Transformation of political advertisements in Turkey: A research on 1983-2018 general elections

Voters are necessarily influenced indirectly or directly by some factors while exhibiting their voting behavior during the election processes. One of these factors shaping their political preferences and one of the most important ones is undoubtedly the media. Many studies that reveal the effects of the media on people have also proven that the influence of the media is undeniable in order for individuals to form an opinion on any issue or situation, to shape their behavior and attitudes, as well as to determine their preferences. At this stage, the political preferences of individuals also take their place Decisively among the affected issues. Although the influence of the media exists in determining the voters' political preferences, at the same time, if it is to be further deepened, the influence of political advertisements and campaigns is also quite high. In Turkey, political parties are trying to influence voter behavior by using political ads intensively during election periods in general and local elections. The position of power or opposition of political parties also affects the content of political ads, in this context, negative or positive political ads can be used depending on the positions of the parties. Political ads are analyzed generally in the context of a historical process, when the general problems of the country that day, proposals for solutions to these issues, political parties, political parties and political advertising, as manifested in the strategies they use in those circumstances you can show your creative direction. In this study, a long-term analysis of the political ads of political parties in general elections in Turkey is carried out and it is tried to reveal what kind of changes have occurred in political ads during the process. For this purpose, the political advertisements of political parties in the general elections held in Turkey between Dec 1983-2018 were analyzed with different dimensions. Within the scope of this study, content analysis method was applied and the political advertisements of political parties in 11 general elections held between Dec 1983-2018 were interpreted within the framework of the findings obtained. According to the findings obtained in the study, political parties placed more negative political ads in the five general elections held between Dec 1983 and Dec 1999, while positive political ads were used more after the 2002 general elections. Parties have often used negative political ads in the context of implied comparisons. Emotional attractiveness is preferred more in political advertisements and an attempt has been made to appeal to the emotional world of voters. Within the process examined, economy, development and the fight against terrorism take the first three places among the topics used by political parties in political advertisements. Keywords: Politics, Political Campaign, Advertising, Voter, Political Party, Transformation, Change, General Elections, Political Behavior, General Elections in Turkey.