impact of social media on consumer behaviour literature review

Social Media Influencers’ Perceptions on Consumers’ Buying Behavior—An Exploratory Study

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• Despina A. Karayanni 4 &
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Influential marketing is gaining arousing interest in contemporary research among academics and practitioners. The vast majority of pertinent research on how influencers may affect consumer behavior is based on the followers’ perceptions, regarded as consumers. Nevertheless, attention shed on the influencers’ perceptions, regarded as the research field, is rather rarer. In this exploratory study we base upon quantitative data extracted from 65 Social-Media international influencers. Advanced statistical analysis, based on Confirmatory factor Analysis and Regression Analysis, produced findings implying that influencers’ personality, followers’ engagement and followers’ performance risk minimization may influence the followers’ buying behavior. On the whole, as our research results imply, companies partnering with influencers should recognize the need to provide them with comprehensive information and training, encompassing both the brand’s attributes and the company’s culture and values. This approach fosters a unified promotion strategy, greater customer engagement, and improved company-influencer alignment in communication strategies and goals, leading to enhanced products sales.

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• Influential marketing
• Social media influencers
• Consumer behavior

1 Introduction

Due to the global expansion of the “digital economy,” social media influencer marketing has gained a lot of attention and has become a ubiquitous practice and a crucial component of any company’s promotional efforts. In marketing, the influencer phenomenon is not new, as famous celebrities were the main drivers of consumer behavior even before the explosion of social media [ 1 ]. For example, for several decades, a well-established marketing communications’ tactic is to use Hollywood personalities and movie stars [ 2 ]. As stated by Brown and Hayes [ 3 ], influencer marketing is the act of an external person who influences the consumers buying choices. According to Lou and Yuan [ 4 ], “influencer marketing is defined as a strategy that utilizes the personal influence of important opinion leaders to increase consumers’ brand awareness and purchase intention”. Specifically, social media influencers are considered opinion leaders for their followers in the social networks in which they perform [ 5 ]. Along similar lines, Schwemmer and Ziewiecki [ 6 ] cite that these influencers act as catalysts in the informal communication process that piques a potential client’s interest. On the whole, research and applied evidence suggest that there is a relationship between influencers and consumers behavior. As a matter of course, influencer marketing is a form of social media marketing involving product placement and endorsements from influencers [ 7 ]. In order to measure the impact of Social Media Influencers, consumer behavior research is mainly focusing to the target market, i.e., the consumers. Nevertheless, the respective research upon the personalized communication media, the influencers, per se, is rarer. With this research we make an attempt to fill this void. Specifically, we focus on the influencers and examine their perceptions on how influencer marketing may affect consumer purchasing decisions. Indeed, influencers’ understanding of their role as intermediaries between the promoted companies and the target market is crucial, as their personalized communication behavior and performance may depend upon these perceptions. Moreover, it is crucial to examine, even at exploratory stage, the promoted companies’ choices and effectiveness to lean upon Social Media influencers, as intermediaries for their marketing communication strategies. This paper aims to examine whether: (i) Influencers’ personality, (ii) Followers’ engagement, i.e., through User Generated Content, and (iii) Followers’ performance risk minimization, may be related to consumer behavior.

2 Literature Review and Hypothesis Development

2.1 the relationship of influencer’s personality with their followers’ buying behavior.

The importance of role perceptions of human interface that lies between the boundaries of suppliers and buyers, has been the research subject of very rigorous research in the marketing literature. For example, in the realm of salesforce management, personality traits, aptitude, role perceptions and motivation were found to be important determinants of sales intermediaries’ performance [ 8 ]. In the realm of social media, one paradigm of the human interface between the company and the buyer is the social media influencer. Specifically, an influencer may be anyone, from a fashion blogger on Instagram to a travel blogger, or an academic expert, who tweets on Twitter. Academics have used a variety of definitions to describe social media influencers [ 9 ]. More recently, Dhanesh and Duthler [ 10 ] defined social media influencers as those who, through personal branding, develop and sustain relationships with their followers on social media and have the power to enlighten, entertain, and shape their followers’ opinions and actions. In this way, influencers successfully shape consumers’ perceptions towards products or services by posting videos, content, or pictures on their social media channels. Moreover, they could act as an independent third-party endorser who recommends and describes the products through the social media contents, which could influence the consumers’ opinions, behaviors, and attitudes towards a product [ 11 ]. One of the most crucial factors driving social media users to follow an influencer is the influencer’s personality. The relationship between social media influencers and their followers is built upon trust and the influencer’s unique personality [ 12 ]. The attractiveness of an influencer’s personality has a direct impact on how followers see them, influences how positively they feel about a brand [ 13 ] and is essential in developing consumers’ positive purchase intention towards brands and products [ 14 ].

Thus, we hypothesize: Η 1 : Influencers’ personality will be related to their followers’ buying behavior.

2.2 The Relationship of Followers’ Engagement with Their Buying Behavior

The role of customers’ engagement in companies’ posts, through interactive interfaces, i.e., through submitting their comments on online WEB pages and social networks has attracted researchers’ attention, long ago, with the introduction of WEB2.0 interactive technology, that enabled the user to upload her own content. For example, Karayanni and Baltas [ 15 ] have found a relationship between industrial buyers’ comments submission through companies’ Web Sites and other social networks (i.e., newsgroups, etc.) with salesforce performance. For one thing, when consumers have the ability to express their positive opinions on various marketing fora, i.e., the social media, they essentially become active advocators of the respective brand, which is an utmost branding goal. On the other hand, even if consumers submit negative criticism, this may be an opportunity for companies to identify the weak aspects of their brand, and to improve it, while they may also increase their brands awareness, at the same time. Indeed, Berger et al., [ 16 ] found that although companies and individuals often try to quiet negative publicity, in some cases, the later can actually have positive effects. Studies have shown that influencers’ content positively impacts consumers’ purchase intention [ 17 ]. This User-generated content (UGC), that influencers produce by highlighting the brand’s goods or services, is a common component of influencer marketing. Customers also utilize this technology to research businesses and their goods before making purchasing decisions. Additionally, they feel more comfortable expressing themselves because of the anonymity and security that social media offers, which enables users to express their true sentiments about the brands they interact with [ 18 ]. Stated formally, we hypothesize that: Η 2 : Followers’ engagement will be related to their buying behavior.

2.3 The Relationship of Followers’ Performance Risk Minimization with Their Buying Behavior

Perceived risk is the level and amount of uncertainty that customers feel when considering a purchase and worrying that something might not go as planned. It is described as the potential loss that consumers expect to experience as a result of purchasing a good, or service [ 19 ]. Perceived performance risk is very important as it is related to brand loyalty, thus to consumer behavior. Along the marketing literature we find extensive research on this relationship [ 20 ]. Influencers may have the power to arouse favorable feelings and persuade customers to make purchases, but they can also have the opposite effect [ 21 ]. Furthermore, Deshbhag and Mohan [ 22 ] recently showed how perceptions of risk influenced attitudes and intentions to purchase consumer goods. Thus, we hypothesize that: Η 3 : Followers’ performance risk minimization will be related to their buying behavior.

3 Methodology of the Study

The research design of this research is exploratory and in order to support our research hypotheses, we followed the guidelines of Churchill and Peters [ 23 ]. First, we delved into the pertinent marketing literature, as well as, on primary data selected from qualitative research, through personal interviews, from 10 key informants operating in the social media-marketing field. As a next step, we developed quantitative research instrument, by scratch, based on the literature review and the primary qualitative data for a convenience sample of 300 influencers.

3.1 Measures Operationalization, Reliability and Validity Assessment

All attitudinal measures were tapped by 5-point Likert scales, ranging from strongly disagree = 1, to strongly agree = 5. The rest measures capturing social media types, use intensity and influencer’s motives were categorical, dichotomous. Specifically, the measure ‘Influencer’s personality’ was tapped by two items, namely: (a) When followers feel familiar with me, then this would positively influence their opinion about the brand I represent, and (b) Influencers play a significant role to the diffusion of a new brand in the market. Two items measured ‘followers’ engagement’ and shared the common preposition: The following content types may have an impact upon your followers’ buying behavior : (a) Uploading followers and buyers’ comments on the influencer’s social media and (b) Uploading followers and buyers’ images on the influencer’s social media. The measure ‘followers’ performance risk minimization’ was tapped by four items that shared the common preposition: Social Media Influencers may help their followers, regarding the following buying decisions : (a) To decide upon issues for which they don’t have enough information, b) To minimize the information research time for issues of interest to them, (c) To minimize the risk of spending money for a product that might not worth it, and (d) To feel safer regarding the product quality of the product that they want to buy. Finally, for the ‘followers’ buying behavior’ measure, we used three items, all of which shared the common preposition: Every time that I promote a new brand to my followers, it is more likely that : (a) They would buy it, when I give information relative to the product, (b) They would buy it, next time that they would need it, (c) They would buy it when they see me to use it, in person.

As, a next step, in order to assess reliability and validity of the above measures, we followed the guidelines of Gaskin and Lim [ 24 ]. As a first step, we performed Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), for all four lists of items, reflecting the constructs: influencer’s personality, followers’ engagement, followers’ performance risk minimization and followers’ buying behavior, respectively. The EFA results depicted that all constructs met the discriminant validity criteria. All factor loadings were higher than 0.50 and Total Variance Explained was over 60% (sig < 0.000). Furthermore, the Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin (KMO) measure of sampling adequacy was higher than 0.80 and Bartlett’s test of sphericity was highly significant (p = 000) for all variables, which rejects the null hypothesis and shows that the described attributes are correlated within the population.

To assess construct validity, we performed reliability analysis which produced Cronbach alphas higher than 60% for all scale constructs, thus implying that our measures were valid and reliable, which enabled us to proceed to hypothesis testing.

3.2 Sampling

The quantitative research instrument was uploaded to the University server and an email was sent to a convenience sample of 300 international influencers, operating on various social media, i.e., the Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Pinterest, politely urging them to volunteer in engagement of this research. The data collection resulted in 65 fully responded questionnaires, yielding 21.7% response rate, which compares favorably with similar response rates of Web-based marketing surveys [ 25 ].

3.3 Demographic Characteristics

Regarding their motivations for becoming influencers, 52.3% cited economic incentives, 30.8% mentioned seeking publicity, while the remaining 16.9% indicated interactivity and socialization as their primary reasons. These findings imply that the research participants have chosen to be influencers mainly for economic reasons, or publicity, which underpin their essential role as professionals in the realm of social media promotion. The most commonly used social media platforms were Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok, with 95%, 89%, and 83% of participants citing them, respectively. In con-trast, Pinterest was the least popular social medium, mentioned by only 59% of the participants. YouTube and Twitter fell in between, with 69 and 45% of our sampled influencers reporting their use to support their promotional strategies. Finally, concerning the product types that these influencers cited to promote, the most commonly encountered category was traveling/entertainment, followed closely by the product category of clothing/footwear, as reported by 83% and 80% of the respondents, respectively. The remaining categories, including cosmetics, clothing accessories, nutrition/fitness, and technology products, were encountered by 59%, 57%, 40%, and 19% of the sample, respectively.

4 Findings and Discussion

Our research hypotheses were then tested using advanced statistics, and specifically, correlation analysis and regression analysis. First, we performed correlation analysis among all four measures, and specifically, followers’ buying behavior was correlated with influencers’ personality, followers’ engagement and followers’ performance risk minimization, at rates 0.43 (p < 0.001), 0.25 (p < 0.05), and 0.27 (p < 0.05) respectively. These findings encouraged us to proceed to regression analysis. Thus, in order to test Hypotheses 1–3, we regressed all three hypothesized determinants upon the dependent variable followers’ buying behavior. As shown on Table 1 , all three variables had explanatory powers upon the determinant followers’ buying behavior, thus supporting our research Hypotheses.

Specifically, an influencer’s personality appears to play a role in shaping their followers’ purchasing intentions. Consequently, when an influencer acknowledges the importance of their personality in influencing their followers’ buying choices, they may become more diligent in their promotional endeavors. This, in return, deepens the connection between the influencer and their followers, ultimately bolstering consumer behavior. Consequently, influencers must exercise caution, recognizing their role as potential role models who can impart specific principles and attitudes to their followers. Simultaneously, companies looking to collaborate with influencers should exercise care, not only evaluating product alignment with the influencer’s image, but also considering the values and principles conveyed by the influencer’s personality. Our research findings suggest that the latter can substantially influence the likes, dislikes, needs, and preferences of their customers and followers. Furthermore, our findings suggest a relationship between followers’ engagement and their purchasing intentions. Influencers believe that by encouraging followers to actively participate in their social media communication, by sharing user generated content, such as comments and images, they can turn them into advocates for the product. This, in turn, leads to increased brand loyalty and, consequently, to higher product sales. Third, our research findings affirm a relationship between followers’ risk mitigation and their purchasing behavior. When influencers believe they can effectively reduce their followers’ perceived performance risk, it leads to increased product sales. These findings underscore influencers’ recognition of the significance of their personality in influencing brand purchases. Moreover, our research findings suggest that influencers who actively keep their followers engaged with content may also influence their buying intentions. Likewise, as our study’s evidence implies, one repercussion of followers’ engagement is that it may lead to reduced product performance risk, which is related with higher sales. Eventually, companies that partner with influencers should consider the implication that they need to provide comprehensive information and training, covering not just the qualities and performance of the promoted brand, but also the company’s culture and values. This approach facilitates a more unified promotion strategy, increased engagement with their target customers, and improved alignment between the company and influencers, in terms of communication strategies and goals. Ultimately, this alignment may lead to company-influencer synergy that is interprets to increased product sales. Online brand communities for different products and services can be created [ 26 , 27 , 28 ].

