Özet:

Globalization, technological developments and advancements in logistics make gray market activities, which were popular in 1990’s, popular again. Gray Marketing is defined as the importation and distribution of genuine products without the permission of the authorized distributors and manufacturers. Since these activities affect the strategies of the authorized distributor, more study is needed to be conducted in this field. One of the most important fields to be investigated regarding to gray marketing is the factors affecting consumers’ attitude towards gray market goods. Hitherto, there has been only a limited number of studies were conducted on the consumers’ attitude towards gray market goods. Therefore a qualitative research was applied to probe more comprehensive information about the perspectives of the consumers about the gray market goods. In this context, two focus groups were conducted. The results were analyzed via Atlas.ti software and a thematic analysis approach was used to probe information gathered via focus groups. The results indicated that Factors Affecting to Buy Gray Market Goods is the global theme. The organizing themes have been grouped under the following headlines: The product related factors, price related factors, personality factors, gray marketer related factors, authorized distributor factors and past purchase experience. In addition, total 19 basic themes were revealed. The results of the analysis provide valuable insights for the authorized distributors and manufacturers of the international brands who wish to create effective strategies to reduce and prevent gray market activities, and for gray marketers who wish to increase their sales and market share.

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