SELECTION OF SOCKS EXPORT MARKETS FOR TURKEY USING MULTI-CRITERIA DECISION MAKING METHODS

Export provides foreign exchange inflow and reduces unemployment and is, therefore, an important field of economic activity promoted by every country. Turkey is the sixth-largest exporter in the socks industry, which is a strategic export product. In this context, it wants to take first place by increasing its export volume. For this, it must choose the markets which will export well. However, there are many criteria that are effective in selecting the export market place and are independent of exporting countries. It is beneficial to use multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) methods in the solution of such problems. The aim of this study is to select the most suitable export market to increase Turkey's socks export volume. Firstly, a survey of export market selection criteria is developed based on a literature review. The survey is completed by export specialists of socks exporting companies in Turkey to determine the most important criteria in the selection of socks export markets. Afterward, between 2014-2018 criterion data of the top 11 countries accounting for 70 percent of the world's total socks imports are derived from the Trade Map Database. 2020 values were obtained using regression analysis. TOPSIS (Technique for Order-Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution), GRA (Grey Relational Analysis) and ANP (Analytical Network Process) methods are used to evaluate the alternative socks export markets. Sensitivity analysis is performed using TOPSIS, GRA and ANP data. The results are compared to select the best export market for the Turkish socks industry.