5 Limitations and Directions for Future Research

This research is primarily exploratory in nature, and it is important not to generalize too far, based solely on the study’s results. To provide stronger validation for our findings, further research with a larger and more diverse sample is warranted.

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Karayanni, D.A., Koutsogiannopoulou, N. (2024). Social Media Influencers’ Perceptions on Consumers’ Buying Behavior—An Exploratory Study. In: Kavoura, A., Borges-Tiago, T., Tiago, F. (eds) Strategic Innovative Marketing and Tourism. ICSIMAT 2023. Springer Proceedings in Business and Economics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-51038-0_30

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The impact of social media marketing on consumer engagement in sustainable consumption: a systematic literature review.

1. Introduction

2. materials and methods, 2.1. assessing appropriateness of the search keywords, 2.2. assessing relevance, 2.3. assessing quality, 3. general overview of articles included in this review, 3.1. publication trends, 3.2. classification of articles, 4. meta-textual method, 4.1. theories, 4.1.1. relationship marketing and consumer engagement, 4.1.2. social exchange, 4.1.3. sustainable consumption, 4.1.4. uses and gratification, 4.1.5. other theories, 4.2. context, 4.3. methods, 5. variables used in the reviewed research studies, 5.1. independent variables, 5.2. dependent variables, 5.3. control variables, 5.4. moderating variables, 6. discussion, 6.1. limitations, 6.2. future research directions, 7. conclusions, author contributions, institutional review board statement, informed consent statement, data availability statement, conflicts of interest.

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Share and Cite

Bryła, P.; Chatterjee, S.; Ciabiada-Bryła, B. The Impact of Social Media Marketing on Consumer Engagement in Sustainable Consumption: A Systematic Literature Review. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022 , 19 , 16637. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192416637

Bryła P, Chatterjee S, Ciabiada-Bryła B. The Impact of Social Media Marketing on Consumer Engagement in Sustainable Consumption: A Systematic Literature Review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health . 2022; 19(24):16637. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192416637

Bryła, Paweł, Shuvam Chatterjee, and Beata Ciabiada-Bryła. 2022. "The Impact of Social Media Marketing on Consumer Engagement in Sustainable Consumption: A Systematic Literature Review" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 19, no. 24: 16637. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192416637

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• DOI: 10.1177/09722629241237394
• Corpus ID: 269476808

How Social Media Influencers Impact Consumer Behaviour? Systematic Literature Review

• Seema Bhardwaj , Navin Kumar , +2 authors Amita Venkatesh
• Published in Vision: The Journal of… 28 April 2024
• Vision: The Journal of Business Perspective

57 References

Influencer marketing as a tool of digital consumer engagement : a systematic literature review, social media marketing efforts of luxury brands: influence on brand equity and consumer behavior, impacts of influencer attributes on purchase intentions in social media influencer marketing: mediating roles of characterizations, investigating consumer engagement with influencer- vs. brand-promoted ads: the roles of source and disclosure, the role of digital influencers in brand recommendation: examining their impact on engagement, expected value and purchase intention, trends in influencer marketing: a review and bibliometric analysis, the relationship of csr communication on social media with consumer purchase intention and brand admiration, social media or shopping websites the influence of ewom on consumers’ online purchase intentions, making and breaking relationships on social media: the impacts of brand and influencer betrayals, a new era of influencer marketing: lessons from recent inquires and thoughts on future directions, related papers.

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Evaluating the impact of social media on online shopping behavior during COVID-19 pandemic: A Bangladeshi consumers’ perspectives ☆

Md rukon miah.

a Department of Marketing, Comilla University, Cumilla, Bangladesh

Afzal Hossain

b Department of Business Administration, Trust University, Barishal, Bangladesh

Rony Shikder

Meher neger, associated data.

Data will be made available on request.

Background of the study

Nowadays, the business pattern is changing globally. The business organization is influenced customers to purchase their necessary goods and services from online businesses. The online-based business takes promotional activities through social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest.

The aim of the research was to investigate the impact of social media on online shopping behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic in the context of Bangladeshi consumers.

Research methods

Quantitative type research was applied and the study used descriptive research design. A standardized questionnaire was used to collect 350 data points from Bangladeshi consumers using an online purposive sampling method. A partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) approach was used to evaluate the data and test the hypotheses.

PLS-SEM analysis method demonstrated that celebrity endorsement, promotional tools, and online reviews had a positive significant impact on online shopping behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic in the perspective of Bangladesh.

The research paper provides practical guidelines for online-based business organizations on how to effectively use social media platforms for business target advertising and promotional activities. The customers are also motivated to purchase through social media because of positive online reviews and trustworthy celebrity endorsements.

Online shopping; Social media, Bangladeshi consumers, COVID-19 pandemic, PLS-SEM.

1. Introduction

With the expansion and spread of the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), also known as the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, a new public health crisis is threatening the world (SARS-CoV-2). In December 2019, the virus was revealed in bats and conveyed to humans via anonymous intermediary species in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. To date (05/03/2020), there have been roughly 96,000 recorded cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-2019) and 3300 recognized deaths. The disease is spread through inhalation or contact with polluted droplets, with a 2 to 14-day incubation period. Fever, cough, sore throat, dyspnea, weariness, and malaise are common symptoms. Most people have a minor case of the common symptoms. Most people have a minor case of the condition. However, certain people (typically the elderly and those with comorbidities) may develop complications ( Singhal, 2020 ). The global proliferation of coronavirus has had a number of negative effects on human health ( Jajodia et al., 2020 ; Rajendran et al., 2020 ). Most enterprises have been adversely impacted by COVID-19, and as a consequence, they have been compelled to implement multiple measures to limit the proliferation of the coronavirus while also harming their organizational performance and effectiveness ( Bartik et al., 2020 ; Donthu and Gustafsson, 2020 ; Sohrabi et al., 2020 ). To contain the spread, people should exercise social detachment, self-isolation, and reduce travel, which also led to a significant decrease in institutional and business output ( Nicola et al., 2020 ). The global COVID-19 epidemic has severely affected societies and economies around the world and has hit various sectors of society in various ways. This unprecedented situation has far-reaching consequences for consumers’ daily lives and has dramatically changed how businesses operate and how consumers behave ( Donthu and Gustafsson, 2020 ; Yuen et al., 2020 ). The current situation, after the first wave and the beginning of the second wave of the COVID-19 epidemic in Europe, has forced many consumers to reconsider their established shopping and shopping habits or even learn new ones ( Sheth, 2020 ). Nowadays, social media is playing a significant role in the online marketing environment for buying products from online stores rather than traditional themed stores with the help of an internet connection. In the current situation, social media is a relatively new trend. The most popular social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Google contribute to the majority of activities such as messaging, chatting, gambling, and blogging. Consumers typically participate actively on social media and spend long hours on Facebook and Twitter, creating content and sharing it. Companies that are aware of these issues are moving towards various activities to attract customers, increase their level of awareness and make the most of the opportunities offered through social media. Accordingly, firms conduct strategic campaigns that overlap with customer structures and brand values to increase the level of social brand recognition. Digital and social media marketing allows companies to accomplish their marketing aims at relatively low cost ( Ajina, 2019 ; Yadav, 2016 ).

Individuals and families who buy a company's goods for personal consumption are denoted as consumers ( Kotler, 2004 ). Consumer behavior refers to the actions that consumers participate in when buying, consuming, and disposing of products and services. Consumer behavior is the study of how people shop, what they shop for, when they shop, and why they shop. When a customer needs to make a purchase, they will go through the steps of acknowledgement, information search, evaluation, purchase, and feedback ( Blackwell et al., 2006 ). Finally, the customer will select a product or brand to consume from a variety of options available in the market. These factors, on the other hand, have an impact on consumer purchasing behavior. When it comes to consumer buying choice behavior, it's critical to identify the many sorts of consumers who have different buying decision behaviors based on their level of involvement and capacity to discern significant differences between brands. The term “buying participation” is defined by Hawkins and Mothersbaugh (2010) as the level of interest a buyer has in purchasing a product or service. Retail managers and marketers must keep records of shifts in consumer buying behavior and attitudes in order to identify which strategies they should implement ( Verma and Gustafsson, 2020 ). Pantano et al. (2020) argue that customers have re-examined their buying habits even while recognizing advantages from previously unknown services. On the one hand, social media is a rich source of information about a company's consumer views; on the other hand, it promotes social interaction among consumers, which results in increased trust and, thus, changes in customer preferences' purchasing behavior ( Hajli, 2014 ).

Online shopping behavior involves the process of purchasing goods and services through the internet ( Sun et al., 2019 ). After collecting product information, the consumer selects an item according to its requirements and transaction criteria for the selected product, evaluates the product along with other available options, and gains post-press experience ( Kotler, 2000 ). Online shopping behavior is related to the psychological state of the customer buying online ( Li and Zhang, 2002 ). Social networking sites have been widely used by people for their professional and personal use in the era of global communication. According to E-marketer (2013) , companies for various marketing activities such as marketing research, branding, customer relationship management, sales promotion, and service and service delivery have gradually adopted various studies as well as social networking sites that ensure the positive effects of social development in marketing strategy media.

The World Wide Web has persuaded people around the world to make small changes in their behavior and attitudes. Because of these blessings, online shopping has emerged, which affects the lives of ordinary citizens. Online shopping has started in Bangladesh, but consumers are still not very accustomed to shopping online. Customers are becoming familiar with the internet and its benefits. Online shopping is becoming popular and a priority among a group of customers to get better quality offers related to information, benefits, and cost choice. Like other young Asians, Bangladeshi youth are experimenting with new ways of shopping that have led to the rise and popularity of online shopping in Bangladesh.

Nowadays, customers' purchasing patterns are changing globally, and they are purchasing goods and services through online shopping. Customers were heavily influenced by social media to shop online. During COVID-19, customers didn't go to shopping malls frequently because of lockdown, isolation, and fear of being affected by the coronavirus ( Eger et al., 2021 ). Business organizations can motivate customers to purchase through online shopping via social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest. Marketers have a great advantage on social media because they can influence or create awareness about goods and services and motivate them to purchase via online shopping. Business organizations can use social media platforms to influence their existing and potential customers to purchase their necessary goods and services through online shopping or online business platforms ( Chaturvedi and Gupta, 2014 ). Customers have been influenced by organizations via live streaming, celebrity endorsements, online reviews of customers, and promotional tools like target advertising ( Geng et al., 2020 ; Schouten et al., 2020 ). During the corona pandemic, the marketers took home delivery services to the customers ( Wang et al., 2021 ). Good online reviews have influenced potential customers to purchase through online shopping ( Mo et al., 2015 ). Online shopping behavior will benefit both customers and marketers ( Berman, 2012 ). Nowadays, in our society, some customers are so busy that they don't have the available time to purchase their necessary products or services. That's why they are not able to go to the market practically within a short time. They prefer to order any kind of commodity or service via online shopping. At present, customers want a relaxed environment on social media for shopping. Marketers provide target advertising via social media like Facebook, Twitter, and so on ( Luo et al., 2019 ). Thus, social media marketing tools are more useful than other marketing communication mixes. Word of mouth from celebrities and positive customer reviews encourages other customers to shop online.

This study was conducted on social media due to several factors that influence buying behavior. Purchasing online remittances has become an interesting and new topic for researchers around the world. People's buying patterns are changing. Online social media is a tool that has only recently developed and developed rapidly in the last few years, and it might have the problem of a lack of studies in all countries since it is at an early stage in the field of social commerce ( Huang and Benyoucef, 2015 ; Hossain et al., 2019 ). There are a lot of social media users in Bangladesh and they prefer to shop online, but there is still a lack of research on the trend of social media impact when buying a product online. Thus, by doing this research, marketers can focus on the areas that have the most impact on their online buying behavior. The purpose of the study is to understand the buying behavior of online shoppers.

