CLUSTERING AND NEUROMARKETING ECOSYSTEM IN REGIONAL GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT

Objective: The aim of this study is to conceptually examine the impact of clustering and neuromarketing ecosystem on regional growth and development. Theoretical Framework: The theoretical framework consists of clustering, neuromarketing and regional development concepts. Method: A qualitative research approach was used in the study and secondary data was also used. Clustering has been discussed on a world and Turkish scale. Results and Discussion: As a result, it has been understood that there is a close relationship between clustering, neuromarketing and economic growth and development. Research Implications: Revealing the existence of relationships between these concepts is important in terms of implementing and diversifying applications in both the private and public sectors. Originality/Value: This study contributes to marketing literature and professional business life by bringing together concepts such as clustering, neuromarketing and regional development and revealing the relationship between them.


INTRODUCTION
As we enter the third millennium, the underlying concept of the period we live in and maybe the most talked about concept of recent years is the change.The groundbreaking events that left their mark on every period were actually born as a result of an individual change.The industrial production model, substructure and superstructure divided into classes, marginalization, rigid certainty and rules, and industrialist/modernist paradigms defined by chaotic relations are the structures that left their mark on a period, then underwent change, and finally came to an end, leaving their place to new understandings.These movements, which have come to an end, have been replaced by knowledge, flexibility, going beyond standards, self-transcendence, classlessness and post paradigms including new social movements that are at peace with the environment.And it is claimed that this new society design, based solely on technological variables, will be an approach characterized by informatics and technological determinism.The common grounds of these two contexts on the post-industrialist and 3 scientific-technological aspects of the new era do not go unnoticed.An important economic development that needs to be underlined in this analysis is that the society that has broken down the social dimensions of the old paradigm has been placed on the basis of today's knowledge elements.Because the globalizing world of the 21st century is not only labour-intensive, capital-intensive, energy-intensive, but also knowledge-intensive.It would be an appropriate observation to say that this development is revolutionary and that it has gone far beyond the productivity period.
The number of countries that want to benefit more from this period of change and try to benefit from urban formation for development purposes is rapidly increasing.In addition to the difficulties such as decreasing energy resources in the world gradually, rapid population growth, increasing consumption and constant changes in human needs, countries that want to chart their route in the direction of development by making socio-economic plans and programs are working more on regional growth and development policy.In this regard, regional plans are made at various scales and these plans are implemented.The aim, of course, is to eliminate interregional inequality that arises for various reasons and to ensure balance.Since each region has different needs, the policies to be determined also vary by region.The main thing is to get to the heart of the problem and develop more comprehensive policies to answer the "how" question.This situation is important in terms of ensuring regional and local integration.
In order to ensure coordination in regional development, in addition to economic, social and physical planning, neuromarketing, which is a new and critically important field, should also be included in this system.Since the local resources of the regions decide what to market, what really matters is how to market it.Neuromarketing, a sub-discipline of marketing science, has been able to achieve this by going beyond traditional marketing methods.Because the effect of the added value provided by traditional marketing methods is gradually decreasing in today's information age.
Because there may be serious differences between what consumers say and what they do, creating marketing strategies based only on statements leads to serious costs.However, neuromarketing detects the problem to a large extent with the scientific methods and techniques and the rational data it obtains, and offers solutions with various analyzes and interpretations.
The relationship of this development in the field of marketing with regional development is that producers who want to cut their costs and hit the target are getting the value they paid for, and on the other hand, consumers who buy the products and services they want are satisfied.In this study, information is given about neuromarketing, which is the integration of neuroscience and marketing, and suggestions and recommendations are made along with its relationship with clustering in regional development and its contributions to regional development.

