are not political advertising channels. The channels were compared in terms of advertising costs, access and ease of use, accessibility to the targeted audience, interaction functionality, control over feedback, and individual-corporate account options. The weights of these criteria were determined with the help of statistics and expert opinion. As a result of the calculations, scores of 0.399 for Facebook and 0.341 for YouTube, and 0.261 for Instagram were reached. As a result, it has been seen that Facebook is the ideal channel for political advertisements for the general electorate. The study is important in terms of providing an idea about which medium may be more advantageous for advertisers in pre-election periods.

Keywords

• Political Communication
• Political Advertising
• Social Media Ads
• Facebook Ads
• Instagram Ads

Seçmene İdeal Reklam Mecrasıyla Ulaşmak: Sosyal Medya Üzerine Bir AHP Analizi

Abstract

Seçim süreçleri evrensel ve tarihsel bir bakış açısıyla değerlendirildiğinde, seçimlerin kaderini ‘tarafsız’ seçmenin belirlediği görülmektedir. Türkiye özelinde de geçerli olan bu varsayım, tarafsız seçmenin nasıl ve hangi kanallardan ikna edilebileceği sorusunu doğurmaktadır. ‘Nasıl’ sorusunun yanıtı çok değişkenli bir süreçte gizliyken, ‘hangi kanaldan’ sorusunu yanıtlamanın yolu reklam mecralarını incelemekten geçmektedir. Parti reklamları için ideal sosyal medya mecrasını saptamayı amaçlayan bu çalışma, reklamverenler açısından bilimsel kriterler ışığında öngörü sunan bir yöneylem araştırmasıdır. Çalışmada çok kriterli karar verme (ÇKKV) tekniği ‘Analitik Hiyerarşi Prosesi’ (AHP) yöntem olarak kullanılmıştır. Çalışmanın alternatifleri Facebook, Instagram ve YouTube olarak belirlenmiş, Twitter ve Whatsapp siyasal reklam verilememesi nedeniyle kapsam dışı tutulmuştur. Mecralar; reklam maliyetleri, erişim ve kullanım kolaylıkları, hedeflenen kitleye ulaşılabilirlik, etkileşim işlevsellikleri, geri bildirimler üzerindeki kontrol ve bireysel/kurumsal hesap seçenekleri açısından karşılaştırılmıştır. Kriterlerin ağırlıkları uzman görüşüyle belirlenmiştir. Hesaplamalarda Facebook için 0,399 YouTube için 0,341 ve Instagram için 0,261 puanlık skorlara ulaşılmıştır. Sonuç olarak ideal mecranın Facebook olduğu görülmüştür. Bu çalışma seçim öncesi dönemlerde, hangi mecranın reklamverenler için daha avantajlı olabileceğine yönelik bir fikir sunması açısından önemlidir.

Keywords

• Siyasal İletişim
• Siyasal Reklam
• Sosyal Medya Reklamları
• Facebook Reklamları
• Instagram Reklamları

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