After reviewing most of the related literature on social media that influences online shopping, it is clear that most researchers tried to assess the influence of social media (live streaming, celebrity endorsements, promotional tools, and online reviews) on buying behavior, purchase intention, purchase decision, customer satisfaction, and online shopping behavior from the perspectives of customers all over the world, but this research has been tried to focus on investigating the influence of social media on online shopping behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic from the perspectives of Bangladesh, which remained an unexplored field. This research provides an insight on the influence of live streaming, celebrity endorsements, promotional tools, and online reviews on online shopping behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic of citizenship customers' level in eminent Bangladeshi purchasers' and sellers' experiences, which will help policy makers and stakeholders formulate better digital marketing strategies in Bangladesh, as well as the research field in the perspectives of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The broad objective of the research was to investigate the influence of social media on online shopping behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic in the context of Bangladeshi consumers. Specific objectives are: to assess the behavior pattern of consumers towards online platforms; to explore the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on buying behavior; and to study the effect of live streaming, celebrity endorsements, promotional tools, and online reviews on the online shopping behavior of consumers during the coronavirus pandemic in the context of Bangladesh.

The theory behind the study and the terminology and propositions that will be used to achieve the research objective will be explained. Furthermore, the interrelated association of dependent and independent variables will also be deliberated upon following past studies. The key research questions of the study are stated as follows: Is there any significant relationship between live streaming and online shopping behavior?; How is celebrity endorsement relevant to online shopping behavior?; How are promotional tools relevant to online shopping behavior?; and what are the relationships between online reviews and online shopping behavior?

The research paper is allocated into several sections. Initially, the literature review is provided based on a past study. Secondly, the conceptual model and hypotheses developed have been demonstrated. Thirdly, research methodologies that are applied to the current research are described. Fourthly, the paper is presented with the results and interpretations. Fifthly, the discussions, conclusion, and implications sections incorporate the consequences of the present research and its linkups with the previous studies. At the end of the segment, the shortcomings and potential directions of the research are stated.

2. Literature review

2.1. theoretical background, 2.1.1. social influential theory.

According to Kelman (1958) , SIT (Social Influential Theory) is defined as individuals' beliefs, attitudes, and consequent activities or manners that are impacted on other people over three procedures: compliance, identification, and internalization. Persuasion is expected to happen when people receive influence and accept the persuaded conduct to increase rewards and evade punishments. Hence, satisfaction resulting from compliance is because of the social effect of acquiescent influence. Identification might be said to occur when individuals embrace persuasion with the purpose of making or sustaining a preferred and useful connection to other people or a group. Internalization is expected to happen when individuals receive influence and later observe that the gratified of the persuaded performance is pleasing in which the content designates the attitudes as well as actions of others. Influencers perform their functions as a third party who can meaningfully form the company's purchasers' opinions, choices, and actions. Any person can be an influencer by influencing customers to purchase goods and services within a community ( Gillin, 2007 ). Information transferred from one person to another person influences customers through word of mouth. Celebrity people's behavior influences customers through talking about the company ( Sernovitz et al., 2012 ).

2.1.2. Information processing theory

How people collect, illustrate, and use information to make decisions is the main concept of Human Information Processing Theory ( Newell and Simon, 1958 ; Norman, 1968 ; Reitman, 1965 ). Information process theory conceptualizes how individuals take care of ecological occasions, encode data to be learned, relate it to what they know, store new information in their memory, and retrieve it depending on the situation ( Shuell, 1986 ), cited in Schunk (2012) . Researchers have shown that buyers' decisions are formed by the manner in which humans' process information ( Huber and Seiser, 2001 ). In this study, online shopping behavior also depends on the buyer's decision. Information is one of the most important things that influences the consumer's purchasing pattern. When consumers gather or collect information from online reviews and celebrity endorsements, they will be motivated to purchase the products or services.

2.1.3. Social exchange theory

SET was developed initially to investigate human behavior ( Homans, 1958 ) and was later applied to comprehend hierarchical behavior ( Blau, 1964 ; Emerson, 1962 ). The Social Exchange Theory states that individuals and organizations are assisted to maximize their rewards and limit their expenses ( Salam et al., 1998 ). Individuals regularly anticipate proportional advantages, like individual warmth, trust, appreciation, and monetary return, at the point when they act as indicated by social norms. Accordingly, relational cooperation from a money-saving perspective is an exchange where actors obtain benefits. From a cost-benefit perspective, they communicate individually, which aids in exchange where the actor gains an opportunity ( Blau, 1964 ). In the present day, SET has been adopted in social networking research. So, this theory is suitable for this study because it depends on online shopping behavior. Based on psychology, SET accepts the fundamental ideas of modern economics as a foundation for analyzing human behavior and connections in order to determine the complexity of social structures. At the time of promoting, companies require a cost to get a customer's attractions in order to retain the customer. Hence, if the research is used promotional tools more, such as advertising, personal selling, and sales promotion, as a result, it's possible to get customer attention whenever they are motivated or influenced, at which time they will purchase goods and services online. Promotional tools and live streaming are both related to human behavior and easily affect online shopping behavior.

2.2. Live streaming

The coronavirus pandemic calamity knocked out the world and affected all sides of our lives, including customers' preferences, habits, and shopping behaviors. During the corona pandemic times, e-shops were stimulated on social media ( Ali et al., 2021 ). Day by day, live streaming has been popular. Numerous merchants on social commerce display places have embraced it because of its ability to increase their company's sales performance. Live streaming shopping is a new form of social commerce that has already been developed and implemented by social commerce merchants ( Adoeng et al., 2019 ; Taobangdan and Taobao, 2019 ). The live presentation helps a businessman influence the online customer to purchase products. Live streaming has transformed the out-of-date social business model in different ways. In outdated online shopping, customers can only know about goods and services via text and pictures. Otherwise, live streaming allows online sellers to show real-time videos of the products and also let customers know about the product's overall features and quality ( Wongkitrungrueng and Assarut, 2018 ). In traditional social commerce, shoppers could only ask about product-related topics, but in modern times, consumers can ask the question via screen and streamers can give the answer in real-time ( Wongkitrungrueng and Assarut, 2018 ). Live streaming shopping creates a real-time stream between sellers and buyers. Online shoppers can watch the live presentations of products that influence customers to purchase that product. Customers' any confusion about products can be reduced through visual presentations of products ( Chen et al., 2017 ; Kim and Park, 2013 ; Zhou et al., 2018 ). The increasing popularity of visual presentations highly influences customers to buy the products ( Yu et al., 2018 ). While customers' engagement with live presentations of products is positively impacted on customer minds about products, it is also a stimulus to shop for those products ( Wongkitrungrueng and Assarut, 2018 ). Despite the fact that buyer commitment has been identified as a significant antecedent persuading purchaser buying in online spending ( Prentice et al., 2019 ), only a few studies have measured the previous circumstances and outcomes of purchaser assignation according to live streaming shop. Live streaming broadcasting makes use of one or more pieces of equipment that can instantly show images and sounds to other locations, allowing users to observe their existence ( Chen and Lin, 2018 ). Live streaming shopping is a new social media form with a high HCI that raises customer awareness of products. Preceding live-streaming lessons have chiefly concentrated on video games and e-sports ( Cheung and Huang, 2011 ; Sjoblom and Hamari, 2017 ). Many customers increase their capacity to buy through live streaming shopping by gaining new perspectives and asking pertinent questions ( Lu et al., 2018 ). Live streaming can show images as well as sounds from one place to a different place instantly ( Chen and Lin, 2018 ). Live streaming purchasing is an extremely noticeable form of merchandise demonstration through online videos. When customers make purchase decisions, they need clear information about products and also want to see the products visibly through the live presentation. It gives the clients an intellect of engagement. Besides, the richness of live streaming spending makes it stress-free to fascinate buyers. Consequently, consumers observe immersion ( Yim et al., 2017 ). Besides, live presentations can communicate complete videos to consumers, as well as the sellers can show how to use the merchandise through live streaming, which permits the product to be visualized ( Li, 2019 ; Javadi et al., 2012 ). In live presentations, sellers and customers interact with each other through live streaming, and customers watch the seller's voice, movement, and product features. So, customers know that the sellers are real people because of the live presentation via social media. Live streaming allows companies to broadcast their products' different items via live presentations. Furthermore, live presentations can prompt captivation, which can lead to a logic of immersion ( Shin, 2017 ). Online shopping and e-commerce have developed an innovative and lucrative business model. Here, buyers and sellers are both connected with live presentations, with buyers asking product-related questions to sellers and also watching the product and product features ( Attfield et al., 2011 ). Visual presentation shopping is being subjected to extraordinary growth. On the other hand, interest in the live-stream market is in its embryonic stage. Different celebrities talk about products and motivate them through live presentations ( Ma, 2021 ). Day by day, with the increase of online shopping, many companies provide live help or visual presentations through test chatting, instant messaging, and live product presentations. Businesses and customers can conduct real-time human-to-human communications for e-commerce Web sites ( Qiu and Benbasat, 2005 ). E-retailers are taking on innovative arithmetic advertising tactics to deliver more accurate information to their consumers. In real-time business, live video streaming allows sellers and consumers to interact ( Zhang et al., 2019 ). Nowadays, consumers have become familiar with visual presentations and product features online and have finally purchased those products that they like. Consumers are motivated to purchase products through live presentations ( Yin, 2020 ).

2.3. Celebrity endorsement

There are many social media platforms, for instance, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, and Instagram. Day by day, social media continues to rise speedily in popularity. Celebrity people are using different social media platforms and distributing different information about products to customers. The celebrity of Instagram is influencing consumers' online purchasing behaviors ( Gupta et al., 2020 ). Through social media, online information sharing in the communal sphere has not only promoted the customers' buying choices. Celebrity people provide information about goods and services to actual and potential customers ( Lee et al., 2008 ; Ashfaq and Ali, 2017 ). Along with the diverse investigators, the practice of celebrity endorsements supports in structure the products' identification as well as generates optimistic insolence ( Petty et al., 1983 ), improves the prospect of buying ( Friedman and Friedman, 1979 ), nurtures trademark trustworthiness, and completely influences positive word of mouth ( Bush et al., 2004 ). Celebrity endorsements have a significant impact on consumers' purchase decisions ( Ohanian, 1990 ). In the same way, Instagram celebrity has a momentous impact on consumers' online shopping behaviors ( Kutthakaphan and Chokesamritpol, 2013 ). Most celebrities have a more positive impact on consumers' minds about the products than less credible celebrities. Credible celebrity people influence consumers' online shopping behavior ( Aziz et al., 2013 ). Celebrity people created a brand different from another one because consumers can easily select their preferred products. Through social media advertisements ( Meng et al., 2020 ). celebrity endorsements have an effect on customers' buying behavior. Celebrity images might have an effect on positive and negative consumer attitudes. A celebrity's usefulness depends on their trustworthiness and credibility in an online advertisement. A celebrity's good image can have a positive effect on product acceptance ( Ibok, 2013 ). A celebrity can easily motivate consumers towards purchasing products because people believe infamous people. Through social media, a famous personality created awareness about products with customers. They can positively influence customers' opinions of the brand ( Rai and Sharma, 2013 ). Celebrity endorsement is one kind of promotional activity that attracts customers to specific products. Different companies use different celebrities to promote the awareness of their products to customers, and customers might be motivated to purchase those products. Customers purchased products based on the credibility of celebrities ( Khatri, 2006 ). The influence of superstars' post-legitimacy, observational learning, sentimentality polarization, and impulse purchasing propensity reins in the dormant state-trait theory. Security is influencing consumers' online shopping behavior through social media ( Zafar et al., 2021a ). Normally, followers consider that celebrity posts are authentic; that's why they easily influence consumers to make online purchases ( Wilcox and Stephen, 2013 ). On social media, celebrities share their opinions and advertisements that highly stimulate potential buyers to purchase products ( Chung and Cho, 2017 ; Xiang et al., 2016 ). Celebrity advertisements have so many advantages and disadvantages. Celebrity advertisements can be used to achieve a company's competitive advantage ( Han and Yazdanifard, 2015 ). With regard to a celebrity's values, occupation, ethnicity, and other characteristics, the customer ought to never be curious about why this star is certifying the merchandise ( Meng et al., 2021 ; Gan and Wang, 2015 ). Generally, the research should be focused on celebrities' groups or pages where customers are replaying or commenting on celebrities' posts as well as their peers' social communication. Some celebrities have a large number of followers; they maintain an online community. Business organizations give priority to social media celebrities in their marketing strategy to motivate online shopping behavior ( Pemberton, 2017 ). Consumers follow the celebrity's posts and pursue their lifestyle, with clothing, makeup, fashion, the destination of holidays, even restaurant choice. Organizations try to use such celebrities for effective social media marketing promotions ( Hennig-Thurau et al., 2013 ; Kumar and Mirchandani, 2013 ). Celebrity followers always enquire for recommendations from business organizations. Celebrities' any business-related posts that stimulate consumers' online purchasing behavior ( Wilcox and Stephen, 2013 ).