CLUSTERING IN REGIONAL GROWTH and DEVELOPMENT
The cluster approach, which made its presence felt in the 2000s, is accepted as a method for local economic development with its applications in many countries.It has accelerated local economic development with the active participation of existing stakeholders in the local economy and the constructive approach of the public authority.This process, in which production is increasingly fragmented, has made a division of labor inevitable as an outcome of efficiency and profit parameters.These externalities, such as labor force, supply chain and technological information process, strengthen social and human relations between actors in the regions.At this point, clustering, which emerges as the integration of the values of society and private sector interests in the growth and development approach, is built on the argument that regional output can be increased on a national and international scale.To make the subject more understandable, it is necessary to mention the concepts of region and regional development before moving on to the concept of clustering.Özdinç (2007) stated that the concept of region may have different definitions, including social, political, economic and administrative.Ildırar (2004) discusses the concept of region from different perspectives.In economic terms, they are places controlled by a nation state that are not as small as a city but also not as large as a country.
On the other hand, they can be listed as geographical regions, cultural regions, historical regions, residential areas according to density, regions where certain sectors come to the fore, bordering regions, transit regions, and regions affected by the reflection of common settlement areas.In the light of these explanations, it is possible to group the regions under two main headings.
In terms of economic structure, regions are homogeneous region, polarized region and plan region.In terms of economic development level, it is possible to list them as developed region, developing region and underdeveloped region.
If we talk about regional development after the concept of region, the first problem encountered is that there is no equal distribution of economic activities among the regions across the country.Therefore, the concept of regional development focuses more on this problem.In this respect, regional development adopts the policy of equalizing income distribution to eliminate economic imbalance in underdeveloped regions and making industrialization dominant in underdeveloped regions as well as in developed regions and spreading it to the base (Paksoy and Aydoğdu: 2010, 114).While moving to the concept of clustering in the light of this information, there are many important names that form the basis of this concept.In the literature, theories such as A. Marshall's "Agglomeration Theory", D.
Ricardo's "Theory of Comparative Advantages" and A. Smith's "Theory of Absolute Advantages" are accepted as the cornerstones of clustering.In addition to these theories, theories such as Classical Foreign Trade Theories, New Foreign Trade Theories, Industrial Zone Concept, Competitive Advantage Theory and Diamond Model have also contributed to the formation of the clustering (Orhan: 2010, 84).
Michael Porter, one of these important names, presents the theory of nation, state and local competitiveness in the context of the global economy in his book The Competitive Advantage of Nations in 1990 and attributes an important role to clusters.According to Porter, clusters are geographical concentrations consisting of interconnected companies, specialized suppliers, service providers, companies in the relevant sector and they are related institutions in certain fields that compete with each other but do not break cooperation.Porter states that the geographical scope of a cluster can extend from a single city or state to a country or even a network of neighboring countries.He attributes the three main influences on competition, to a certain extent, to personal relationships, face-to-face communication, and communication between individuals and networks of institutions.According to him, macro-economic policies are necessary but insufficient.He argues that the micro-economic level of governments is more effective.For this, he declares that the removal of barriers to existing and emerging clusters should be the primary objective (Porter: 2010, 243-317).Kuşat (2010) states that the reasons for establishing geographical structures where small firms are protected against competition, the costs of large firms are optimized, professional workforce, information sharing and innovation competence are at a high level have led to the concept of clustering.OECD defines a cluster as independent firms in a value chain where different stakeholders come together, and a production network that produces information and consists of intermediary institutions and consumers (OECD: 2005).
Based on these explanations, the positioning of the mentioned businesses, economic actors and institutions and the connection between them together explain a cluster environment, as shown in the figure below.A company working alone in a random geography can be given as an example of the reasons for clustering efforts.Because the said company can make serious gains in the short term, but in the long term, the landscape will change.After a certain period of time, the company will feel limited and in order to improve itself, it will want to reach specialized and competent suppliers, qualified workforce, and institutions and organizations that will provide technical information and support in the geography where its competitors are located.This situation also provides convenience for the customer.In fact, the customer will be able to reach the most profitable company more easily by choosing a location where competing companies are located together.As a result, competition will intensify, customer satisfaction will come to the fore, innovation will become more important and a global perspective will be adopted as a corporate culture (Bozkurtoğlu: 2013, 4).

