The effects of hedonic and utilitarian motivations on the customer satisfaction in Y and Z generations

In the globalizing world, due to rapidly advancing technology and the increase in the alternatives presented to the consumers, in the present competitive environment, companies, to protect their positions in their sector, and to analyse the consumer behaviours with the aim of increasing their shares, must have a comprehensive knowledge over the reasons leading the consumers to shopping. Knowing under what kind of terms and conditions, the consumers purchase their choice of product, services and brands, is one of the crucial criteria regarding the sale and the marketing. The reason being, for the consumers, shopping is not just seen as purchasing a needed product, but also seen as the activity of having pleasure in emotive sense, entertainment and having a good time before purchasing. Both satisfying a need and the desire to have pleasure that lie at the basis of the buying behaviour of the shopping costumer, are determined by utilitarian and hedonic motives. When the researches based on the consumer behaviours are analysed, it is found that the consuming behaviours are mostly examined on "Hedonic" and "Rational" reasons. On the other hand, target audience of the present companies are constituted of young adult consumers, and the youngest consumer generations are Y and Z generations. These generations direct the market, and are the most consuming consumer groups. Knowing the purchasing behaviour motives that lead to an expectation, and presenting how these motives are evaluated regarding the post-purchase satisfaction is important for the companies to develop marketing strategies. The aim of this study is to determine whether there are meaningful relations between utilitarian values, hedonic values, generations and customer satisfaction. In accordance with this aim, firstly, the cognitive researches about consumer behaviour, utilitarian and hedonic motives and generations, and the results of the applied studies that partake in the literature are presented in the hypothetical section. During the application phase of the study, the representatives of the Y and Z generation that live in the city of Adana, who are between ages 15 and 40, are surveyed. The hypotheses of the study are tested with the use of multiple regression analysis. The acquired findings show that the perceived utilitarian value of Y and Z generations has a positive and significant effect on the customer satisfaction. However, from the viewpoint of hedonic value, while the perceived hedonic value of generation Z has a positive and significant effect on customer satisfaction, it is determined that there is no such effect evident in generation Y.