2.4. Promotional tools

Technological changes are occurring in eye flashes and values are changing over time. Customers' buying habits change rapidly, and the fortunes of different companies vary. Online marketing has been seen as a new form of marketing and has given companies new opportunities to do business. According to Dehkordi et al. (2012) , e-commerce and e-marketing show that internet marketing is easier than conventional marketing ( Dehkordi et al., 2012 ). Leena Jeenefa noted that there are several notable relationships between purchasing behavior and the effects of media advertising ( Jenefa, 2017 ). Reza Jalilvand and Samiei (2012) evaluates how advertisers use social media to make their products popular. The reason for the promotional price promotion is that the consumer does not have the rational mindset to think about whether it is worth buying more at that moment, and this also increases online purchasing behavior ( Agyeman-Darbu, 2017 ). Some social media stated that if consumers buy two, they will get one free, and this also leads to the consumer having a strong positive feeling. Ibok (2013) found that young people feel more comfortable when choosing and buying products online than in physical shopping options. Social media helps them save time and effort examining product information. Privacy, trust, and protection play an important role in social media networking sites. Online advertising businesses use electronic marketing tools to create marketing strategies, advertising theories, and customer buying behavior due to potential market segmentation. According to Eyre et al. (2020) , online advertising includes contextual ads on examining banner ads, rich media ads, social network advertising, online classified advertising, and marketing email like spam. Advertising is defined as the definition of any personal meaning related to product ideas and information in the media to create a brand image ( Kotler and Amstrong, 2010 ). For many years, television, radio, newspapers, and magazines were the only means and channels of advertising, but nowadays, online advertising is becoming the main driving force in many advertising initiatives and efforts ( Kotler and Amstrong, 2010 ). Content is one of the most important features of e-advertisement. It delivers written information regarding particular products or services to online users. Customers are rapidly adopting online shopping day by day due to a busy lifestyle. Undoubtedly, as a developing country, Bangladesh has a lot of potential customers for online businesses. Bangladesh is one of the countries that uses social media the most. It is important to know what causes online buying behavior on social media.

2.5. Online reviews

Purchase intention can be used to measure the possibility of a consumer buying a certain product. When deciding to buy a product, most customers are influenced by comments and ratings from online reviews, and they take a positive or negative view of the product. Social media enabled through mobile devices can be accessed everywhere, instead of not only increasing access to information but also allowing people to create content and strengthen their voices around the world ( Labrecque et al., 2013 ). Social media is playing a crucial role in sharing opinions and product knowledge with consumers and, as a result, having an impact on other consumers ( Lim et al., 2016 ). According to Zhang et al. (2019) , the availability of online reviews plays an important role in online shopping behavior compared to other things. The availability of online reviews refers to the large number of online reviews that are sufficiently available online for the consumer's decision-making process ( Zhang and Zhu, 2010 ). Social media users have realized that a good number of online reviews point to online shopping behavior among customers. Good online shops create an opportunity to search for any product ( Zhang and Zhu, 2010 ). Furthermore, the availability of online reviews makes online shopping appreciate the quality and motivates the customer to try it for the first time ( Cui et al., 2010 ). A good number of customer reviews will have a positive impact on other users on social media, and it can be effective for the online shopping industry to increase sales volume through social media reviews ( Geetha et al., 2018 ). In addition, many researchers have found that a large number of online reviews can influence a potential customer when they choose a product through social media. Significantly, if consumers respond positively to a good number on social media sites, they are more likely to choose their favorite product than cheap ones ( Geng et al., 2020 ). For example, the availability of online reviews on social media should create an opportunity to try a new product, and potential customers may be the priority in their selection criteria ( Geetha et al., 2018 ). Numerous empirical studies across different industries have already investigated the influence of the number of review attributes from a variety of perspectives. For example, the number of reviews ( Dellarocas et al., 2007 ; Ghose and Ipeirotis, 2010 ), the response to negative reviews for online product management ( Kim et al., 2015 ), the positive online product reviews ( Ye et al., 2009 ), and the overall valence of a set of reviews of a product ( Spark & Browning, 2011 ). Consumers consider the internet as a tool to obtain information as a part of the decision-making process before purchasing products. The number of online reviews needs to have a positive impact on potential customers of unfamiliar products ( Zhang and Zhu, 2010 ). As a result, the brand availability of online-spread products increases because customers share their experiences on social media pages. A product review site assesses consumers on their own and how they feel about product quality, service systems, and their overall environment. For this reason, the behavioral motive of the customer should change when they decide to choose a product from the review site ( Gan and Wang, 2015 ). An online review is similar to a traditional face-to-face communication messenger. It is considered a new form of recommendation ( Helm et al., 2010 ). Zhang and Zhu (2010) indicate that the reviews' perceptual information and reasoning power are an important determinant of customer behavioral will, although the source is not credible. So online review materials still play an important role in consumer decision-making because good reviews from one customer can lead to another customer purchasing the product. Additionally, many prior studies have examined whether the availability of online reviews has a significant influence on consumers' product selection when they search for other reviews on social media ( Zhang et al., 2019 ; Cui et al., 2010 ). It has also been noted that the availability of online reviews has been verified as an effective tool for conducting research questions on consumer product selection ( Zhang et al., 2019 ).

2.6. Online shopping behavior

Businesses turned to alternatives and took up online marketing because of COVID-19 pandemic. Online marketing is a significant method for streamlining business processes, reducing managerial costs and turnaround time, maintaining social distance, staying at home, protecting against viruses, and illuminating associations with customers and business partners ( Hossain, et al., 2022 ; Hossain and Khan, 2018 ). At present, online shopping is becoming more popular all over the world, especially for retailers and customers. Online shopping creates opportunities for both online retailers and customers ( Kuester and Sabine, 2012 ; Hossain et al., 2018b ). Customer research has shown that customer assessments dispatched online and the allotment of information or particular views have become enormously influential means of communication. Online reviews have taken over business organizations through social media (Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter, and Instagram) ( Doh and Hwang, 2009 ; Lee et al., 2011a ; Jalilvand and Samiei, 2012 ; Huete-Alcocer, 2017 ). Different types of online reviews have improved the customers' internet shopping performance. Satisfied customers are giving online reviews through social media that influence other consumers' online shopping ( Fu et al., 2020 ). Nowadays, several customers are purchasing social media. Many business organizations have opted to take advantage of opportunities obtainable through social media networks to gain more consumers ( Kaplan and Haenlein, 2014 ). Live streaming stimuli motivate consumer cognitive states that influence consumer online shopping behavior ( Xu et al., 2020 ). The business organization has promoted social media advertising to attract online shoppers to purchase products online ( Mumtaz et al., 2011 ). Targeted advertising by businesses on social media (Facebook, Instagram, and so on). Business organizations know about customers' choices, preferences, and information through social media. They are doing e-advertising based on customers' preferable products and are influencing customers to purchase those products. An organization is able to run different advertising for different categories of customers, and an organization can set their target price ( Iyer et al., 2005 ). Companies can transfer information about products through online advertising. Consumers can visually watch their preferred products via advertising. Entrepreneurs use celebrity endorsements to promote their company's products, and it is increasing consumer purchase intentions. Consumers purchase products online and the created appeal of a statement by a celebrity might influence a customer's product image ( Wang et al., 2013 ).

This research has been prepared during COVID-19. In the research has applied three types of theories, such as social influence theory, information processing theory, and social exchange theory. In previous research, researchers have used online reviews as well as celebrity endorsements as factors under both social influence theory and information processing theory. For the first time at COVID-19, the research has applied these factors under the social influence theory and information processing theory, which have never been used before. The research paper has used social exchange theory. This theory identifies that promotional tools influence customers to buy their necessary goods and services through online shopping. The previous researchers didn't show social media impacts on online shopping behavior during COVID-19. The research has applied those factors during the COVID-19 time period, which made research paper unique from previous research. During COVID-19, The research was used technical tools that had never been applied to that type of theory before. The research paper has analyzed by SmartPLS version 3.0 and used a structural equation model..

3. Conceptual model and hypotheses development

According to Zhang et al. (2019) , by reducing psychological distance and perceived uncertainty, a live streaming strategy can improve a customer's online purchase intention. Chandrruangphen et al. (2022) find out vendors to concentrate on significant live streaming attributes to develop trust with their clients and increase their customers' intentions to watch and buy. The literature and researcher findings suggest that offering live presentations enables sellers to introduce items in a novel way, which might improve customers' moods and sentiments towards the product. So, customers should feel more confidence in the seller and his/her items because of live streaming. Thus, it is expected that:

Hypothesis 1 (H1) : Live streaming has a significant impact on online shopping behavior.

Park and Lin (2020) develop and test an integrative model of online celebrity endorsement by exploring compatibility impacts on customers. Meng et al. (2021) find that the feelings of audiences towards online celebrities can influence a buyer's willingness to buy products suggested by the online superstar. The literature and researcher findings suggest that celebrity endorsements represent attractiveness, believability, and celebrity-product compatibility, which have positive effects on a buyer's attitude towards products and brands as well as purchase intention. As a result, celebrity endorsement may increase users' desire to purchase any product. Therefore, it is expected that:

Hypothesis 2 (H2) : Celebrity endorsement has a positive influence on online shopping behavior.

Ashraf et al. (2014) found that sales promotion played a more significant role in the development of consumer buying behavior. Yahya et al. (2019) and Shamout (2016) revealed in their study that coupons, discounts, free delivery, and other promotional tools have a positive impact on consumer buying decisions. The literature and researcher findings suggest that sales promotion has a huge impact on consumer buying behavior, such as purchase time, product brand, product quantity, brand switching, and so on. Again, sales promotion can be used by marketers to create a long-term customer relationship, which can help them increase their sales. Based on the previous discussion, it is expected that promotional tools will have a positive relationship with purchase intention ( Siddique and Hossain, 2018 ). Thus, it is expected that:

Hypothesis 3 (H3) : Promotional tools have a positive influence on online shopping behavior.

According to Nuseir (2019) and Ventre and Kolbe (2020) , organizations should seek to increase customers' sharing of their positive online opinions in order to improve attachment and encourage online shopping. When the reviews contain detailed information about the product, consumers deem online reviews to be more credible ( Jimenez and Mendoza, 2013 ). The literature and researcher findings suggest that consumer opinion and peer reviews are among the top factors to consider for online shopping behavior. Thus, online sentimental reviews grab more attention from consumers and affect them positively when purchasing products. Therefore, it is expected that:

: Online reviews have a significant impact on online shopping behavior.

In this study, four independent variables (live streaming celebrity endorsements, promotional tools, and online reviews) and one dependent variable (online shopping behavior) have been recognized. Based on the previous literature and discussions, the conceptual framework ( Figure 1 ).

Research model.

4. Research methods

4.1. research design.

The research design was applied when the collection of data and analysis of data processed by combining them were used in the research ( Jahoda et al., 1951 ). This study is based on the quantitative survey method, with data collected using a structural questionnaire. To test the hypothesis, the study was conducted based on an online convenience and judgmental sampling survey. This study applied a descriptive study and collected respondents' attitudes and behaviors about social media's impact on online shopping behavior.

4.2. Methods of research data collection

The study collected data from respondents in written form. The study confirmed that informed consent was obtained from all participants for our research paper. The research paper applied primary and secondary data to prepare the study and make it more presentable. Primary data was collected via a survey and developed questionnaire. Business market research might use a questionnaire technique to collect consumer and customer opinions ( Wang and Feng, 2012 ). Online surveys are used to learn about the impact of social media on internet shopping behavior. Primary data was collected from respondents by developing a Google form and sharing that form with other respondents via Facebook, WhatsApp, e-mail, and so on. In particular, the questionnaire was developed for those people who connected with social media like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube, WhatsApp, and so on.

This research paper also used secondary data that was collected from different articles, books, and newspapers. The research was collected secondary data by penetrating electronic databases, including Research Gate, Google Scholars, and Emerald Insight. The research was collected secondary data by searching top journals like the Journal of Marketing Analytics, the Journal of Business Research, the Journal of Consumer Research, and so on.

4.3. Method of sampling

4.3.1. sampling unit.

People who have the equivalent attitudes and behavior in the direction of an entire group of people ( Sekaran and Bougie, 2016 ). These people use social media and their age is above 15 years old. They are considered the population of this study. So, the population is unfamiliar with this research paper. For this research paper, there is no earmarked sampling unit among the total population. In this study, the population is considered students, managerial-level people, businessmen, and teachers.

4.3.2. Sampling technique

Respondents for this study were chosen using an online purposive sampling technique and non-probability sampling methods. This research data was collected during the corona pandemic. The researcher collected data by distributing the questionnaire through Google Form Link and sharing this link with different convenient people. Non-probability sampling has been used because it is less time-consuming and less costly to prepare a sampling frame. Among the numerous ways of non-probability sampling, purposive sampling technique has been used because they are cheerfully available, generate a relatively low cost, and are convenient.

4.3.3. Sample size

The purposive sampling method is applied to collect (N = 350) respondents' opinions through a developed questionnaire. The sample (N = 350) was collected from the Dhaka, Sylhet, Khulna, and Chattogram divisions among eight divisions of Bangladesh.

