The effect of perception of social media advertisements and celebrity endorsement on the consumer attitude and purchase intention (Gaziantep generation y example)

Today, with the advancing technology and increasing internet usage, some changes have taken place in our lives and personal computers, tablets and smartphones are used by almost everyone. In parallel with these developments in communication technologies, internet usage has increased and social media networks have become more and more widely used. Social media networks have been transformed into a new competitive and promotional channel for companies, and social media advertising has become a highly preferred promotion activity. Firms need to develop a variety of strategies to plan their marketing activities, and one of them is the celebrity endorsement of social media ads that are the subject of our work. Companies also reach out to consumers by promoting their brands by cooperating with attractive, expert and reliable celebrities. In this respect, a model has been developed in order to determine the relationship between the celebrity endorsement of social media advertising and the behavior of Y generation consumers. 405 Generation Y people living in Gaziantep were interviewed face to face and online. The data obtained were tested by YEM (Structural Equation Model) and the results found similar results with previous studies in the literature. Keywords: Social Media Ads, Celebrity Endorsement, Consumer Behavior