Contribution of social media platforms to consumption: Commodification and sales of accessories used in tv series

Consumption is an action that emerges with the existence of individuals and continues its existence in every age. In ancient times, the individual, who only engaged in consumption activities to meet his obligatory needs, today engages in consumption activities in order to exist in the society and to be happy, to take pleasure from this situation. Consumption has become the purpose of life and has reached very different dimensions. With the development of technology, the tasks of mass media have also changed. While television is a mass communication tool used for news and information, today it has become a platform where individuals spend their free time, watch TV series and follow entertainment programs. Realizing this situation, marketing experts began to look for new consumption models for consumers. One of these consumption models is the television series. With the increasing number of TV series, brands have started to sponsor the products used in the TV series. The aim here is to place the brands used in the series in the subconscious of the consumer and to enable the character of the TV series to approach the products used more positively. The products used in TV series and the people or institutions that sell these products on social media are within the scope of the study. The aim of the study is to examine the contribution of the products used by the characters in the TV series to the consumer's attitudes and purchasing behaviors as a result of delivering them to the consumer via social media. Content analysis, one of the qualitative research methods, was used in the study. The five pages with the most posts selling TV series products on Instagram, a social media platform, were selected and the data obtained by examining the attitudes and purchasing tendencies of the individuals by analyzing the comments and likes of Instagram users. As a result, it has been concluded that sharing and selling the products used in TV series on social media facilitates individuals' access to the product and strengthens the consumer's bond with the product and brand. Keywords: Soap Opera, Movie Character, Social Media, Commodification