4.4. Measurement scale of dependent and independent variable

The study used the Likert Scale (5 ratings). The Likert Scale is used for individual responses and measures the dependent variable and independent variable about the impact of social media on online shopping behavior during the coronavirus pandemic. The Likert Scale has five stages, and each statement in the form was measured by 1 = strongly disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = neutral, 4 = agree, 5 = strongly agree.

4.4.1. Measurement instruments

As illustrated in Table 1 , the study used four constructs of social media to examine online shopping behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic. Live streaming factors include social sharing, hedonic consumption, cognitive assimilation, and impulsive consumption. The celebrity endorsement factor includes the number of shares, authenticity, positive sentiments, and recognizable celebrity. Promotional tools factor includes price discount, sales promotion, buy one get one, surroundings influence. Online review factors include the reviewer's reputation, the review's reliability, good customer rating, and argument quality.

Table 1

Origin of constructs and measured variables.

4.5. Data analysis

The smartPLS software version 3.0 was applied to examine the data collected via questionnaire. The conceptual model of the study was verified using structural equation modeling (SEM). For sample distribution, percentile measures and frequency distribution were primarily used in this study. The study's descriptive statistics were tested using mean as well as standard deviation measures. Collinearity statistics were used to test for multicollinearity among the independent variables. Besides, the reliability of the data or scale items was ascertained using Cronbach's alpha coefficients and composite reliability (CR). Discriminant validity was also used to test the Fornell-Larcker Criterion and the Heterotrait-Monotrait ratio (HTMT) among the independent and dependent variables.

4.6. Quality of data assurance

Enumerators and overseers were knowledgeable about this research objective, scale, data collection technique, and questionnaire. On a daily basis, the data collected is appropriately administered by superintendents and the data comprehensiveness and reliability are tested before the data is input to SmartPLS version 3.0 for more treatment as well as analysis.

5. Results and interpretations

5.1. descriptive analysis.

The study used mean and standard deviation scores to explore all of the aspects. The constructs were ranked in accordance with their enumerated mean standards. As shown in Table 2 , online reviews had the highest mean score (M = 4.1164), while celebrity endorsements had the lowest mean score (M = 3.4829). Most of the factors produced medium mean scores. Therefore, the factor mean scores recommend that among all perspectives, there be no higher variation.

Table 2

Descriptive statistics analysis.

5.2. Multicollinearity test

The study used a multicollinearity test to measure the independent variables that were highly correlated among themselves. The estimated path coefficients were affected by the predictor constructs of collinearity. Tolerance values below 0.10 and variance inflation facet values above 5 specify the existence of inter predictor constructs' collinearity ( Hair et al., 2019 ). As illustrated in Table 3 , all tolerance and VIF values have an acceptable range in collinearity statistics. So, it was recommended that multicollinearity wouldn't affect the independent variable's capability to take to mean the outcome variable.

Table 3

Multicollinearity test.

5.3. Measurement model analysis (outer model)

Hair et al. (2019) define "the measurement model as a constituent of a theoretical path model that holds the pointers and their associations with the factors; also called the outer model in PLS-SEM." In this study, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) is applied to square in the event the variables are loaded on their relevant constructs ( Hair et al., 2019 ). In this study, SmartPLS software version 3.0 was applied to conduct structural equation modelling ( Ringle et al., 2015 ).

5.3.1. Unidimensionality

In the present constructs, the unidimensionality component designates that every measurement item has a satisfactory equal factor loading according to the corresponding latent construct. Hair et al. (2019) claim that each factor has a measurement variable with a least factor loading of 0.70. According to Table 4 , online reviews (OR1) and online shopping behavior (OSB6) have factor loadings of 0.674 and 0.663, respectively. However, OR1 and OSB6 factor loading values are close to 0.70. So, the research can be recommended that the unidimensionality measurement model has been recognized.

Table 4

Measurement model summary.

5.3.2. Construct reliability tests

The researcher used Cronbach's alpha and composite reliability (CR) to test the internal consistency. The recommended values of composite reliability (CR) and Cronbach's alpha are equal to or greater than 0.70, which is considered satisfactory to good for research ( Hair et al., 2019 ). As illustrated in Table 4 , all of the CR and Cronbach's alpha values have a satisfactory level. So, the researcher recommended that the constructs be reliable for further research.

5.3.3. Convergent validity tests

The average variance extracted (AVE) is 0.50 or greater than 0.50, assuring the convergent validity of the latent constructs ( Hair et al., 2019 ). As illustrated in Table 4 , all the average variance extracted (AVE) values are greater than 0.50 in this study because of the appropriateness of the constructs for further research.

5.3.4. Discriminant validity tests

Discriminant validity implies that each construct is empirically distinct from the other cross-loading that exists among the latent constructs. The correlation coefficients and square root of average variance extracted (AVE) among the constructs are associated to create discriminant validity ( Hair et al., 2019 ). According to Table 5 , the diagonal numbers are higher than the inter-construct resemblances presented off-diagonally. However, the discriminant's legitimacy is gained for the research constructs.

Table 5

Discriminant validity: Fornell-Larcker Criterion.

5.4. Measurement model analysis (Inner model)

The study measurement model recommended that all the measurement models be valid, then analyze the structural model relationship ( Hair et al., 2019 ). The researcher makes an assessment which one accepts and rejects via significant and insignificant relationships that can be identified by structural model analysis. Besides, the researchers used a bootstrapping procedure with a subsample of 500 to assess the size of the path coefficients ( Ringle et al., 2015 ).

Figure 2. Structural model.

The structural model analysis includes the paths, path coefficients, t values, p values, and path coefficient results. A two-tailed t-test with a level of significance of 5% was used to test the hypotheses that had been developed. The coefficients are statistically significant if the measured t-value is greater than the critical value of 1.96. According to Table 6 and Figure 2 , the path coefficients of three latent constructs, including celebrity endorsement, promotional tools, and online reviews, had a positive and significant association with online shopping behavior at p < 0.05. Here, the researchers mention that hypotheses H2, H3, and H4 are accepted. However, hypothesis H1 has no significant and positive relationship with online shopping behavior. Accordingly, H1 live streaming was rejected. According to Table 6 and Figure 2 , the celebrity endorsement perspective's highest path coefficient (β2 = 0.452) specifies that if celebrity endorsement were to grow by one standard deviation unit, online shopping behavior could increase by 0.452 standard deviation units if all other independent perspectives continued constant.

Table 6

Structural model estimates.

Note: p∗< 0.05, based on the two-tailed test; t = 1.96.

6. Discussions

In the Bangladeshi setting, the research aimed at understanding the impact of social media on online shopping behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic. It has been found that most researchers explored the influence of social media on purchase intention, behavioral intention, satisfaction, purchase decision, and loyalty ( Hossain et al., 2020 ; Gupta et al., 2020 ; Fu et al., 2020 ; Zhou et al., 2018 ; Jenefa, 2017 ). However, there was less focus and thus fewer studies into the impact of social media on online shopping behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic in the context of Bangladeshi consumers.

According to the findings of the above analysis, three social media factors out of four had a significant and positive impact on online shopping behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic from the perspective of Bangladeshi consumers. Besides, the rest of the factors of social media have no significant positive relationship with the online shopping behavior of consumers during the COVID-19 pandemic in the country. The celebrity endorsement factor (β2 = 0.452, t = 10.233), promotional tools factor (β3 = 0.215, t = 3.809), and online reviews factor (β4 = 0.207, t = 4.901) are significantly and positively related to the online shopping behavior of Bangladeshi consumers during the COVID-19 pandemic at p < 0.05.

From the above findings, the study found that those three independent variables, like celebrity endorsements, promotional tools, and online reviews, have a significant positive relationship with the dependent variable, online shopping behavior. Based on the analysis, the researcher found that the independent variable live streaming has no significant positive relationship with the dependent variable online shopping behavior. Here, the live streaming was not supported at a significant value of 0.380, which is higher than the p value of 0.05. The study recommended that live streaming has no significant positive relationship with online shopping behavior. Based on the research, celebrity endorsement's significant value was notated at 0.000, which is lower than the p-value of 0.05. This indicates that celebrity endorsement has a significant positive relationship with consumers' online shopping behavior. Xiang et al. (2016) ; Zafar et al., 2021a ; and Ahmed et al. (2015) , also supported that celebrity endorsement has a positive impact on consumers' online shopping behavior. Based on the analysis, the researchers found that promotional tools have a positive connection with consumers' online shopping behavior. Here, the significant value of 0.00 is lower than the p-value of 0.05. Based on the study, online reviews were significant at a significant value of 0.00, which is smaller than the p-value of 0.05. This suggests that online reviews have a significant positive relationship with customers' online shopping behavior. According to Zhang and Zhu (2010) ; Fu et al. (2020) , also supported that online reviews have a strong relationship with customers' online shopping behavior.

7. Conclusion and implications

During the COVID-19 pandemic, customers are purchasing their necessary products through an online platform. Customers are learning about new products being launched in the market through social media. Customers are safely purchasing their products through online shopping behavior during the corona pandemic. The study has been conducted with the objective of exploring the impact of social media on online shopping behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic from the perspective of Bangladeshi consumers. Different aspects of social media are important tools to guide consumers' online shopping behavior during the coronavirus pandemic in Bangladesh. This research studies the influence of live streaming, celebrity endorsements, promotional tools, and online reviews on consumers’ online shopping behavior during the coronavirus pandemic in the context of Bangladesh. The results of the research has revealed that celebrity endorsement, promotional tools, and online reviews had a positive significant impact on online shopping behavior in the perspectives of Bangladesh. In contrast, live streaming had no significant positive relationship with the online shopping behavior of consumers during the COVID-19 pandemic. The research paper provides practical guidelines for online-based business organizations on how to effectively use social media platforms for business target advertising and promotional activities. Customers are also motivated to purchase through social media because of positive online reviews and trustworthy celebrity endorsements.

7.1. Theoretical implications

Day by day, people are becoming more accustomed to online shopping during the corona pandemic. Most people have connected with social media like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube, WhatsApp, and so on. Social media has a positive impact on online shopping behavior. Customers are watching different advertisements via social media, and they are motivating consumers to shop online. The study has proven that celebrity endorsements, promotional tools, and online shopping have a significant positive impact on online shopping behavior. In the meantime, with the development of social media, the influences on online shopping are increasing. During the coronavirus pandemic, social media-based marketing has also attracted the attention of enterprises. However, there has recently been little research studying the relationship between social media and online shopping behavior. To compensate for the gap, this research has been based on the impact of social media on online shopping behavior. Live streaming has no significant relationship with online shopping during the COVID-19 pandemic. On the other hand, celebrity endorsement has a significant positive connection with online shopping behavior. Besides, promotional tools and online reviews have a positive impact on online shopping behavior during the corona pandemic. Business organizations are highly focused on social media-based promotional activities. Consumers have adjusted their online shopping behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic.

7.2. Practical implications

Introducing celebrity endorsements, promotional tools, and online reviews of social media constructs have a positive connection with online shopping behavior during a COVID-19 pandemic. The research paper yields several practical suggestions for social commerce sellers and e-commerce-based organizations. First, the research results illustrated that celebrity endorsements have a positive relationship with customers' online shopping behavior, which includes attractive celebrities, celebrities, and recognizable celebrities. Hence, social commerce sellers who have not until now accepted celebrity endorsements for promotion should adopt celebrity endorsements that help increase the consumer's online shopping behavior. When famous or attractive celebrities talk about products and live streaming products, then customers are stimulated to purchase those products through the online market. Celebrity endorsers should have clear knowledge about product features before motivating them to purchase those products via online shopping.

Second, the research results showed that promotional tools constructed by social media have a significant positive connection with online shopping behavior. E-commerce sellers should promote promotional activities to increase the sales volume of online shopping. Besides, they should have used re-targeting advertising via social media to enhance online shopping behavior.

Third, the study also found that online reviews have a significant positive relationship with online shopping behavior during the corona pandemic. Potential customers' positive reviews or good ratings influence potential customers’ online shopping behavior. To connect with current and potential customers, e-commerce business sellers should have Facebook pages, Twitter accounts, Instagram accounts, and so on. The social media seller requests that customers give reviews about their product features, price, and quality via social media. Actual customers' positive reviews are highly motivated by other actual and potential customers' purchases through an online business.

8. Limitations and future research

In the study, the main objective was to investigate the major influencing factors that impact consumers' online shopping behavior during COVID-19 outbreaks. The research paper has several limitations. For instance, in the literature, there are several antecedents of the impact of social media on online shopping behavior, but in this study, the researchers only used four antecedents, like live streaming, celebrity endorsement, promotional tools, and online reviews. Future research should add more antecedents in their research paper with four antecedents. Second, this study used an online purposive sampling technique to investigate the impact of social media on consumers' online shopping behavior. The research will be recommended that for future research, they should use experimental methods to measure customers’ online buying behavior through social media. Third, due to the COVID-19 pandemic outbreaks, data was collected from respondents through an online survey using a self-administered questionnaire. For that reason, in some cases, it was not possible to know more properly about the respondents. Field-level surveys and face-to-face interview methods should be used to collect data for further research to address the problem of false information and data. Fourth, current research is based on quantitative information but may differ in results when applying qualitative information. Future research should apply a combination of quantitative and qualitative data analysis.

