TRANSMEDYA UYGULAMALARINDA YAYILMA KANALLARI: KÜRESEL ÖRNEKLER ÜZERİNE BİR İNCELEME

Selçuk Bazarcı

Ege Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Doktora

ÖZET Günümüz dijital dünyasında bireylere tek bir iletişim kanalından ulaşmak markalar için birtakım

zorlukları beraberinde getirmektedir. Özellikle güçlenen tüketici profili nedeniyle insanlara temas etmek ve ürün/hizmet tercihi konusunda iknayı sağlamak için iletişim çalışmalarını şekillendirmek önemlidir. Bu noktada markaların tüketicilere ulaşmalarında ve iletişim çabalarını çeşitlendirmede kullandıkları alternatif çabalardan biri transmedya hikaye anlatımıdır.

Transmedya hikaye anlatımı, bir kurgunun ayrılmaz unsurlarının, birleşik ve koordine bir eğlence deneyimi yaratmak amacıyla, çoklu dağıtım kanallarına sistematik olarak dağıldığı bir süreci temsil etmektedir. Bu süreç, çoklu platformlara uygun olarak üretilen öykünün kendine özgü dinamiklerini ve sistemli bir içeriği bünyesinde barındırmaktadır. Bu bakımdan transmedya kampanyalarında geleneksel yöntemlerin aksine tek boyutluluk yerine her bir parçanın kendi deneyim özelliğini yansıttığı bir süreçten bahsetmek mümkündür.

Bu çalışmada transmedya kavramı ana hatlarıyla ele alınmaktadır. Pazarlama iletişiminde yaşanan evrim ve transmedyanın bu değişim içerisindeki durumunu ortaya koymak amacıyla dünya çapında kabul gören önemli transmedya örnekleri Jenkins’in (2009) transmedya hikaye anlatımındaki yedi prensibine göre incelenmiştir. Elde edilen verilere bakıldığında parça özellikleri açısından her içeriğin orijinal bir özellik sunarken temelde öze bağlı kalarak ana hikayeyi güçlendirdiği tespit edilmiştir.

Anahtar Kelimeler: Dijital iletişim, tüketici-marka ilişkisi, transmedya

ABSTRACT In today's digital world, reaching a single communication channel brings a number of

challenges for brands. Particularly due to the strengthened consumer profile, it is important to contact people and to shape the communication studies to provide persuasion about the choice of product/service. Transmedia storytelling is one of the alternative efforts of brands to reach consumers and diversify their communication efforts.

Transmedia storytelling represents a process in which the inseparable elements of a fiction are systematically distributed to multiple distribution channels in order to create a unified and coordinated entertainment experience. This process incorporates the unique dynamics and systematic content of the story produced in accordance with multiple platforms. In this respect, it is possible to talk about a process in which transmedia campaigns reflect the experience of each piece instead of one-dimensional rather than traditional ones.

In this study, the concept of transmedia is discussed. There is an evolution in marketing communication. In this context, it is important to define the state of transmission in this change. The most important examples of transmedia that accepted worldwide are examined accordance with the seven principles of transmedia storytelling (Jenkins, 2009). In terms of the characteristics of the pieces, each content presents an original feature. In addition, the contents are based on the principle of the main story is strengthened according to the seven principles.

Key Words: Digital Communication, Consumer-Brand Relationship, Transmedya

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GENÇ TÜRKLERDE SOSYAL MEDYA KULLANIM MOTİVASYONLARI VE KÜLTÜREL KODLARA UYMA BİÇİMİ:

