Digital Era and Changes in Consumer Behaviors: An Assessment on Generation C

Abstract

In the digital age, the change in technology affects people and life in various ways. Changes have occurred in the purchasing behaviors of the generations living with the conveniences provided by internet technology. It has been an imperative for businesses and marketers to understand and adapt to the changes in consumer behaviors on the one hand and the changes brought by technology on the other. This study surmounted the changes in the consumer behaviors brought by technology. The focus was on the purchasing behaviors of today's consumers, who are almost constantly connected to the internet and each other by mobile devices. The concept of Generation C, which is used to identify these digital consumers has been examined. In the study, the literature was searched to explain the concept and to form a basis for applied research. The concept of Generation C is related the demographic and psychographic features and suggested that these feature groups should be evaluated together in the future studies.

Keywords

• Digital marketing
• Consumer behaviors
• Generation C
• Digital Comsumer

Dijital Çağ ve Tüketici Davranışlarındaki Değişiklikler: C Kuşağı Üzerine Bir Değerlendirme

Öz

Yaşamakta olduğumuz dijital çağda, teknolojideki değişim insanları ve hayatı çeşitli yönlerden etkilemektedir. İnternet teknolojisinin sağladığı kolaylıklarla yaşamakta olan nesillerin, satın alma davranışlarında değişiklikler ortaya çıkmıştır. İşletmecilerin ve pazarlamacıların bir taraftan tüketici davranışındaki değişiklikleri, diğer taraftan yenilikleri anlaması ve uyum sağlaması bir zorunluluk haline gelmiştir. Bu çalışmada, son yıllarda tüketici davranışlarında teknolojinin etkisiyle ortaya çıkan değişiklikler ele alınmıştır. Mobil cihazlarla neredeyse sürekli olarak internete ve birbirine bağlantılı, sürekli iletişime açık günümüz tüketicilerinin özellikleri ve satın alma davranışları üzerinde durulmuştur. Bu dijital tüketicileri tanımlamada kullanılan C Kuşağı kavramı incelenmiştir. Çalışmada literatür taraması yapılarak kavram açıklanmaya ve uygulamalı araştırmalar için bir temel oluşturulmaya çalışılmıştır. C kuşağı kavramının demografik özelliklerle birlikte psikografik özelliklerle ilgili olduğu ve bu iki özellik grubunun birlikte değerlendirilmesi önerilmektedir.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Dijital pazarlama
• Tüketici davranışları
• C Kuşağı
• Dijital Tüketici

Kaynakça

1. Beldona, S. (2005). Cohort Analysis of Online Travel Information Search Behavior: 1995–2000. Journal of Travel Research, 44 (2), 135–142.
2. Blackwell, R.D. P.W. Miniard and J. F. Engel. (2006). Consumer Behavior. Thomson/South-Western.
3. Capital, (2016), (Date of access: 01.5.2019), https://www.capital.com.tr/capital-dergi/dijital/c-kusagi-icin-her-gun-bir-sey-yapin
4. Dhanapala, S., D. Vashub and T. Subramaniam. (2015). Perceptions on the Challenges of Online Purchasing: a Study From “Baby Boomers”, Generation “X” and Generation “Y” Point of Views. Contaduría y Administración, 60(1), 107-132.
5. Dietz, J. (2003). Defining Markets, Defining Moments: America’s 7 Generational Cohorts, Their Shared Experiences, and Why Businesses Should Care. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 20(2), 172-173.
6. Dye, J. (2007). Meet Generation C: Creatively Connecting Through Content. May 01, p.1, (Date of access: 01.5.2019), http://www.econtentmag.com/Articles/Editorial/Feature/Meet-Generation-C-Creatively-Connecting-Through-Content-35942.htm
7. Evans, M.M., G. Foxall and A. Jamal. (2009). Consumer Behaviour. 2nd Edition, West Sussex: Wiley Ltd., ISBN:978 0 470 99465 8
8. Google, (2013) Introducing Gen C: The YouTube Generation, (Date of access: 18 April 2019). https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/consumer-insights/introducing-gen-c-the-youtube-generation/

