Survey of the effect of commercial surveillance on consumption habits in new media environments

The role of consumption in the construction of identity and its power to shape culture have attracted the attention of many scholar. In the era of prosumption, when the lines between production and consumption are blurred, the new consumption culture supported by technology still needs to be understood. Due to developing technology, collecting consumer choices and media usage habits are easier than ever now. This has led to the personalization of the advertisements shown to the consumer like never before. In this thesis, the effect of personalized advertisements in new media on consumption habits was surveyed on the basis of Instagram. The sample of the study, which takes place in the Manisa, consists of young consumers of Generation Z between the ages of 14-18. Questionnaire method, one of the quantitative research methods, was used in the study and it was applied in the form of face-to-face interviews based on a pre-prepared questionnaire. The relationship between Instagram and Internet usage, privacy attitude on Instagram, awareness of surveillance in Instagram and consumption habits were tested, and a positive relationship but a weak correlation was found between variables. Also, as the monthly household income increased, the rate of shopping on the Internet as a result of the advertisements seen on Instagram was analyzed, but a link between the two variables was not found.