Abstract:

Ethnicity, identity, and cultural terms have been questioned as keys in almost every country of the world, including Turkey, especially in the field of social sciences and many other research. In the study aimed at determining the boundaries of the relevant concepts and drawing their conceptual frameworks and revealing their effects on the tendency to purchase ethnic identity and cultural items, the subject was primarily addressed in theoretical sense, and in the application stage the survey was conducted in the context of the ethnic origin and purchasing tendencies of individuals belonging to the ethnic identity of the West Balkans immigrants. While the study and the study of the tendencies to buy ethnic origins, the reasons for the consumption in the direction of ethnic-based items have been questioned, the main elements such as interest, motivation, the preservation of cultural items to the present day have been studied. An important conclusion of the study is that migrants who migrated to Turkey from the Western Balkans with three different waves of immigration have proven that the rates of ethnic-based products and purchasing incentives occur at different levels according to generations and their demographic characteristics. The findings obtained by the study are confirming the fact that studies in which ethnic-based marketing strategies and the effects on the tendency of cultural items to purchase in Turkey are studied at a very low rate compared to the world’s countries. After the breakdown of the former Yugoslav Federal Socialist Republic, the countries of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Serbia, Slovenia, the Black Sea and Kosovo, which in the history scene took place as national states, were named the Western Balkans by the European Union. The scope of our work is formed by individuals and groups belonging to the Bosnian ethnic origin who migrated from the Western Balkans countries, and in the framework of our work we will also use the Western Balkans.

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Abstract:

Terms of ethnicity, identity and culture have been questioned as a key element especially in social sciences field and many other researches almost all around the world, including Turkey. In this study, it has been aimed to put forward the effects of ethnic identity and culture on purchase tendency by means of determining the limits of such concepts and drawing a conceptual framework. The topic was dealt with theoretically at first, and in the practice stage, a questionnaire analysis was carried out within the context of their ethnic identity and purchase tendency of the individuals having Bosnian ethnic identity, who are Western Balkan Immigrants, During the study, purchase tendency of ethnic origins was examined, the reasons of making consumption towards ethnic-based elements were questioned, and basic elements were examined such as involvement, motivation, conservation of cultural elements. An important finding of the study is the demonstration of the fact that usage of ethnic based products and rate of purchase motivation of the immigrants, migrated to Turkey by three different migration wave from Western Balkan countries, show difference according to generation and demographic characteristics. The findings of the study constitute an evidence for the fact that number of studies on effects of ethnic based marketing strategies and cultural elements on purchase tendency is less than other countries in Turkey. After breakup of former Yugoslavia Federal Socialist Republic, the countries emerged as nation states on the scene of history were called as Western Balkans by EU. These countries include Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Serbia, Slovenia, Montenegro and Kosovo. The scope of our study comprises individuals and groups of people with Bosnian ethnic identity, migrated from Western Balkan counties, and within our study the terms of Western Balkans will be used.