Nowadays the internet, social media, and mobile technologies are indispensable for our daily lives. During the past decade, online social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and their social media apps like Instagram have been caused profound changes in the communication and interaction of people. In addition, social networking sites have become the focus of interest for everyone who has access to the Internet and who can use computers, tablets or smartphones.  Especially, youth and university students use the internet and social media as a mass communication vehicle with easy and fast access at an increasing frequency rate for their academic and/or other purposes. These tools are no longer just a good source of information but they have become a good reference guide for social interaction, games, information exchange and other purposes at the same time. People, -due to their nature- seek for entertainment, in order to have a good time and obtain information. Modern consumers use these social networking platforms as well to meet their needs to gather information on many subjects. This research aims to determine the effect of Instagram usage attitude on opinion seeking and the mediator effect of consumer innovativeness on this relationship. The results of this study reveal that consumers use Instagram as an information source about brands, products, and services. Moreover, Instagram usage attitude has a positive effect on opinion seeking.

Bahadır AYAR • T. Sabri ERDİL elde edebilmek için öğrenme kültürünü desteklemelerinin inovasyon ve Ar-Ge faaliyetleri konusunda en fazla önem verdikleri iki durum dolduğu tespit edilmiştir.

Erdil et al. 138ve uygulamalar işletme düzeyinde rakiplerden farklılaşarak daha başarılı bir performans sergilemeye katkı sağladığı sürece genel bir ifade ile rekabet gücü olarak ifade edilebilir. İşletmelerin rekabet gücü elde edebilmesi için çeşitli yöntemler mevcuttur. Bu çalışma özelinde işletmelerin inovasyon eğilimleri ve gerçekleştirdikleri birleşme ve satın alma işlemleri birer rekabet avantajı elde etme aracı olarak değerlendirilmiştir. Bu doğrultuda Türkiye' de gerçekleştirilen birleşme ve satın alma işlemlerinin genel olarak yapıları ortaya konulmaya çalışılmış ve işletmelerin inovasyon performanslarının firma performansı, ihracat performansı ve rekabet gücü üzerindeki etkisi incelenmiştir. Elde edilen bulgulara göre birleşme ve satın alma işlemi gerçekleştirmiş işletmelerin inovasyon performansı firma performansı, ihracat performansı ve rekabet gücü üzerinde olumlu bir etkiye sahip olduğu tespit edilmiştir.

The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of market orientation and brand orientation on firm performance. An integrative approach is used in designing the research model. Market orientation and brand orientation taken as antecedents of firm performance are included in the model as existed in the literature. However, researches on how companies become market-oriented, brand-oriented and how market orientation and brand orientation affect firm performance are still rather limited. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to propose a theoretical model showing what factors contribute to market orientation and brand orientation, as well as the their effect on firm performance for Turkish brands. Variables in the proposed research model were measured by scales already existed in the literature. A questionnaire form is used via both online and face-to-face interviews for gathering data in the survey. Data were collected from the firms which are members of United Brand Association with 144 firms. The universe of the research consists of the marketing manager, the brand manager and / or the corporate communications managers of the companies that are members of the United Brands Association. This paper also demonstrates a value for its sectoral brands-specific findings.

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