7
Clustering as a process consists of different stages.While it can be examined under four main headings as accumulated, newly formed, developing and immature, it can be handled in two main stages: the cluster analysis phase and the cluster development phase, around the EU's comprehensive definition of the cluster (Sayın et al.: 2012, 630).; Bozkurtoğlu: 2013, 6-7).In the cluster analysis phase, candidate clusters are first determined.Then, it is examined whether these clusters are compatible with national development sectors.Thirdly, the mapping process is carried out to analyze the competitiveness of candidate clusters.In the cluster development phase, a local cluster committee is formed with the participation of cluster actors and local authorities determined through the mapping process.Thus, cluster development projects are determined with a strategic planning approach and road map.Afterwards, project groups are formed and a cluster coordination agency is established.In the final stage, social relations and social capital development activities among cluster stakeholders are determined as a project.
These stages, which also include cluster maturity phase activities, vary according to the social, cultural and economic conditions of each country.In this period when clustering is important,  As can be seen in Tables 1 and 2, it is obvious that there are successful clustering practices.However, this does not mean that clustering initiatives do not involve a dead end.
Because in this process, most industrial regions are places where environmental standards are ignored, prices are dominant in competition and are far from strategic technology production.
Companies operating in these regions where profit margins are low and price competition is high are hesitant to enter into long-term projects.Therefore, joint activities cannot go beyond training, fairs and organizations.On the other hand, the current economic system does not enable an environment where all stakeholders can win together.In this sense, it should be underlined that the hierarchical development style is more rational.Finally, the reduction of social values to the economic field is another issue that has been criticized (Acar: 2017, 4).

