The role of suspicion towards social media advertisements on the purchasing behavior of generation Y and generation Z: The case of Malatya province

Ad skepticism is the tendency to disbelieve an advertisement. The issue of advertising skepticism is important for the effectiveness, sincerity and credibility of advertising. Consumers may have difficulty believing in the product or brand as a result of their suspicion of the advertisement. In this context, advertisements may lose their sincerity and play a decisive role in consumers' purchasing behavior. The main purpose of this study is to examine the skepticism of Generation Y and Z consumers towards social media advertisements and its role on purchasing behavior. In the study, a questionnaire was applied as a data collection method. In the survey, consumer buying behavior, advertising skepticism and attitude towards social media advertising scales were used. Within the scope of the study, 430 participants were surveyed online and face-to-face. According to the correlation analysis results, skepticism towards social media ads positively affects both attitude and purchase behavior. As a result of the tests conducted to analyze the relationship between skepticism, attitude and purchase behavior towards social media ads and demographic characteristics, significant differences were found between attitude towards social media ads and gender, between education level and purchase behavior, and between education and attitude towards social media ads.