INSTAGRAM ÖRNEĞİ Ekrem Öztürk

Anadolu Üniversitesi - Lisans ÖZET 90’lı yılların sonlarına doğru, iletişime katkısı giderek artan internet, bireylere yeni bir etkileşim

ortamı sunmuştur. Sosyal medya olarak adlandırılan bu yeni ortam, bireylere kendi profillerini oluşturmalarının yanı sıra kendi içeriklerini üretebilme ve diğer içerikleri değerlendirebilme fırsatı sağlayarak onların sanal gruplar yaratmalarına imkân vermektedir. Kullanıcıları bu grupları oluşturmaya iten bazı motivasyonların olduğu ve bunun sonucunda da bir takım uyma davranışlarının gerçekleştiği bilinmektedir. Uyma davranışı, bir kişinin gerçek veya hayali bir grup baskısını hissederek, ortada diğerlerinden sözlü, açık bir istek veya emir olmadığı halde, düşüncelerini ve davranışlarını diğerlerinin yönünde değiştirmesi ve onlara uyması olarak tanımlanmaktadır (Sakallı, 2017, s.47). Bu konunun son dönemin popüler sosyal medya uygulamalarından biri olan Instagram üzerinden araştırılmasının yerinde olacağı görülmektedir.

Bu araştırmanın birinci bölümünde sosyal medyanın tanımı ve kapsamı ile Instagram kullanım motivasyonları üzerine yapılan literatür taramasına yer verilecektir. İkinci kısımda ise 18-28 yaş aralığındaki üniversite öğrencileri örnekleminde yapılan, kapalı ve açık uçlu sorulardan oluşan bir anket çalışması ve akabinde elde edilen sonuçlara göre aynı örneklemde gerçekleştirilecek olan odak grup görüşmelerinin sonuçları ve öğrencilerin düşünceleri analiz edilecektir.

Anahtar Kelimeler: Sosyal Medya, Sosyal Etki, Sosyal Uyma, Instagram, Instagram Motivasyonları

SOCIAL MEDIA USAGE MOTIVATION AND CULTURAL CODE CONFORMITY PROFILES OF YOUNG TURKISH PEOPLE: INSTAGRAM CASE

ABSTRACT Towards the end of 90’s, increasingly growing contribution to communication of internet

provides a new interaction environment to individuals. This environment called as social media enables people not only creating their own profiles, but also creating virtual groups by generating their own contents and evaluating other contents. It is known that there are main motivations which make users to create such groups and accordingly some kind of conformity occur. Conformity is described as one’s behavioral and ideal accommodations according to feel a real or virtual group pressure (Sakallı, 2017, s.47). Therefore it is applicable to investigate this topic on instagram which is one of the most popular social media applications recently.

In the first part of this study, social media and its scope, literature review of usage motivation of instagram will be discussed. In the second part, a questionnaire consisting of closed and open‐ended questions will be applied with sample of university students aged 18-28 and following this, according to the obtained results the focus group interviews would be carried out in the same sample students' thoughts will be analyzed.

Key Words: Social Media, Social Influence, Social Conformity, Instagram, Instagram Motivations

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INSTAGRAM MOTIVATIONS Social media are internet based platforms which people create, share and exchange information

in virtual communities. Individuals have the opportunity to reach the content which they are looking for and they are interested in the internet sites and applications that enable people social network sites (SNSs) such as blogs, micro blogs, instant messaging programs, chat rooms and forums. However, social networking sites (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter etc.) are increasingly important for social interactions. These mediums allow individuals to create semi-public or public profiles, to observe and examine the inventories of their online relationships by themselves and others (Bor, 2018: 39).

Instagram enables instantaneous captures and users can share those captures with friends through a series of filtres (Hu et al., 2014: 595). One of the things that make Instagram unique is that users can only share pictures or videos a mobile phone. Users can use this application whenever and wherever they want (Lee et al., 2015: 552).

Instagram is the world’s fastest growing social network site (Wagner, 2015) as cited in: Sheldon & Bryant, 2016: 89). Now it has 1 billion users worldwide and in Turkey we have 36 million users (Statista, 2018a). What is the reason behind the success of this SNS? It is important to understand why people use Instagram and what their motivations are.