NEUROPARKETING ECOSYSTEM
In today's business understanding, understanding human behavior is essential for the 9 survival of businesses.For years, it was thought that people made these decisions with rational inferences within their logical limits.The routine in this process emerged as think-perceivereceive/don't receive.Unfortunately, the process is not that simple.The simplest indicator that this is not the case is the shopping habits of consumers.How to explain the behavior of a consumer who buys another pair of shoes although he/she does not need them?Or why does a consumer want to replace his/her new computer with a newer one?To reiterate, these attitudes and behaviors show that people are not only rational beings, but also act with their emotions.
In this regard, creating marketing strategies based solely on statements will cause serious costs, as there may be differences between what consumers say and what they do with traditional methods.(Girişken: 2015, 7-8).
For these and similar reasons and with the combination of neurology and marketing science through technological developments, the concept of neuromarketing has come to the fore.The main field of study consists of consumers who make irrational purchasing decisions.
For businesses, developing strategies without understanding how the subconscious affects the consumer's decision-making process would be a waste of time, so to speak.Because businesses use traditional methods which are quantitative methods to decide on many issues such as the smell, taste, shape and content of the product, and they allocate serious budgets for this.But the feedback is not at all as expected.In this respect, neuromarketing contains the answer to the uncontrolled movements of consumers as well as the answer to how conscious behaviors are directed (Bozkurt: 2013, 183-190).As a result of these developments, neuromarketing has managed to attract the attention of business professionals and the academic community.In this context, various explanations and definitions of neuromarketing have been made in the literature.Martinez (2012) states that neuromarketing contributes to a better understanding of the decision-making process in brand function, communication technique, consumer behavior and purchasing decisions.In this respect, neuromarketing is a useful tool that contributes to the preparation of more effective strategies and action plans to convey brands, communications and business plans.Genco (2013) defines it as any marketing or market research activity that uses neuroscience methods and techniques or is illuminated by neuroscience findings and insights.Tüzel (2010) defines neuromarketing, a fledgling field, as the integration of brain research and marketing strategies.He describes it as a marketing method that marketers use to determine what affects consumer consciousness and subconsciousness through effective advertising and marketing activities to bring more goods and services to consumers.Ural (2008) defines it as the application of neuroscience techniques to consumers to understand the purchasing decision Based on the literature review, it is seen that the purpose of neuromarketing is not far from the purpose of traditional marketing.In this respect, neuromarketing tries to identify the emotional factors that affect the consumer's decision-making process by making the most of technology.Lee et al. (2007) explains the purpose of neuromarketing as making the best sense of the behavior of individuals, groups and organizations in the market.Therefore, the most comprehensive aim of neuromarketing, which includes many indicators, is to base marketing on neuroscientific foundations and to ensure that the product and service to be produced is realized in the most accurate way.In addition, it pays attention to how advertising, an important marketing communication tool, stimulates the nerve center in the brain.From this perspective, it is not easy to make an evaluation at the point of decision-making by taking into account many stakeholders, because the realities of market and consumer events are very complex.Actually, there are many variables interacting at the same time.Qualitative and quantitative methods can capture a significant part of the psycho-sociological events in the play.However, there are also some blind spots that cannot be recorded.This being the case, combining three separate methods such as qualitative, quantitative and neuroscience allows the market to obtain a much richer snapshot.In this regard, qualitative data gives a free language to the market, shows the sudden emergence of the most important elements and provides in-depth information through interpretation.
Quantitative data ensures the reliability of what is reported, thanks to statistics and mathematical measurements, and provides objectivity in representations and quantities through the concept of expansion.Finally, neuroscience complements previous methodologies by being objective through the use of psychological measurements, using modern technologies that leave no room for objection, and being able to effectively investigate people's statements (Martinez: 2012).From this perspective, neuromarketing contributes to the more rational functioning of the market by containing three different methods such as statistical, psycho-sociological and neuroscience.A properly functioning market mechanism means the satisfaction of the actors in this portfolio.The reflections of such a structure will have positive effects on that region.Many problems facing regional development require neuromarketing to be involved in this process.
Rapid socio-economic structural change, demographic, cultural and sectoral differences, geographical structure, production level, investment areas, inefficient use of resources, quality of human capital and waste of resources are some of these problems (SPO: 2000).
Neuromarketing should be included in the system to solve these problems that prevent 11 the wheels from turning in an effective market mechanism.Because, with a producer profile that knows what the consumer wants and produces accordingly, and a consumer profile that knows what product he needs, both resource waste and imbalance in regional income distribution will be reduced.In terms of its connection to the subject, according to an analysis made by AdAge company, global advertising expenditures reached 500 billion dollars in 2013, with the highest figure in history.However, half of this money was wasted, and even though large budgets were allocated to market research during the year, it was not clear which half was wasted.This is the biggest indicator of waste of resources.Because a market research conducted solely by consulting consumer declarations would be the biggest strategic mistake.And such a mistake is the biggest obstacle to the development of the region where the market in question is located.At this point, neuromarketing comes into play, which determines what the consumer wants and explains to the producer how to produce it.In this case, producers who want to cut their costs and hit the target are getting what they paid for, and consumers who buy the products and services they want are satisfied.At the same time, there will be a cluster of producers who know what to produce in the region, and it will be easier to ensure consumer satisfaction in such an environment.This explanation can be illustrated with a figure: According to Figure 3, a product first goes through the concept, design and testing stages in the product development process.In these stages, EEG, one of the neuromarketing techniques, is used.The product that passes these stages can move on to the marketing phase after the testing phase.The subheadings of the launch phase consist of marketing communication tools such as delivery, support, feedback and advertising.EEG technique is also used in these steps.The aim here is to measure consumer reaction to the product before it 12 is launched on the market.And since applying directly to the consumer declaration will increase the risk of making mistakes, this risk is tried to be minimized by using such new techniques.It enables more rational decisions for the seller.Thus, the product that can pass this step can be easily released to the market.This will create a positive atmosphere by ensuring the correct functioning of the market and therefore contribute to regional growth and development.

