Examining of consumer behaviors in the framework behavioral economics: Analysis of Manisa economy

Historically, the literature on economics has risen under two basic assumptions: rational expectations and effective markets hypothesis (EPT). In this context, economists trying to make macroeconomics more understandable and scientific have created a discipline in which the economy will be investigated when individuals make rational decisions acting on the assumption of homoeconomicus. However, the mentioned macroeconomic discipline may be insufficient to explain the economic environment we live in. For this reason, economic policies have not established on the homo economicus assumption in economic theory since the period when economics and psychology came together. Behavioral economics, which discusses the rational human assumption accepted by the traditional economic school, says that consumer behaviors are affected by environmental, cognitive, and emotional a number of factors. Literature review conducted within the framework of behavioral economics revealed that consumer behaviors are affected by heuristics/prejudices. The main purpose of behavioral economics is to explain sympathetic and conscientious, feelings and modern human behaviors with support from psychology, rather than a selfish and rational model of homoeconomicus that maximizes its utility in traditional economic thought approach. Conventional economics says that people act selfishly and in pursuit of their own interests and always maximizing their utility. But in real life this situation is different. So man is not a machine or a robot. İn reality, human beings are living things that allow emotions and judgments, can make mistakes irrationally, and also know the importance of Maslow's hierarchy. The study consists of three parts. In the first part, the theoretical background of behavioral economics and the heuristics/prejudices that arise in the decision-making process are included. In the second part, consumer behavior models that are important in explaining consumer behavior and factors affecting consumer decisions are mentioned. Finally, with 11 hypotheses created to explain the economic behavior, the effects of corporate values on economic preferences and behaviors were investigated within the framework of Manisa Provincial and District Centers. In this context, alongside face-to-face interviews, an online questionnaire was created on "Google Forms" and a questionnaire was applied to 400 participants residing in Manisa Province and District centers. The data obtained from the survey were analyzed and interpreted are with IBM SPSS 25 package program. According to the results of the analysis, it was observed that the institutional structure of Manisa is dominant and that individuals display a conservative (attitude) behavior. In another saying, it has been determined that individuals are not open to change and innovation. According to the results obtained from the hypotheses, it can be said that there is no significant relationship between income level and individual value judgments. However, it cannot be said that there is a distinct differentness as a result of the comparison of income level and communal value judgments. On the other hand, it can be said that there is a significant difference as a result of the comparison education level with individual and communal value judgments. Therewithal, as a result of the comparison of value judgments and means choice of accumulation, the existence of a meaningful relationship was determined. Finally, the existence of a relationship between education level and institutional structure is observed.