ASSESSING THE VALUE OF BLACK FRIDAY PROMOTIONS: AN ANALYSIS OF INSTAGRAM USERS’ SENTIMENTS AND BEHAVIORAL RESPONSES

Abstract

Black Friday, as a significant global retail phenomenon, provides substantial insights into consumer behavior and the effectiveness of marketing strategies. This study explores into the dynamics of consumer engagement by analyzing user-generated content (UGC) on Instagram, focusing on the 2021 Black Friday promotions by key technology companies in Turkey. Utilizing an advanced three-step text mining methodology, the research commences with Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) for organizing data into distinct thematic clusters pertinent to Black Friday promotions. This is followed by a sentiment analysis, executed using Python, to evaluate the emotional nuances of the UGC in relation to these themes and the corresponding company promotions. The concluding phase involves an exhaustive textual analysis (TA) to extract actionable insights, which are instrumental in refining promotional strategies and deepening the comprehension of consumer interactions on social media platforms. The results reveal a predominantly positive reception of exclusive promotions and smartphone deals, highlighting their effectiveness as strategic elements in social media marketing. In contrast, themes linked to perceived fraud, negative feedback, misinformation, and customer service issues elicited adverse reactions from consumers. These contrasting responses emphasize the imperative for brands to develop transparent, authentic marketing communications and robust customer support systems. The study not only offers strategic recommendations for brands aiming to enhance their social media campaigns but also contributes a theoretical framework for future research in digital consumer behavior, especially in the context of significant promotional events like Black Friday.