Social Media and Political Marketing Elements Affecting the Political Participation Behavior of Voters: A Field Research on Syrian Migrants

Abstract

Political parties and candidates seek the votes of the voters in the elections with the policies and promises they create within the scope of political marketing. It is frequently seen in the elections held in Turkey that there is very little difference in votes between the parties in the elections. Elections are either won or lost with a very small margin of votes. When evaluated in this direction, it is very important for political parties and candidates to determine the factors that are effective in the political participation behavior of Syrian immigrants, one of the nations with the highest immigrant population and living in Turkey. In this study, it is aimed to determine the social media and political marketing elements that are effective in the political participation behaviors of Syrian immigrants after they migrate. Data were obtained with a semi-structured interview form by interviewing 20 Syrian immigrants living in Gaziantep face to face. When the data obtained are evaluated, it has been determined that the political thought of the environment, the attitudes and behaviors of the party leader and the candidate, social media and political marketing factors are effective on the political participation behaviors of Syrian immigrants. Another important finding within the scope of the study is that the discourses and actions of the party and the candidate towards Syrian immigrants, the perspective of the party towards immigrants, religious values, customs and ideologies are important factors on the political participation behaviors of Syrian immigrants.