ADAPTATION OF THE MOTIVATION SCALE FOR ATHLETES’ INSTAGRAM USE TO TURKISH AND EXAMINATION OF ATHLETES’ MOTIVES REGARDING DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS

The popularity of the Instagram application has a serious potential for brand development for athletes. Athletes gain great potential in the phase of branding when they use the Instagram application successfully. Therefore, the aim of this study was to make an adaptation of the motivation scale for athletes’ Instagram use to Turkish for understanding their motives to use Instagram and analyzing the determinants in terms of gender, age, educational status, frequency of Instagram use, type, and level of the sport. Within the research framework, a total of 208 athletes from different sports branches of sports clubs in Turkey participated in our study. Data collection was carried out via adapting the Instagram Motivation Scale developed by Sheldon and Bryant (2016) and a questionnaire was included based on the respondents ‘demographic characteristics. Apart from the validity and reliability analysis of the scale, T-Test and One-Way Variance (ANOVA) analysis were used to evaluate the collected data. According to the findings of the research, which were obtained via adapting the motivation scale for using Instagram to the context of Turkey, the scale is a valid and reliable measurement tool. Gender, age, education level, sportive branch level, and frequency of Instagram use were the factors that influenced the athletes’ motivation to use the application. This research will help athletes manage their social media brands efficiently in the future by focusing on identifying the motivations that draw the attention of athletes to the Instagram application.