Few studies have investigated the motivations of using Instagram. Marcus (2015) said that unlike Facebook, Instagram focus on one’s identity more than relationships between people. Marcus analyzed photos posted on Instagram and found that Instagram focus on individuals self-promote. In addition to this, Highfield (2015) studied on Instagram hashtags that posted on Eurovision show in Australia. Highfield analyzed 1807 posted images with hashtags. The most popular hashtag was #sbseurovision and almost one-quarter of photos included selfies. Highfield said, Instagram is more personal medium that includes personal photos (as cited in: Sheldon & Bryant, 2016: 89). Highfield (2015) also confirm that “When people want to document moments of their lives; they are more likely to post a picture on Instagram.” (As cited in: Sheldon & Bryant, 2016: 94). For this reason, for many users Instagram is a online photo album (Sheldon & Bryant, 2016: 94). However, Highfield (2015) and Marcus (2015) studies focus on only the photographs that posted on Instagram. They were analyzed just open profiles.

Sheldon & Bryant (2016) used survey datas to answer individual’s Instagram usage motivations. They found that “There is a positive relationship between high levels of social activity (traveling, going to sporting events, visiting friends, etc.) and being motivated to use Instagram as a means of documentation” Lee et al. (2015) as a result of the survey of 212 active Instagram users, found five sociological and psychological motivations: “Social interaction, archiving, self-expression, escapism and peeking.” The main motivations were escapism and peeking. When individuals used Instagram they wanted to escape from their real life such as friends or family relationships “and they peek at others’ photographs” (Lee et al., 2015: 555).

Lee et al. (2015) shows that “Social interaction is a strong factor in that Instagram users are motivated to establish and maintain social relationships with other people using this platform.” People are looking for people with common interests.

SOCIAL INFLUENCE AND SOCIAL CONFORMITY Social influence is defined as the conscious or unconscious attempt of an individual to influence

others' feelings, thoughts and behaviors. The main reasons of social influence are acceptance, approval and not to getting rejection (Sakalli, 2013: 14-29).

In one of the few social influence informational technologies studies, Venkatesh et al. (2003) said that, social influence has two types of forces on information system usage: “One of force pushes users to adopt a system, and the other force pulls users to adopt a system” (as cited in: Yoo et al., 2014, 266). Yoo et al. (2014) said some norms, like subjective norms or social norms, pushes individuals for comply with others. In addition to this, other social effects such as social capital, social identity or social status pulls users to use SNS.

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One of the most important behaviors that bring humanity to today's society level is conformity behavior. Conformity means, changing one’s behavior without a clear request and feeling an imaginary pressure on his own. One's behavior changes in the direction of one another's feelings and thoughts by feeling an imaginary pressure on it. Individuals either in accordance with informational or normative social influence show conformity behavior (Sakalli, 2013: 32-47; Cialdini & Goldstein, 2004: 606). Deutsch and Gerard (1955) said, “The former based on the desire to form an accurate interpretation of reality and behave correctly, and the latter based on the goal of obtaining social approval from others.” and commonly this two type of social influences are found together.

Cialdini and Goldstein (2004) said about informational social influence, there must be explicit or implicit consensus among the group members. Previous studies have also proved that; consensus informations affect communication more than non-consensus informations. (Huang & Chen, 2006: 415). If individuals perceive social influence, as a information provider, that means that social influence, is about informational social influence. In other words, individuals are not comply to social influence for to be similar to others, comply because it finds it right and valuable. (Kagitcibasi & Cemalciler, 2016: 91).

According to Deutsch and Gerard (1955), normative social influence is based on individuals’ to be liked or accepted by and others based on positive expectations. The normative influence of social conformity is a source of motivation for users to participate in new technologies. (Hsu and Lin, 2008; Venkatesh et al., 2003; as cited in: Yoo et al. 2014: 271)

Yoo et al. (2014) studied user behavior on Twitter and found that, volume of individuals in the group and the strength of among the individuals are also important. Social conformity relevant the number of participants in the network. “When more participants accept or comply with the norms, this signals that the norm is valuable to accept.” For instance, when users observe that more people use Twitter -especially if it uses by respected persons- they perceive Twitter as an efficient medium for communication. Users have perceived twitter as a more valuable medium with social conformity. The enhancement of the social relationship and self image within a group can be viewed as an outcome of using a system “Thus the more people consider an innovation to be acceptable or recommendable, the more the intrinsic and extrinsic motivation to use the innovation increases.”

