Recycling behavior development program with social marketing

In the framework of the thesis that aims to develop recycling behavior at household level, a social marketing program was developed for households that reside in the borders of municipalities that utilize "separation at source" method. Based on social marketing approach, the program starts with identifying the barriers, expected benefits and motivational elements that affect the recycling behavior of households. It is aimed to develop social marketing strategies appropriate for the target audience. The starting point of the thesis is based on the fact that household awareness is not at sufficient level although investments in recycling industry and municipal responsibilities for separate collection of waste materials have immensely increased. The added value of the thesis centers on the fact that this is the first research on Turkey that identifies the barriers, expected benefits and motivational elements that affect the recycling behavior of households, develops a social marketing program geared for the target audience based on this information and implements the program via Internet and social media tools.During the preparation of the action plan, the social marketing program was developed according to the analysis of the target audience and the action plan was realized. Research during the analysis of the action plan enabled to measure the changes in the recycling intentions/aims, attitudes and behaviors of the target audience. Results show that the amount of waste materials separated for recycling by the target audience increased and their recycling behaviors, aims and attitudes differentiated in a positive manner.