CONCLUSION
Clustering is one of the main pillars of regional development in economic terms.
Producers operating in such a structure contribute to regional development by being more professional, able to answer the question ''how'' and resilient to ruthless competition.Of course, not only producers but also consumers are satisfied with this situation.However, the issue should not be evaluated only from an economic perspective.It is also necessary to mention social, cultural and political developments.Because in today's world, information has become an economic asset.In this era where such a paradigm prevails, evaluating the global impact solely based on economy will prevent the establishment of human values, which means that people cannot be offered a quality life.Besides, bringing together the necessary conditions for the realization of human personality is already included in the definition of regional development that puts people at its center.Therefore, it is necessary to be open to micro practices as well as macro initiatives in regional development.Only in this way will the economic benefits be maximized.
It can easily be said that neuromarketing, which directly supports regional development by focusing on people and acting together with important stakeholders of the market such as producers, consumers, marketers and advertisers, is not a brain reading method.At the same time, neuromarketing is not a field that aims to make people buy products they do not want.It does not try to manipulate people with subliminal messages.It does not engage in futile efforts such as pressing the purchase button that is not in the brain.Neuromarketing enables simultaneous measurement of consumer decisions with brain waves.However, it is a validation of whether traditional theories (right brain-left brain) achieve appropriate outcomes.Again, the biggest benefit of neuromarketing is that it contains a common language for sales and marketing.Because in many companies, sales and marketing departments cannot share a common platform for communication, and the company is naturally charged with this situation.
Neuromarketing comes into play at this point and fills the gap that means time and resources are wasted.Namely, understanding brand and branding is the natural arena of neuromarketing.Neuroscience offers some useful perspectives on what makes a story interesting and how interest is represented in the brain.This opens up the possibility of neuromarketing research in programming.In the final analysis, neuromarketing, which is an example of the unique harmony of neuroscience and social sciences with the various neurotechniques it uses, has proven itself by making its presence felt in the market and thus has a direct impact on regional growth and development by shedding light on market actors.Therefore, this awareness should be further increased with this study regarding neuromarketing, as well as with the studies that have been done so far and the studies that will be envisaged from now on.

Figure 1
Figure 1Cluster actors and cluster environment.

Figure 2
Figure 2Clusters and economic policy.

Figure 3
Figure 3Product development process.
___________________________________________________________________________ Rev. Gest.Soc.Ambient.| Miami | v.18.n.8 | p.1-15 | e08140 | 2024.13 The two areas of product-related research where neuromarketing dominates are product innovation and packaging design.Because people have difficulty predicting what they will like or do in the future.Neuromarketing suggests that a new idea occurs on a large scale and offers alternative ways of observing the positive resonance with consumers.Advertising research is an active area for neuromarketing.There has always been a mystery to how advertising works and how it suddenly became successful.Although neuromarketing does not completely solve this mystery, it offers new tools and clarification techniques for this.Neuroscience in particular is pioneering the idea that ads can work well even when consumers are not paying attention, and that persuasive messages, empowering brands and sales promotion can be more effective than repetition of positive emotional connections.Shopping and retailing are research areas where neuromarketing has much to offer.Consumers do not give much thought to the act of consumption in the shopping experience.They receive visual and other emotional signals on shopping trips, but they are not aware of it.Situational factors have an undeniable impact in determining consumers' shopping outcomes at the expense of conscious intention.Finally, another area where neuromarketing focuses attention is entertainment.Although people are better at identifying that they are entertained than that they are convinced, they have little awareness of why they find one television program, movie or video game more entertaining than another.

Table 1
there are many examples of successful clustering in Turkey and around the world.These examples can be shown with the help of a table as follows(Bozkurtoğlu: 2013, 16; Kartal: 2013,   45; Cluster Analysis Sector Report: 2015, 6):Cluster examples from Turkey.

Table 2
Clustering examples from the world.