The role of party reputation in creating party loyalty: The example of Yozgat province

When we look from past to present, we see that political parties are very influential on societies. For this reason, political parties that govern and direct the masses can be found in almost every period of history. All political parties are in a race to gather people under a common ideology, act together and achieve their goals. In this race, political parties are fighting hard to influence and attract the target audience, that is, the voters, to their side. Political parties, which want to maximize their image and reputation in the eyes of the voters, make great efforts to reach and influence every segment of society. Image and reputation play an active role in creating loyalty among the target audience. Image and reputation have an important place in the formation of the target audience's attitudes and behaviors towards the party. While parties work on their image and reputation, they also create loyal voters who ensure the continuity of the parties and tend to support them at all times. Loyal voters can support their party even in many negative situations. Reputation and loyalty are among the important factors that play a role in choosing political parties. In this context, this study aims to examine and evaluate the relationship between political party reputation and political party loyalty. Since building a reputation takes a long time, Justice and Development Party, Republican People's Party and Nationalist Movement Party, which are among the well-established political parties in our country, were chosen as samples. In this survey conducted with 600 voters over the age of 18 living in Sarıkaya district of Yozgat province, data were collected and analyzed. In line with the analyses, it was concluded that there is a significant and positive relationship between the party reputation sub-dimensions. In addition, it was determined that there was a significant and positive relationship between all sub-dimensions of party reputation and party loyalty. All findings obtained are presented in detail in the findings and conclusion sections of the study. Keywords: Reputation, Loyalty, Political Party Reputation, Political Party Loyalty.