In the literature studies about Instagram motivations has been found but social influences were not examined in this context. Only, Yoo et al. (2014) studied on Twitter example. In this study, the role of social influences on Instagram user's motivations was researched. The aim was how much social conformity pushed individuals to use Instagram.

METHODOLOGY The population of this research consists from students 18-28 who use Instagram in Turkey. The

reason why the research was done on this age group is that the average user age of Instagram in Turkey is 18-24 (Aydın, 2018). The first step was done with the snowball sampling technique. 205 students between the ages 18-28 from allover Turkey were chosen. It was found that researching what the social compliance behaviour and motivation of young people living in Turkey was when using Instagram is appropriate.

How strongly does social cohesion effect people to use Instagram? Two studies were made to understand this. Firstly an internet survey was done on individuals age 18-28 to understand the motivation of their Instagram usage. Following the first phase a semi structured interview was done with 5 individuals ages 18-28.

Methods Phase I

According to the data received in January 2018, the average age of the individuals who use Instagram is 18- 34 (Statista, 2018b). In this context an online survey with the objective to understand instagram user habits was done on 205 participants age 18-28 for the representation of the youth in Turkey. The most important goal of this part of the study was to understand motivations of Instagram usage of the young peoples' living in Turkey. At the first part of the survey, the participants were asked

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demographic questions like their age, sex, education level, profession and monthly salary. The average age of the participants is 23,5. The profile of the survey is summarized in table-I.

Table 1. Participants’ Profile

At the second part of the survey, they were asked questions aimed to understand their motivations for using Instagram. The questionnaire items were adapted from Venkatesh and Davis (2000), Van der Heijden (2004) and Turel et al. (2007), (as cited in: Yoo et al. 2014: 275). Measurements used in the analyses summarise in Table-II.

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Phase II At this part of the research, 5 Anadolu University students ages 18-25 were asked semi-

structured questions. The reason for the focus group interview was that it was the technique that would give the most reliable results on understanding compliance behaviour on social media. Five people participated in the focus group interview and it took 55 minutes. The questions asked in the interview are shown at table-III.

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Results Phase I Table-IV presents survey results. Research questions were for motives of Instagram usage.

Table-V reflects responses to compliance behavior. The question was which of them explains why you use Instagram?

 

Phase II The data obtained from the focus group interview are summarized in Table-VI. Focus group

questions themes, responses of participants and conformity behavior effect on participants are shown in the table.

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Table IV. Motives for Instagram.

FINDINGS The findings of both studies were evaluated jointly. The motivations of individuals using

Instagram were discussed together with the reasons for using Instagram at the beginning.

When the question was ‘’Why you are using Instagram?’’It was asked in the survey, and it was seen that the size of the group using Instagram was effective. In other words, individuals have turned to this behavior because the majority uses Instagram. According to Yoo et al. (2012), if a norm is accepted by too many individuals and is worthy of compliance, it means that the norm is valuable and acceptable. There are the attractiveness and value of the conformity behaviors as a result of normative social influence. (Kagitcibasi & Cemalciler, 2016: 94).

When the participants were asked about the first time, they started using Instagram, they stated that they could not remember but one participant said that when he started using the smartphone, he opened his Instagram account. The entry of appropriate tools into the life of the individual also facilitated social conformity with the observed social influence. When the following discussions were analyzed, the pressure factor and the pressure of the close friends were observed. Social Conformity is

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mostly based on individual responses to implicit demands, which is an uncontrollable external pressure (Cialdini and Goldstein, 2004; as cited in: Yoo et al. 2014: 267). In the focus group meeting, the participants stated that they felt this pressure and could not resist.

“Participant 4: It is the most difficult thing, sitting at a table and chat while everyone is looking at their phone. I'm looking at my friend next to me to see what he is doing and see that he is looking at Instagram.

Participant 1: Let’s say for example; you have a WhatsApp group. Your friends say, we've opened Instagram where are you? He says follow me. You're open Instagram and you follow him. I think the influence of the group of friends is a major effect. They get angry with me when I don’t like their posts.”

Subjective norms do not have important functions in most cases, but they have a significant impact on the use of IT (Information Technologies) when the use is compulsory or at the early stage of technology dissemination. Venkatesh et al. (2003), described social impact in IT as follows: “The degree to which an individual's perceived that important others believe he or she should use the new system.” (Venkatesh et al. 2003;, as cited in: Yoo et al., 2014, 266)

We perceive the perceptions and judgments of others as reliable sources since our birth (Deutsch & Gerard, 1955: 635). According to Kağıtçıbaşı and Cemalcılar (2016), we are more inclined to adapt to social influences especially come from people we respect. When we look at Table-V, we can see that the social influence of respected individuals (family and friends) is 37.1% coming after the size of the group. In other words, if the suggestion of using a SNS comes from someone we respect, our behavior towards using that platform is more.

In the focus group meeting, When we examined the social effects that allowed individuals to continue to use Instagram, the easily available popularity was found to be the main motivation source. The motive of “coolness” is one of the four motivations defined by Sheldon & Bryand (2015) and this is closely related to popularity motives.

“Participant 2: We are influenced by popular culture. If something is tolerated or appreciated by other people, we are doing same thing in this direction. I think it's in our subconscious. For example, as our friend said, we share cat videos. I also started to share my work because my friends shared their work.

Participant 1: I share things like everyone else. I share my hobbies anyway. Nature photos, my cat, etc. This is the case for everyone. You share things easy to produce. You can easily produce aesthetic products. When you take a sunset by the sea and play a bit with the light, you get an artistic photo and you can share it instantly.”

Instagram was a new social media that was growing fast and individuals thought they could increase their popularity. The tags, the filters used, the follow-up of celebrities are the features of the popularity of Instagram. The main purpose is to get more like it and keep it going. (Sheldon & Bryand, 2015: 94-95) Conformity behavior also has presence here.

Arndt et al. (2002) said that “Conforming is the antithesis of self-determination. Rather than behaving in accordance with one’s authentic inner preferences and judgments, the conforming individual yields to social pressure and goes with the group.” In some cases, individuals still conform to their interests, even if they are aware of the norm. According to Kagitcibasi & Cemalciler (2016), the continuation of conformity is also related to environmental factors such as group unity and commitment to future interaction.

Finally, it was found with the focus group interview, that they do not want to miss the agenda of the day. They activated Instagram accounts back even when they delete.

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“Participant 3: I check Instagram at least every two hours so as not to miss the agenda. That's why I use it very often. You can find something new at any moment, and you can reach the news faster than on classical media.

Participant 1: I deleted my Instagram account but then opened it again. I felt the lack of Instagram. All my friends have an Instagram account. Exposure from the intense flow of information in the virtual world pushed me to open again.”

CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS In summary, this study showed the existence of a positive and high relationship between

individuals' social adaptation and Instagram use. It was founded that there is a positive relationship between the adaptation of the individuals to new social technologies and social conformity rather than social obedience. The normative influence of social conformity is a source of motivation for users to participate in new technologies (Hsu and Lin, 2008; Venkatesh et al., 2003; as cited in: Yoo et al. 2014: 271).

Fear of Missing Out (FoMO) is also among the findings. FoMO, It is defined as a state of widespread concern and anxiety that others may experience more satisfying experiences in an environment in which the individual is not and it is associated with the desire of constant contact with what others do (Prybyski et al., 2013: as cited in: Bor 2018).

According to Deutsch and Gerard (1955) normative and informal social influence found together. Individuals can use this platform as a personal album or for gaining new skills. That means also informational conformity founded in Instagram usage.

In the literature, Yoo et al. (2014) studied social conformity with Twitter and they found that once individuals had been involved in twitter then they tend like part of online social activities for positive social image. In the results of this study, the users stated that for positive social image they did not share any content that would disturb other people. There is a positive relationship between Instagram shares and normative social conformity.

This study investigated Instagram usage motivations and social. This study investigated Instagram usage motivations and social conformity effects in it on only young population Turkey. The impact of social conformity on social media usage habits can also be investigated on middle-aged and elderly population. However, as a result of this research, besides social conformity on SNS, FoMO was found. Future studies can also investigate the impact of FoMO on social conformity on SNS usage.

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