Social media marketing, Turkish behaviour and the 2016 military coup attempt

Abstract

Social media is a driving force that has a borderless significant influence on behavioural change. Limited research has been published on the impact of social media marketing on behavioural and political change. This research discusses the influence of social media marketing on the recent actual behaviour exemplified by the Turkish constituents who stood against the July 2016 military coup attempt. The role of social media marketing and its associated variables of trust, word of mouth, relationship, loyalty, and value facilitated the communication among the different fabrics of the Turkish society, including the constituents, the government, the political parties, and the majority of members in the judicial branch, the police, and the anti-coup army personnel. This experience will be repeated in other global communities as the Turkish people learn and will be inspired and coached by similar practices. Social media marketing variables keep proving a positive impact on constituents' attitudes towards change and sustaining democratic practices, which translate into individual and aggregate actual behaviour.