Abstract:

The social media phenomenon that has shown itself in every area in recent years and has influenced every area, as well as in the commercial brands, has been of great importance for the city brands. In this context, social media is seen as an important tool in bringing the distinctive and powerful characteristics of the city to the forefront, promoting it to people in remote areas, reflecting the brand identity and creating a positive city brand image. The aim of this study is to identify whether the social media accounts of cities in the process of branding contribute to the city’s image. In this context, it has been viewed whether the perception of the city image of Izmir is different between those who follow and do not follow the social media account of the Metropolitan Municipality of Izmir. In the framework of the study, 513 participants living in Izmir were surveyed and the data obtained was interpreted by testing in the SPSS 21.0 program. According to the results obtained, there was no significant difference in the perception of the city image between the residents of the city, those who follow the social media accounts of the municipality and those who do not.

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