Examination of The Relationship Between Consumers' Digital Footprint Awareness and Their Decision-Making Styles in Digital Marketing With The Structural Equality Model

The integration of digital technology with the internet has brought up various subjects and concepts. Individuals using the Internet create their digital footprints with their activities in the digital environment. With the help of digital footprint, political views, personality traits, potential beliefs, etc. can be predicted. This study was prepared to determine the level of impact of individuals' digital footprint awareness on their decision-making style when purchasing products online. The data were collected through an online survey and analyzed using SPSS and AMOS programs. The sample of the study included 607 individuals from different groups, and after eliminating outliers at the structural equation model stage, data from 461 participants were analyzed. As a result of the analysis, it was seen that participants were aware that their activities on the internet environment could affect them, they made decisions as they wished, some sub-dimensions had differences between genders, and generally there was no difference in demographic characteristics in terms of digital footprint awareness. Additionally, an analysis of demographic variables showed that there was a relationship between conscious awareness and digital footprint, and some sub-dimensions of consumer decision-making style and digital footprint.