Service quality in local government and measuring the effects on disadvantaged groups in terms of satisfaction and word of mouth communication activities: the case of istanbul beykoz municipality

This study focuses on measuring the effects of the service quality on satisfaction and word-of-mouth communication activities on those who benefit from social municipal activities free of charge in municipalities, which are local government units whose spheres of influence are gradually expanding in today's Turkish administrative system. Within the scope of the thesis, Beykoz, one of the districts of Istanbul located on the coast of the Bosphorus, was chosen. The industrial moves that started in the last years of the Ottoman Empire continued with the establishment of the Republic, and in this context, Beykoz was known as an industrial district and workers' town until the 2000s, with 3 state-owned factories throughout the district. Following the closure of factories with privatization policies, economic activities throughout the district came to an end and the number of disadvantaged groups increased. Beykoz, which was chosen within the scope of the thesis study, is a district where, on the one hand, the richest people in the country live, and on the other hand, where disadvantaged groups live intensively. In this context, the district municipality's work on disadvantaged groups is one of the important services to ensure income inequality and equality of opportunity. The thesis was conducted using the face-to-face survey technique; A 5-point likert scale was used in the survey, which was created using the service quality, satisfaction and word-of-mouth communication scales after demographic information in the survey form. This study focused on measuring service quality perception and investigating whether there is a relationship between citizens' marketing activities and their expectations before receiving services, their satisfaction with service after receiving services, and word-of-mouth communication, and it has been determined that there is a positive and significant relationship between disadvantaged group citizens' perception of service quality and word-of-mouth communication and satisfaction.