The rise of prosumer: User generated advertising

Since the beginning of the twenty first century, with developments in communication technology and the advent of Web 2.0, a new type of advertising has emerged on the marketing scene. There have been various terms used to define this phenomenon such as "User Generated Content", "Consumer Generated Content" or "Advertising 2.0" within the evolution of advertising. It is considered as a monumental step that can change the meaning of advertising dramatically as it changes the roles of actors and audiences in the advertising game. Consumers can be beneficial for the companies through the content such as texts, pictures, audio files, videos they produce and share, but the content may have deadly consequences for the companies. While some companies have become successful in interacting with the consumers through co-creation process via ad contests and sponsoring incentivized consumer generated media, others have had to learn the power of users from their bitter experiences. Getting to know the new type of consumer called "Consumer 2.0"," Generation C" or "Prosumer" who is not only interested in consuming but has a desire to produce and advertise on social media, has become a prerequisite for companies. The aim of this paper is to present production and consumption patterns, buying decision habits of university students on social media through an online survey answered by 1076 students from İnönü Üniversity Keywords: User Generated Advertising, New Consumer, Advertising 2.0