My research stream
1. Nonprofit branding:
Together with my research partner, Dr. Okai Ozbal, we are working on a nonprofit branding model to understand the antecedents and consequences of donation intentions. Through this research, we aim to propose branding strategies for nonprofit leaders and elucidate the effects of nonprofit branding on the circular economy and sustainability.
We recently submitted the theoretical portion of this study to the 53rd Annual Conference of the European Marketing Academy (EMAC – Sheth Foundation Sustainability Research Competition) with a paper titled "The Impact of Branding on Sustainable Consumption and the Circular Economy: Proposing a Brand Equity Model for Charitable Non-profits."
We have recently collected data from 550 donors of a large charity organization, and we aim to publish the research results in 2024.
2. Domestic and global branding strategies for Peer-to-Peer Digital Companies
Together with my peer researchers, Okai Ozbal and Sandeep Mohanty, we are endeavoring to understand the global branding strategies of Peer-to-Peer ride-hailing service brands. Recently, we submitted our paper to the 2024 AMA Global Marketing SIG (GMSIG) Conference, which will be held in Verona, Italy, in the summer of 2024. The paper is titled "An Exploratory Analysis of On-Demand Ride-Hailing Services in a Cross-Cultural Context: Implications for Branding Theory." It has been accepted for presentation in the competitive research category.
Our previous research on Peer-to-Peer ride-hailing service brands includes two studies that were published in the Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice and the International Journal of Technology Marketing.
3. Consumer behavior in tourism:
Starting with my doctoral work, I published research on consumer value perceptions of vacation products and sought to understand how consumers utilize monetary and non-monetary product cues to form their value perceptions. In subsequent studies, my fellow researchers and I analyzed tourist complaint behaviors and endeavored to model service recovery strategies. We also examined tourist behaviors toward vacation products, using the family as a unit of analysis, and attempted to discern the roles of different family members in vacation decision-making.
More recently, my research interests have focused on profiling tourists and analyzing the perceptions of different tourist segments. In one study, we profiled English tourists visiting Turkey based on their internet use in vacation decision-making. Subsequently, I conducted a study on the Muslim tourist segment in Turkey, investigating halal tourism products. Turkey significantly expanded its capacity after 2000, targeting vacationers primarily from Muslim-populated countries. I undertook this work following an invitation to speak as a keynote speaker at a conference in Malaysia. The work garnered significant attention from the Financial Times (https://www.ft.com/content/3323c3d1-2735-36b6-97de-dca1eb20ffec) and other media channels. As a follow-up to this work, I received another invitation to contribute a chapter to an edited book, which was recently published as well (https://www.routledge.com/Routledge-Handbook-of-Halal-Hospitality-and-Islamic-Tourism-1st-Edition/Hall-Prayag/p/book/9781138557055). I intend to continue my research on tourist lifestyles and segmentation strategies for tourism businesses.
4. Destination branding, marketing, and management:
For a significant period, I have maintained a keen interest in the development of tourist destinations. As a vital sector of the economy, tourism holds the promise of a prosperous future for many underdeveloped and developing regions around the world. With its rapid economic impact, such as the creation of employment opportunities and stimulation of other economic sectors, tourism retains its vitality, particularly for developing countries.
Together with two of my peers, we investigated the role of tourist lifestyles in vacation-type preferences. This research has been published in the Journal of Travel and Tourism Marketing.
In additional studies, I conducted analyses of tourism destinations in Turkey and endeavored to propose differentiation strategies for these locales. Alongside my colleagues, we scrutinized an underutilized segment of tourism offerings in Turkey – second homes – seeking to determine how to capitalize on this asset for the advancement of Turkey's tourism products, particularly targeting domestic markets. With the proliferation of P2P online platforms like Airbnb, the utilization of second-home capacity and the development of this sector will likely accelerate.
5. Regional Economic Development
I have dedicated considerable time to studying the economies of the Balkan area, primarily due to the conferences I organized on this subject and the journal I co-published with my colleagues in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Additionally, I edited a book on Balkan economies that compiled papers from one of the conferences I organized. In this book, I authored a chapter comparing the tourism sectors of Turkey and Bosnia, proposing strategies to develop Bosnian tourism based on Turkish experience. The table of contents and introduction chapter of this book can be accessed through the following link: