Examining the effect of social media on brand communication: Batman Province Ecample

Consumers shop to fulfill their personal or family needs. They try to fulfill these needs sometimes by going to shopping centers and interacting with sellers and sometimes by using phones, tablets and computers from where they sit. Today, the development of e-commerce due to technology decreases face-to-face shopping day by day and increases online shopping. Due to this situation, producers and sellers move their marketplaces to the internet and direct their customer masses to these channels. They also use social media as a communication tool to ensure brand loyalty and increase sales. In this context, it has come to the forefront for brands and companies to learn consumers' curiosity about their brands. This curiosity was tried to be satisfied by using social media as a communication tool. As a result of curiosity, they tried to reveal the brand or company sensitivities of consumers. With the aforementioned study, it has been a matter of curiosity what kind of effect the brands / products produced with the technology that makes more and more progress every day will have on consumers who shop on social media. Businesses, on the other hand, have given importance to social media communication in order to satisfy this curiosity of their customers and to present their brands to the market in a comfortable way. In line with the explanations made, this study aims to determine the impact of social media on brand communication. In this direction, the aim of the study is to reveal what kind of effect social media has on brand communication. The questionnaires applied within the framework of this purpose were applied to 600 people living in Batman. The data were recorded in the data logs of the statistical analysis program for the analysis. Statistical analyses such as reliability, factor analysis, t-test, regression and correlation analysis were applied in the analysis made with SmartPLS4 program. As a result of the analysis, it was determined that there is a positive relationship between the effect of social media on brand communication and consumers' purchase intention. In addition, it has been determined that the activities of brands on social media have a positive and significant effect on consumers' purchase intention. Within the framework of the results obtained in the study, various suggestions have been presented for the development of the research subject, increasing the communication of consumers and brands on social media, informing consumers more and increasing conscious consumerism. Keywords: Social Media, Brand Communication, Consumption, Shopping, Purchase Intention, Consumer Behavior.