Declarations

Author contribution statement.

Md Rukon Miah: Conceived and designed the experiments; Performed the experiments; Contributed reagents, materials, analysis tools or data; Wrote the paper.

Afzal Hossain: Conceived and designed the experiments; Analyzed and interpreted the data; Contributed reagents, materials, analysis tools or data; Wrote the paper; and Corrected proof.

Rony Shikder: Performed the experiments; Contributed reagents, materials, analysis tools or data; Wrote the paper.

Tama Saha: Performed the experiments; Contributed reagents, materials, analysis tools or data; Wrote the paper.

Meher Neger, PhD: Conceived and designed the experiments; Analyzed and interpreted the data; Overall Supervision of the Study.

Funding statement

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Data availability statement

Declaration of interest’s statement.

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Additional information

No additional information is available for this paper.

☆ This article is a part of the "Business and Economics COVID-19 Special Issue.

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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Young users of social media: an analysis from a gender perspective.

• 1 Blanquerna School of Communication and International Relations, Ramon Llull University, Barcelona, Spain
• 2 Faculty of Education and Sport, University of Deusto, Donostia, Spain
• 3 Faculty of Education and Sport, University of Deusto, Bilbao, Spain
• 4 CESAG, Comillas Pontifical University, Mallorca, Spain

One of the major challenges for edu-communication research is to analyze the influence of social media on young and adolescent users. This article examines the evaluation of gender inequalities – real and symbolic – in the consumption of social networks such as YouTube and Instagram among young people. Within the framework of a Research & Development & innovation (R&D + i ) project, it presents a discursive-theoretical analysis of how young users of social media perceive the presence and representation of gender on social media and whether such digital representations can be associated with an empowering gender perspective. This study presents results from 14 focus groups ( N  = 83), composed of students aged 12 to 18, drawn from three Spanish Autonomous Communities (Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and the Basque Country). The results show that gender issues arise in participants’ conversations, especially among female participants, who perceive the importance of physical appearance on platforms such as Instagram and TikTok. Female participants feel more pressure in terms of appearance and dress compared to male participants. Among male participants there are more expressions of self-affirmation and more mentions related to fun and social prestige. Both male and female participants express concern about the impact of that pressure on younger girls. The influence of social media on self-image is more evident among female participants, who make frequent mention of the importance of self-esteem in relation to beauty standards and exposure to idealized body images. Notably, there were no comments by male participants that acknowledge any influence of social media on their self-image. The findings are in line with existing research and taken as a whole gives rise to concern as to the gender disparities observed in the use of social media, which do not constitute a picture of female empowerment. This research underlines the importance of promoting a respectful and equitable environment in relation to gender equality within digital spaces. Thus, this study provides support for the need to develop and implement edu-communicative initiatives to foster critical thinking around the influence of social media in this context and the evaluation of the impact of such initiatives in future research.

1 Introduction

One of the major challenges for research in edu-communication – a term used in the field of Communication ( Orozco, 1997 , 2010 ; Kaplún, 2013 ) and which UNESCO defined in 2002 as teaching and critical learning about the media – and its dissemination to the wider community is to analyze the influence of social media on young users. Prior research has indicated the significant impact of social media on identity development ( Ahn, 2011 ; Valkenburg and Peter, 2011 ; boyd, 2014 ; Baym, 2018 ; van Eldik et al., 2019 ). Social media such as YouTube and Instagram are considered privileged spaces for the construction and (self-)representation of youth identity ( Cover, 2012 ; Thumim and Enli, 2012 ; boyd, 2014 ), and allow for parasocial relationships with influencers ( Rihl and Wegenerpp, 2017 ; Ferchaud et al., 2018 ; Rasmussen, 2018 ), who may act as role models ( Westenberg, 2016 ). As studies in Spain and internationally show, adolescents are now heavy users of social media use, especially YouTube and Instagram ( Ríos Hernández et al., 2022 ; IAB, 2023 ). Here, however, we are concerned with the extent to which this scenario of hyperconnectivity favors or impedes the (co-)responsibility of the new generations for gender equality in the digital media space, as new moral subjects – active audiences ( Ruiz, 2015 ). That responsibility is linked to the concept of participation that we take up here from the perspective of the complexity and ambivalences that its practice requires ( Jenkins and Carpentier, 2013 ), so as to overcome the magical or cosmetic roles often assigned to that have often been attributed to the participatory activity of audiences ( Bergillos, 2019 ).

As is well known, digital platforms are part of the societal and media discourse that constitutes and shapes collective imaginaries, including representations of gender. Since the 1970s, the incorporation of gender into research approaches has highlighted stereotypical representations of men and women ( Bernárdez, 2015 ) that lead people to internalize inequality in ways that even today continue to hinder the development of fairer societies.

Progress toward equality and women’s empowerment has been marked by a number of milestones on a global scale, such as the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995. Within the European Union there has been progress at a political level such as the Charter of Fundamental Rights, the creation of the European Institute for Gender Equality and the issue of the Gender Equality Strategy by the European Commission ( García-Ruiz et al., 2014 ). In fact, gender equality and empowering all women and girls is one of the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals and is integral to every facet of inclusive, sustainable development. As stated by UN Women (2023) , there is an urgent need to identify and eliminate all forms of discrimination against women and girls, in both the public and the private sphere. In Spain, it is a cause for concern that the progress made in bridging the gender gap since 2006 ( IME, 2023 ) will come under threat between 2021 and 2023 ( Statista, 2023 ), at the same time as the country is seeing growing anti-feminism and denial of gender violence among adolescent males ( Boneta-Sádaba et al., 2023 ).

In the digital space, the rise in hate speech aimed at feminist principles or directly against women, has been noted, as shown by different assessments of the internet and social media ( EIU, 2021 ; Tortajada and Vera, 2021 ). Several studies show how users of social media tend to coalesce around highly polarized positions driven by partisan differences in the framing of discourse ( Demszky et al., 2019 ). As Diepeveen (2024 , p. 5) points out, “over the past ten years, online spaces with content that rejects feminism and gender equality and promotes male supremacy – sometimes termed the “manosphere” ( Marwick and Caplan, 2018 ; Kimeu, 2023 ) have become increasingly prevalent.” Some authors ( Medina and Talarn, 2020 , pp. 494–495) observe the spread of a neo-liberal feminism among young men and women, “the belief that the acceptance of rigid patterns of an idealized femininity is, in fact, an exercise of free and determined will.” Among the risks of social media consumption among young people, the impact of esthetic standards from the world of fashion and the persistence of stereotyped roles are highlighted ( Fernández-de-Arroyabe-Olaortua et al., 2018 ). Nevertheless, there are other more encouraging developments. The notoriety of popular feminism ( Banet-Weiser, 2018 ) seems to have influenced the digital imaginary around the construction of gender, giving rise to more diverse and inclusive representations that partially invalidate postfeminist theses ( Caballero-Gálvez et al., 2017 ; Keller and Ryan, 2018 ). The opportunities that the consumption of digital sources can offer compared to the use of other media are said to include less divergence in the roles assigned to males and females ( Feijoo and García-González, 2017 ). In Spain, according to the Youth Report ( Injuve, 2021 ), young people have an interest in gender inequality, very possibly in consequence of having been socialized in an environment in which the most actively advocated social issues were associated with feminism ( Peña-Fernández et al., 2023 ).

In order to understand the evidence on whether, how and to what extent social media affect gender norms among adolescents, in 2023 the ODI ( Diepeveen, 2024 ) conducted a targeted review of empirical studies published since 2015, focusing on publications in English, Spanish, French and German on adolescent boys. Included in the review were 51 studies on social media platforms with public-facing content, such as Instagram and YouTube. The evidence was diverse. As Diepeveen (2024) summarizes, many of the quantitative studies explored correlations and tended to assume that the direction of influence went from social media platforms to gender norms and attitudes, rather than vice versa or in both directions. Qualitative studies provided a useful corrective, revealing the many ways in which adolescents use social media and select and produce online content in function of their pre-existing interests and attitudes.

Our article provides qualitative research that captures the subtle and sometimes contradictory comments of adolescents themselves about what they perceive social media to be and, in turn, what it is that social media entrench or undermine.

For all these reasons, it appears to us appropriate to address the discourse of adolescents from a gender perspective, in order to determine whether they take gender differences into account in their assessments of social media such as YouTube and Instagram and whether they make any link between those differences and forms of power and discrimination ( EIGE, 2023 ). The gender perspective is (or should be) understood, consequently, as a consubstantial element of the (trans)media education or literacy of digital generations, in line with the understanding of those terms and the importance attributed to them by various authors ( García-Ruiz and Pérez-Escoda, 2019 ; Balladares-Burgos and Jaramillo-Baquerizo, 2022 ) and international organizations and initiatives such as Unesco, the Agenda 2030 action plan and Unicef. Spaces for reflection, debate and content creation from a feminist perspective can be created for young girls and adolescent women and their male peers through such media empowerment ( Tornay-Marquez, 2019 ).

2 Gender perspective and transmedia education

Despite the theoretical nuances between their conceptual frameworks, edu-communication and transmedia education or transmedia literacy can be understood as convergent approaches from the perspectives of education and communication, respectively, to the growing interrelation between media, communication and education in different stages of the lives of children, adolescents and young adults. Both theoretical frameworks aim to encourage and facilitate critical reflection and empowerment of users of media, information, and communication technology.

The concept of media literacy has been approached from different perspectives and has evolved as digital and virtual technology has developed. As Ríos Hernández et al. (2022) point out, in today’s digital ecosystem audiences have a more active role, generating a relationship of dialog between different media and their users. Thus, Scolari (2018) posits the term transmedia literacy to reflect contemporary reality: such literacy consists not only in critical analysis of content, but also in treating consumers of media as active subjects in the digital world, with increasingly sophisticated interpretative and creative skills.

In relation to the media literacy of young people, we are in agreement with theoretical stances that reject simplistic solutions or hypodermic’ processes ( Bragg et al., 2011 ). Zimmerman (2000) expands this holistic approach by emphasizing the positive aspects of human behavior (including identification and capacity building) that accompany “the analysis of the influence of the environment rather than blaming the victims” ( Silva and Martínez, 2004 , p. 2).

Several formulations have been proposed of the competencies and indicators that make up (trans)media literacy. For example, the dimensions of media competence put forward by Ferrés and Piscitelli (2012) : language, technology, processes of interaction, processes of production and dissemination, ideology, and values and esthetics. Similarly, Scolari (2018) posits the following transmedia competencies: production, management, performative, media and technology, narrative and esthetics, risk prevention, and ideologies and ethics.

Our principal interest resides in the competencies that can be seen as making up a journey, since such a journey can bring together the notion of transmedia education – alert to new technological and social realities – with empowerment as a process ( Montero, 2003 ). That is so not only because it is a non-linear model of change ( Kabeer, 1999 ), but also because it is in itself a double process: individual, as the acquisition of greater autonomy, and collective, “with the aim of achieving a fair and egalitarian society, especially in terms of relations between men and women” ( Charlier and Caubergs, 2007 , p. 6).

Making a link between media literacy and the concept of empowerment raises the issue of the role of men’s and women’s involvement and participation in the digital environment. In academic works, different studies ( Tufecki, 2017 ; Dussel et al., 2021 ) discuss the contradictions of the new conditions of popular participation in the digital world. While some authors observe that more gender differences have been found in the offline world, in the “real” life of young people ( Renau et al., 2012 ), others continue to focus on the risks presented by beauty standards and the persistence of stereotypical female roles ( Fernández-de-Arroyabe-Olaortua et al., 2018 ; Santos et al., 2022 ) and stereotypical gender roles in general ( Ringrose et al., 2013 ; Van Oosten et al., 2017 ). In other words, there may be inequalities in media access and representation that reflect differences in digital participation. We want to determine whether any such inequalities are found among adolescents and young adults: a particularly important stage in the journey of edu-communication and transmedia literacy development.

Previous studies on social media and young people point out that, beyond the interests of each individual, the self-perception of the skills and competencies needed to manage cyberspace is different between males and females, with males more positive ( Siddiq and Scherer, 2019 ; Estanyol et al., 2023 ). However, there are also studies that point to the influence of sexist stereotypes that can sentence one of the genders to a position of inequality in the “onlife reality”, a term used by Floridi (2015 , p. 1) to refer to a hyperconnected reality in which online and offline realities are in practice inseparable [cited by Serrate-González et al. (2023) ].

Specifically, we are interested in the perceptions conveyed by male and female participants of their experience on YouTube and Instagram around gender identity in the representations and discourses in these media. To that end, our research questions can be summarized as two questions:

RQ 1. How do young users of social media such as YouTube and Instagram of either sex see the presence and representation of gender on social media?

RQ 2. Is it possible to say that the way they see gender on social media is empowering for them?