9. Gurău, C. (2012). A life‐stage analysis of consumer loyalty profile: comparing Generation X and Millennial consumers. Journal of Consumer Marketing, Vol. 29 Issue: 2, pp.103-113.
10. Hamill, J. (2016). “The End of Marketing as Usual: ‘Be Social: Be Digital’, The Marketing Book, Edited by Michael J Baker and Susan Hart, 7.Edition, Routledge, 415-438.
11. Hardey, M. (2011). Generation C Content, creation, connections and choice. International Journal of Market Research, 53(6), 749-770.
12. Hennig-Thurau, T. and G. Walsh, (2003). Electronic Word-of-Mouth: Motives for and Consequences of Reading CustomerArticulations on the Internet. International Journal of Electronic Commerce, 8(2), 51-74.
13. Howe, N. and W. Strauss. (2007). The Next 20 Years: How Customer and Workforce Attitudes Will Evolve. Harvard Business Review, July- August, 41-52.
14. Kavalcı, K. and S. Ünal. (2016). A Research on Comparing Consumer Decision- Making Styles and Learning Styles in Terms of the Generation Y and Z. Atatürk Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Dergisi, September, 20 (3), 1033-1050.
15. Lissitsa, S. and O. Kol. (2016). Generation X vs. Generation Y – A decade of online shopping. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 31, 304-312.
16. Littrell, M.A., Yoon, J.M. and Halepete, J. (2005). Generation X, Baby Boomers, And Swing: Marketing Fair Trade Apparel. Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, 9 (4), 407–419.
17. Ma, Y.J., Littrell, M.A. nd Niehm, L. (2012). Young female consumers’ intentions toward fair trade consumption. International Journal of Retail and Distribution Management, 40 (1), 41–63.
18. Moore, M. and J. M. Carpenter. (2008). Intergenerational perceptions of market cues among US apparel consumers. Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management: An International Journal, 12(3), 323-337.
19. Morin, R. (2018). Generation C: The Confluence Marketing at the Era of Connected Consumers. FriesenPress. Nagy, Á.and A. Kölcsey. (2017). Generation Alpha: Marketing or Science? Acta Technologica Dubnicae, 7(1), 107-115.
20. Odabaşı, Y. (2007). Pazarlama İletişiminde Yeni Yönelimler, Yeni Uygulamalar. Pi Pazarlama ve İletişim Kültürü Dergisi, 3, 20-27.
21. Parment, A. (2013). Generation Y vs. Baby Boomers: Shopping Behavior, Buyer Involvement and Implications for Retailing, Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 20, 189–199.
22. Pentecost, R. and Lynda, A. (2010). Fashion retailing and the bottom line: the effects of generational cohorts, gender, fashion fanship, attitudes and impulse buying on fashion expenditure. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 17 (1), 43–52.
23. Prensky, M. (2001). Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants. On the Horizon, MCB University Press, 9(5), 1-6.
24. Solis, B. (2010). Engage: The Complete Guide for Brands and Businesses to Build, Cultivate and Measure Success in the New Web. John Wiley and Sons Inc., New Jersey.
25. Solis, B. (2012). Meet Generation C: The Connected Customer. (Date of access: 19 April 2019) Online at https://www.briansolis.com/2012/04/meet-generation-c-the-connected-customer/
26. Solomon, M. R. (2015). Consumer Behavior: Buying, Having, and Being. (11th ed.), NJ: Pearson Education.
27. Sprout Social. (2017). The Sprout Social Index, Edition X: Social Generations. (Date of Access: 1 May 2019), Online at https://sproutsocial.com/insights/data/q1-2017/
28. TrendWatching. (2004). Generation C. TrendWatch. (Date of Access: 12 April 2019). Online at https://trendwatching.com/trends/generation_c.php
29. TrendWatching. (2006). Generation C(Ash). TrendWatch. (Date of Access: 12 April 2019). Online at https://trendwatching.com/trends/gen-cash.php
30. We are Social and Hootsuite. (2019). Digital 2019. (Date of access: 01 May 2019), Online at https://wearesocial.com/blog/2019/01/digital-2019-global-internet-use-accelerates
31. Williams, K. C. and R. A. Page, (2011). Marketing to the Generations. Journal of Behavioral Studies in Business, 3(1), 37-53.