Understanding new generation consumers in the Turkish consumption society: Research on shopping practices and buying behaviors of generations X and Y

One of the principal activities, ensuring the functioning of the existing system and its continuity in today's capitalist societies, is consumption. Especially the neo-liberal policies in Turkey, executed in the 1980s, the globalization process and technological developments brought a consumption-oriented social mentality into the forefront, requiring the emergence of a new type of consumer. Affected by these conjectural conditions of Turkey, Generation X was stuck between the old and the new and became the first consumers of the Turkish consumption culture. The following generation, Generation Y, on the other hand, started to exist as consumers in a time, when digital breakthroughs were witnessed in the society and consumption manifested itself in all areas of life. These changes have deeply influenced the shopping practices of Generations X and Y, also called the new generation consumers, as well as their buying behaviors. In this framework, this study attempts to reveal the similar and different approaches of Generations X and Y regarding this topic, by evaluating the offline/online shopping practices and buying behaviors of both generations, from the perspective of the consumption society. Performed with this objective in mind, the scope of this study included the elaboration of relevant concepts through an academic literature review and the usage of in-depth interviews and questionnaires, in order to investigate said matter in Turkey, which yielded comprehensive data. In this context, an important finding is Generation Y's preference to shop online more than Generation X and with hedonic values in mind, while they do so. Key words: Consumer Society, Consumer Behavior, Generation X, Generation Y, New Generation Consumer, Online Shopping, Offline Shopping