3 Materials and methods

3.1 participants.

An exploratory qualitative study was carried out using focus groups (FG) with adolescents aged 12 to 18 in the Autonomous Communities of Catalonia, the Basque Country and the Balearic Islands in Spain according to a criterion of convenience, in light of the location of the three universities participating in the project. The selection of the sample responds to age criteria, to cover the three stages of adolescence ( UNICEF, 2024 ): early or initial adolescence (10–13 years), middle adolescence (14–16) and late or post-adolescence (17 up to as late as 21 years of age), in three geographic areas, and to a criterion of convenience in the selection of the three Autonomous Communities, corresponding in which the three participating universities are located (anonymized). The sample was selected with the help of the educational settings that had participated in a previous questionnaire ( Aran-Ramspott et al., 2022 ) using two filter criteria:

• age of the participants: three categories according to stage of education, first year of Compulsory Secondary Education (approximately 12 years of age); fourth year of Compulsory Secondary Education (15–16 years old) and first year university students (18–20 years old) following Communication and Education courses most closely related to Media literacy at each of the three participating universities.

• gender balance.

Finally, in late 2021 and early 2022, 14 FGs were held, involving a total of to 76 students (37 male, 39 female): five FGs of first year of Compulsory Secondary Education, five FGs of fourth year of Compulsory Secondary Education and four FGs of first year university students.

3.1.1 Procedure

The focus groups were designed with semi-structured prepared questions and topics and were conducted and audio-recorded in the settings with the consent of the parents or guardians of participants under 18 and of the students themselves. The open-ended script is based on the prior literature review ( Buckingham, 2008 ; Ferrés and Piscitelli, 2012 ; boyd, 2014 ; Gill, 2017 ; Aran-Ramspott et al., 2018 , 2022 ; Scolari, 2018 ), the method ( Barbour, 2007 ) and the objectives of the study. The script, which was intended to be flexible as this was an exploratory analysis, initially canvassed general categories related to the participants’ views of social media, their preferences and motives for consuming social media; types of functions and uses made; characteristics of preferred YouTubers and Instagrammers; and specifically, toward the participants’ identification and perception of (trans)media competencies in Ideology and Ethics [ Aran-Ramspott et al., 2024 ; based mainly on Ferrés and Piscitelli (2012) and Scolari (2018) ]. These competencies can be summarized as the ability to detect and critically analyze representations of stereotypes related to gender, or sexual and gender orientation, among other things, and the ethical and social implications related to processes of emotional identification, manipulation or invisibility of certain groups, including women. Gill (2017) particularly allows us to review notions seen in contemporary culture as “postfeminism” which currently operates as a kind of gender neoliberalism (“cultivation of the “right” dispositions to survive in neoliberal society: confidence, resilience and self-confidence”).

The open-ended script design facilitated the coding of categories; new categories emerged from participants’ comments. First, the literal comments (in sentences or phrases) related to the priority dimensions of the script were independently analyzed by each researcher. Second, they were cross-checked within the team to refine and validate the coding in successive sessions ( Bryman, 2012 ), taking into account their nature and importance, and in light of their frequency, occurrence and repetition. In order to gather data on participants’ gender perspectives, the relevant interventions were taken to be those in which an informant reflected their personal gender perspective in the discourse in relation to social media. We analyzed co-occurrence with the type of social media, content, reasons for use, references to influencers, (trans)media competence and characteristics of the remarks by age and gender (in function of how each participant introduced themselves). The location variable proved not to be significant in the focus groups. Coding shows the FG number _age_gender (F: Female/M: Male, the numbers show order of intervention where there is more than one participant of a given gender).

The research was approved by the Ethics Committee of University Ramón LLull University, Barcelona, which confirmed that participation was voluntary and anonymous, the confidentiality of the participants’ data, the collection of permissions and informed consents. This research was overseen and monitored by the public body that financed the research project.

The most relevant results directly related to the research questions for the study are presented below. First, we show distribution by gender and age of the total number of comments by participants in the FGs in relation to gender perspective in their discourse in relation to social media ( Figure 1 ), so as to show the origin of each remark. Figure 2 shows principal co-occurrences of the gender perspective in the discourse in relation to the dimensions set out in the materials and method section.

Figure 1 . Distribution by gender and age of comments concerning gender perspective.

Figure 2 . Principal co-occurrences of the gender perspective by dimension (Sankey Diagram).

Explicit mentions of gender perspective have been broken down by gender of the participants. As can be seen in Figure 1 , female participants made almost 70% of the total number of comments. By age, the gender perspective is mentioned progressively more at older ages: 27.7% among 12–13 year-old participants (1st year of Compulsory Secondary Education), 33.8% in 15–16 year-olds (4th year of Compulsory Secondary Education) and 38% among 18–19 year-olds (first-year university students).

Figure 2 shows not only how female participants comment materially more on the gender perspective, but also how the information from the focus groups identifies the dimensions that students consider more important. Thus, dimensions related to the type of social media, the type of content, the definition of influencer, (trans)media skills and age are more salient in participants’ discourse. Further detail is provided in the following paragraphs.

4.1 Participants’ perception of gender perspective by type of social media

The analysis of the perceptions of adolescents and young people of gender on social media shows that most comments concern Instagram (23%), TikTok (20%), and YouTube (17%). TikTok was spontaneously mentioned by participants. In terms of gender, females make more mentions than males, and refer to Instagram, TikTok and YouTube in descending order.

But what is the discourse of young people as revealed by these comments about social media? In relation to Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, the significance attributed to personal appearance is what is most commented on. The obsession with physical appearance is expressed in terms of self-representation, whereby appearance contributes to identity in terms of approximation to esthetic ideals and beauty standards:

“Lots of girls who go on TikTok may be affected by seeing influencers who look perfect, at least at first, and then they may look at other bodies and that may lower their self-esteem” (G9_12–13_F).

The same is true of the sexualization of physical appearance, which participants refer to, directly or indirectly, in relation to the bodies of girls and women. Instagram is perceived to be somewhere where females can more readily take a leading role.

“Boys are more popular on YouTube and on Instagram it’s women, perhaps girls’ content seems more attractive, not only because it is more or less sexualized, which depends, but because on Instagram you have to be really careful, you have to know what photo to take, how, what lighting, see how you tell the story, whether you post it this way or that way, and girls take greater care over those details, and so they are more popular” (G14_15–16_F).

Females make almost twice as many comments about the importance of body image as males (21 and 13 quotes, respectively):

“I think as girls we expose ourselves more” (G4_18–19_F).

In turn, they are more affected by beauty standards, including the risk of developing an eating disorder.

“[Referring to the influencer Marina Yers]… but to say that after eating, being sick is good for you… That can lead to illness in 12-year-old girls” (G2_15–16_F).

On the other hand, there are female participants who demand parity with males in relation to the display of the body on the social media, with comments that identify contradictions inherent to post-feminist discourses ( Gill, 2017 ), by presenting as a personal choice what others might see as the internalization of objectification or sexual neoliberalism ( de Miguel, 2015 ).

“TikTok also does a lot of harm, for example if any of the three of us posts a video of us wearing a top or bikini, TikTok unpublishes it, it does not let us post it, but the guys can post videos in their underwear or shirtless, and TikTok’s algorithm does not say anything to them. We are super censored (G10_15–16_F).

• -And on Instagram even more so (G10_15–16_M).

• No (G10_15–16_F2).

• More on Instagram than TikTok (G10_15–16_M).

• I posted a video in trackies and T-shirt and they censored it” (G10_15–16_ F3).

YouTube is seen as a social media platform on which people can find less invasive spaces and activities supportive of the manifest need to improve self-esteem and build a more empowered attitude. On two separate occasions, 12-year-old girls explicitly mention an empowering movement, “Love in positive” and, from a feminist perspective, “Me too.”

“I have watched a YouTuber who I think is a good influence, there are a lot of people now who say they feel insecure because of their body, but this influencer was about “Love in positive,” love yourself as you are, and I think that a very good thing about social media is people like that who are trying to boost your self-esteem, make you feel confident” (G11_12–13_F).

Self-confidence, related to satisfaction with a person’s own body, is shown on social media through the control of image, posture, and esthetics. Young people subject themselves to those mechanisms depending on what is trending. No comments were collected, however, in which male participants acknowledge the influence of social media on their image. In contrast to females, their attitude appears distanced or rebellious.

“I like to be happy, and fashion is the last thing that interests me, for example, if everyone is wearing Nike, I’ll still wear Adidas (…) I’m fine with my 80s hairstyle” (G10_15–16_M).

4.2 Participants’ perception of gender perspective by type of content consumed

Generally speaking, the discourse of both male and female participants shows that the content consumed is highly gender specific.

“Do boys and girls follow the same things at this age? (Moderator 1, G1_12–13).

• No (G1_12–13_F&M).

• Some things Yes and some things No (G1_12–13_F).

• Sometimes maybe, what we have most in common is series, films…(G1_12–13_F2).

• Him and me do not share any content, he’s more into sports and I’m more into languages, travel…” (G1_12–13_F).

Comments about entertainment in terms of watching series and films come equally from male and female participants. There are differences in which types of content are most frequently mentioned: Beauty/fashion and Videogames. Dance is only commented on by male participants (“usually the dances on TikTok are by girls”), in contrast to current affairs. This confirms earlier results on gender specific preferences for content types ( Fernández-de-Arroyabe-Olaortua et al., 2018 ; García-Jiménez et al., 2021 ), and about motivation, where boys and young men express a preference for entertainment ( Lozano-Blasco et al., 2023 ). In this study, entertainment and strengthening friendships are positively rated by both genders. For example:

“(On Youtube), but I think my friends are more on Instagram, they make stories and I see what happened to them during the day, we talk and you can also go to the entertainment area…” (G11_12–13_M).

4.3 Participants’ perception of gender perspective by influencer

Basque streamer Ibai Llanos is most recognized for his positivity – acknowledging his personal and financial interests – and for his friendly personality. Consequently, he is the influencer who has the most followers, both male and female.

“And we are talking about YouTube, Instagram and TikTok, which are, like, social media, at the end of the day kids are searching for tutorials on how to play Minecraft, they are searching Ibai, because a lot of boys, and some girls of course, are obsessed with Ibai. I see Ibai as everything, super-responsible and very incisive. There are many others who aren’t, but Ibai just is. At the end of the day, if you upload content, you are going to influence those children through that content” (G6_18–19_M).

The participants associate the term influencer more with women who are successful on social media (Dulceida and Paula Gonu, two Catalan bloggers seen as celebrities, clearly figure in that role in the comments). The association between girl or woman and influencer is much more apparent as perceived by the participants, and is attributed to fame (celebrities, It Girls) and to so-called posing, which does not seem to apply to boys or young men.

“There are also influencers, boys, (…) but I have not seen a boy say he is an influencer, or that he uploads that type of content” (G6_18–19_F).

Some girls, especially older girls, explicitly express pleasure in displaying themselves, in line with the style of some influencers. For instance:

“I really like influencers, seeing how they dress, to keep up to date with fashion and I also really like to display my life, especially for the people around me to see what I do, I like them knowing about it” (G4_18–19_F).

At the opposite end of the spectrum to popular influencers, there is universal criticism of Naim Darrechi, a TikToker from Mallorca, known for his controversial sexist remarks, which have even led him to be accused of seeking to justify rape and sexual abuse.

“He is a sexist and has done a lot of bad shit” (G7_15–16_ M).

“There are people who follow him and the worst thing is that he’s proud of what he says and even has a lot of followers” (G2_15–16_F).

4.4 Participants’ perception of gender perspective by transmedia competence

The vast majority of comments linking the gender perspective to transmedia competencies ( Scolari, 2018 ) refer to the dimension of Ideology and Rigorousness, which by definition includes stereotyping, emotional identification mechanisms and recognition of manipulation (e.g., fakes). Comments, especially from female participants, reflect participants’ awareness of the need to (self-)regulate their media diet and of the risk of becoming addicted, even though a number of participants, particularly younger participants, explicitly state that they have been given cybersafety training at school.

“Right, I think it’s the typical thing that you say to everyone “Instagram is bad, do not be on it so much”, but I know that there are things that you cannot watch and I do not watch them, but my parents aren’t on my case the whole time” (G1_12–13_F).

The rest of the (trans)media competencies identifiable in the discourse of the young participants from a gender perspective were only commented on by the female participants. In descending order, comments fall under Language and Esthetics, Technology, and Production and Dissemination, where female participants comment on aspects such as the algorithm used.

“It’s that TikTok gets you addicted, you say you are going to watch it for 5 min and then a whole day goes by (…) with Instagram it’s harder to get addicted, because on TikTok you scroll down and more and more videos come up, and on Instagram there’s a moment when there’s nothing else to see” (G1_12–13_F2).

4.5 Participants’ perception of gender perspective by age

In the results, the gender perspective also appears to be related to age, expressed as a concern for children.

