Evaluation of the Impact of Digital Marketing and Electronic Word of Mouth on Consumer Attitude Through Brand Popularity in Digital Media Platforms

Abstract

Purpose - The aim of this study is to determine the impact of digital marketing and electronic word of mouth on brand popularity for digital media platforms and to what extent this popularity effect influences brand attitude. Design/methodology/approach approach- The study included 385 participants who were followers of digital media platforms residing in Istanbul. A survey questionnaire was prepared using scales for digital marketing, electronic word of mouth, brand popularity, and brand attitude, comprising a total o f 21 questions. The respondents evaluated all the questions on a 5 5-point Likert scale. After providing information about the demographic characteristics of the participants, factor and reliability analyses were conducted, and the relationships were tested using regression analysis. IBM SPSS 24 was used for data analysis. Findings - The analysis revealed that the digital marketing activities of digital media platform brands did not have a significant impact on brand popularity. Another important finding of the study is that electronic word of mouth has a significant effect on digit al media platform brands and positively influences brand attitude. Discussion - It seems that digital marketing strategies may not be sufficient to create or increase brand popularity. Therefore, digital media platform brands can consider alternative marketing strategies alongside digital marketing activities. For example, traditional advertising campaigns, influential partnership agreements, or innovative marketing projects can be utilized. On the other hand, the positive effect of electronic word of mouth on brand attitu de is an important finding. This indicates that brands should focus on customer experience and satisfaction. Brands should strive to improve product or service quality, take customer feedback into account, and develop strategies that promote customer loyal ty. The data obtained from the research results indicate that in future studies, by examining the relationship between brand popularity and consumer attitude in different industries or with different target audiences, it is possible to obtain different results results.