A scale development study for the determination of levels of belonging of voters in Turkey

Political Marketing is a new field within the marketing discipline. With the constant change of technology, it takes time for some issues in the field to settle, and studies on many subjects are insufficient. There are some studies on the political participation and behavior of voters. However, there is no scale that measures the type of belonging that underlies and motivates them to vote. The aim of this study is to develop a scale to determine the voters' level of belonging. Since there were no other scales in line with the stated purpose, long-term readings on main science branches and sub-disciplines were made, and an item pool was created. A pre-survey was also conducted to contribute to the item pool. Initially, a 212 item questionnaire was created. As a result of the elimination, the questionnaire was reduced to 166 items. The first pilot application was conducted with 149 questions after the control of the advisors and experts. 427 questionnaires were gathered. As a result of the analysis and elimination, the second pilot study was conducted with a form of 129 items. 476 questionnaires were obtained. After re-analyzes and eliminations, the third pilot study was conducted with a 52 item questionnaire. As a result of the item extractions, the main study was carried out with 33 items. According to IBBS, surveys were conducted in all TR regions and almost all provinces. 1692 questionnaires were gathered. The data were analyzed with explanatory and confirmatory factor analyzes. As a result of the study, a four-dimension voter belonging scale was developed. The scale can be used by anyone interested in political marketing, as well as by researchers related to the main branches of social sciences such as politics, psychology, and sociology. In addition, the four sub-dimensions of the scale, participation belonging, party and leader belonging, thought belonging, and cluster belonging, can be used separately in comparative studies in other fields of social sciences.