“There are a lot of 11 and 12-year-old girls (…) most of them are girls (…) who join a fan club, whatever. And they do not stop to think what nonsense the people are talking. And I think so much freedom has been given to those content creators that they think they have the right to publish whatever they want, without thinking that their fame is due to people who aren’t mature enough to think and weigh opinions, and to see what’s right (…) your followers are at an age when if you tell them something, they’ll believe you, it’s like you are indoctrinating them, they are so young that they’ll believe anything you say” (G10_15–16_M).

5 Discussion and conclusions

The presence and use of social media by young people requires a debate in wider society and the academic community around the opportunities and risks that social media present in the construction of young people’s identities. Of particular importance is the analysis of the gender perspective that emerges in the context of digital empowerment, since it reflects the expression by young people of differing levels of awareness of their responsibility for progress toward a just society, free (among other things) of gender-based prejudice and inequality.

In relation to the first research question, whether young people of both sexes consider gender in their assessments of social media – such as YouTube and Instagram -, the results show that it is principally females who refer to gender in their comments. They associate gender with the importance of image and appearances on social media, principally on Instagram and TikTok. Our results are partially consistent with a focus group study with 15 to 19-year-old teenagers in Finland ( N = 35) and provided understanding of the important role of commercial social media in young people’s consumption styles. While in the Finnish study boys appeared more materialistic and interested in luxury and sustainable consumption seemed to be a more “girly” thing ( Wilska et al., 2023 ), in our research boys do not acknowledge the influence of social media on their image. Female participants perceive that they are more exposed and under greater pressure than boys and young men, a perception also reflected in the comments of male participants. They also associate that pressure mostly with fashion and, to a lesser extent, with trends in consumer or capitalist society. Among male participants, there are more expressions of self-assertion and self-judgment. Both genders express concern about the effects of this body-image pressure on young girls. There is no mention of other possible gender identities beyond male and female (non-binary, gender-fluid…).

The obsession with image as a way of making visible the self is part of a generational culture of appearance and public approval ( Guardiola, 2018 ), which is acknowledged with critical reflection by both male and female participants. Sexualization is associated with certain influencers.

In relation to the second research question, whether the perception of male and female social media users can be seen as empowering for them, most of the positive comments from both genders in discourse concerning YouTube and Instagram refer to entertainment and the strengthening of friendships and the sense of belonging to a peer group. This feeling of belonging, which is reinforced by influencers, can be recognized in a small-scale qualitative research work in Germany: adolescents are often particularly attracted to influencers they believe themselves to have things in common with, such as around gender/sex, hobbies, and geographical location [ Bamberger et al., 2022 , cited in Pérez-Torres et al. (2018) , Diepeveen (2024) ].

The results allow us to identify comments that include some sensitizing concepts ( Gill, 2017 ) articulated around the construction of gender on social media, such as comments on the “Me too” movement. However, as noted, the importance of image is mentioned to a greater extent by female participants and in relation to material on social media directed at girls and women, while male participants particularly mention having fun and success or social status. Explicit references to self-esteem are also more common among female participants, especially among young girls, in the form of concern about low self-esteem due to the influence of ideal bodies, as often displayed by influencers. In fact, there are no comments from male participants that acknowledge the influence of social media on their self-image, rather the reverse. This may suggest less external oversight and greater self-confidence than among female participants. The spontaneous expressions of such views may reflect the internalization of personal empowerment among male participants.

On the other hand, some of the youngest girls (aged 13–14) demand fairer treatment on social media and that demand is based on the rejection of censorship of their bodies by social media platforms. As Caballero-Gálvez et al. (2017) point out, we can reconcile the apparent paradox of freedom of choice and the forcefully expressed demands of young girls for the recognition of an (idealized) image rather than gender equality. In relation to the characteristics of postfeminist discourse ( Gill, 2017 ), we saw this emphasis on bodily self-monitoring, especially among female participants, related to the management of the individual’s own image and perceived sexualization in some representations.

The contribution of this study is to attend to the voices of adolescents and young people, providing them with a platform to express their views freely in focus groups. This approach offers valuable insights into their perceptions and experiences with social media and gender. Focusing on young people’s perception of gender issues on social media is a critical additional layer in the discussion around the potential consequences for young adults and adolescents of content, use and engagement in social media. For adolescents, social media constitute a new arena in which they can express themselves and explore, but they are also to a significant forum for the dissemination of certain beauty standards that may represent a risk to adolescents in relation to their body image ( Arab and Díaz, 2015 ; Segovia Aguilar et al., 2016 ; Malo-Cerrato et al., 2018 ; Shah et al., 2019 ). One can find on social media content related to the human body that may influence adolescents and cause them to obsess about their appearance and the photos that they post ( Goodyear, 2020 ). In that sense, the risk resides in interiorization of such messages, especially by girls, which may have significant repercussions on their body image and mental health ( Fredrickson and Roberts, 1997 ; Karsay et al., 2018 ). Given differences in gender roles and societal pressure, there is a need to display an image that society considers acceptable. In that sense, social media and mass communication media play a fundamental role in objectification, and may have a significant impact on self-esteem, self-image, body positivity and psychological wellbeing ( Aydm and San, 2011 ; Shah et al., 2019 ). In short, this research shows how the digital empowerment of young people is constructed through the dominant paradigm of image in its presence and representation on social media.

However, from a gender perspective, female participants perceive the negative dimension of this (false) empowerment more than males. Across social media platforms, as also noted by Scharrer et al. (2023) , our results show that YouTube is perceived to give more equal prominence to the genders and to have more balanced activities and content suitable for each gender relative to Instagram and Tiktok. In our results, the impression predominates that YouTube is where males contribute more content. On Instagram, on the other hand, the importance of body image is clearly recognized by young people, especially females, in consequence of the centrality of (self-)image on Instagram, which in turn reflects the logic of today’s society of (hyper) visibility ( Imbert, 2004 ).

Finally, we have identified tensions that could even be seen as contradictions in the perceptions of young users of social media, in relation to life offline. The blurring of the boundaries between intimacy and extimacy may be a cause for more hope than might appear: Sabich and Steinberg (2017) believe that, although the discourse of YouTubers is trapped in a consumer culture, those online spaces for interaction allow the construction of symbolic bonds of belonging, that are particularly propitious for young people.

“The evidence indicates there is not a simple cause and effect relationship between social media use and (harmful) gender attitudes” ( Diepeveen, 2024 , p. 9). Part of the context for our research is the fact that the relationship between use of social media and gender equality is not simple and involves at least three different elements: personal experience and social context, i.e., individual perceptions; platform design, and online experience, especially the types of relationship built with social media ( Diepeveen, 2024 ). Our study highlights different aspects in relation to those different elements, based on the perceptions of our young participants. The limitations of our study include that the sample was drawn from a specific geographic area and culture in Spain. Some prior research in Spain (e.g., García-Jiménez et al., 2021 ; Herrero-Curiel and La-Rosa, 2022 ; Serrate-González et al., 2023 ) studied the behavior of adolescents on social media in general, “but so far as we have been able to confirm there has been no research looking at their preferences in relation to the content generated specifically by their favorite influencers” ( Martín-Cárdaba et al., 2024 , p. 83). Another limitation is that the study coincided with the Covid-19 pandemic. This exceptionality meant that the importance of social media was increasing ( Wilska et al., 2023 ).

The results of our research are consistent with other works in expressing concern about gender differences that go beyond differences in degree of participation and topics engaged with on social media. Our data align with findings in Europe [EU Kids online 2020 in Smahel et al. (2020) ] that show that the digital gender divide does not reflect a significant difference among European youth in terms of access. It rather betokens prevalent differences in the modalities of use and consequently in the skills deployed ( Masanet et al., 2021 ). Processes of socialization reflect the structural inequality fostered by, among other agents, the media system itself. That seems to be a persisting historical issue rather than a contemporary anomaly and entails a so-called cognitive cost for the most disadvantaged, including women ( Benesch, 2012 ).

From a developmental perspective, here we take up Kabeer's (1999) idea of trajectory, describing a notion of transmedia education that engages with new technologies and social realities, with empowerment as an individual process leading to greater autonomy and capacity to make life choices; and as a collective process of the development of a group’s capacity to drive social change so as to create a just, fair society, particularly in terms of relationships between men and women ( Charlier and Caubergs, 2007 , p. 6). In other words, empowerment here means achieving not power over but power to, power with and power within, as described by those authors ( Charlier and Caubergs, 2007 , p. 10).

The fact that the study’s sample was drawn from three Autonomous Communities increases the diversity of perspectives and enriches the data collected. While it limits the extent to which the findings can be generalized to other cultural or geographical contexts, it opens avenues for future research.

Despite the limitations of extrapolating qualitative data to adolescents and young people in Spain more widely, this study allows us to hear the participants and so develop greater understanding of digital empowerment from an edu-communication and gender perspective. The interpretation of the results points to the need for transmedia education that promotes reflection and critical production among adolescents and young people, specifically from the perspective of their as-yet only partially constructed identities that pays greater heed to the importance of aspects of their lives beyond conventional ideas of physical beauty. In that area, users need to become more aware of the influence of social media in the construction of notions of gender and to develop their capacity to engage critically with such notions in both formal and informal settings. That will enable them to engage with postfeminist perspectives in the context of the dominant values of today’s neoliberal society ( Medina, 2021 ), particularly as concerns the internalization of rigid beauty standards in relation to the bodies of women and girls especially, through (for example) programs to make people more aware of their own stereotyped beliefs around gender ( Panerati et al., 2023 ). The journey is for both boys and girls, men and women, toward greater empowerment of women and girls and a respectful, fair system that embraces diversity.

Although this study acknowledges gender disparities in social media, to delve deeply into the potential causes or solutions would strengthen the impact of future works. The evolving nature of social media platforms and research with “big data” in the field of perceptions and sexist content is still limited, not only because of the role of algorithms, but also because of aspects such as pseudonymization ( Lozano-Blasco et al., 2023 ) or because of adolescents’ own search for an ideal representation of themselves ( Stockdale and Coyne, 2020 ). Moreover, adding a comparative analysis with older age groups or with data from other countries could offer a broader perspective on how these perceptions might vary across different demographics or cultural contexts.

Based on our findings, we provide specific considerations for educators, policymakers, and social media platforms on how to address the identified issues. Furthermore, future works should develop, implement and evaluate edu-communicative and media education initiatives to develop critical reflection on the influence of social media, given that the results of this study underline the importance of a respectful and equitable environment in relation to gender equality in digital spaces, which helps to implement educational measures for working with esthetic and erotic body image ( Pires et al., 2021 ), to develop self-awareness and self-regulation ( Mirgos et al., 2023 ) and to deepen protective factors against the risks online ( Ramos-Soler et al., 2018 ). Along those lines, the sessions focused on the responsible critical use of the Internet and digital devices for adolescents aged 13–15 developed by Cuervo et al. (2022a) , and aged 12–17 by Medrano et al. (2019) and Cuervo et al. (2022b) ; the classes put forward by Mirgos et al. (2023) around hate speech, privacy, digital intoxication, and perceived values on social media; the digital interactive tool to develop and assess the media competence of European students aged 14–18 ( Ferrés et al., 2022 ); the worksheets in Scolari (2018) ; and the use of Service Learning proposed by Villacampa et al. (2020) for collaboration to eradicate gender violence through online behaviors deserve special attention. Moreover, we consider that in this process both teachers and families should be involved together with students, to educate in the ethical and responsible use of social networks, for example using the guides developed by Martínez Ten (2021) .

As discussed above, future works should address the role of digital platforms in highlighting stereotypical representations of men and women ( Bernárdez, 2015 ) could lead people to internalize inequality, due that evolving nature of social media platforms and research with “big data” in the field of perceptions and sexist content is still limited.

Policy makers should consider the importance of promoting a respectful and equitable environment in relation to gender equality within digital spaces, in order to provide support for the need to develop and implement edu-communicative initiatives to foster critical thinking around the influence of social media in this context and the evaluation of the impact of such initiatives in future research.

Data availability statement

The anonymised raw data supporting the conclusions of this article will be made available by the authors, without undue reservation.

Ethics statement

The studies involving humans were approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the project’s coordinating University (Blanquerna School of Communication and International Relations, Ramon Llull University, Barcelona, Spain). The studies were conducted in accordance with laws applying throughout Spain and locally to the research institutions and the requirements of those institutions. Written informed consent for participation in this study was provided by the participants and/or their legal guardians/next of kin. Online written and paper written informed consent was obtained from the individual(s) and/or participants’ legal guardians/next of kin for the publication of any potentially identifiable data included in this article.

Author contributions

SA-R: Writing – review & editing, Writing – original draft. OK-A: Writing – review & editing, Writing – original draft. IE-A: Writing – review & editing, Writing – original draft. ÁM-I: Writing – review & editing, Writing – original draft. IB-G: Writing – review & editing, Writing – original draft.

The author(s) declare that financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. The research reported in this article has been financed with public funds from the National Plan financed by the Spanish State Research Agency, Project Reference/AEI/10.13039/501100011033. Ministry of Science and Innovation.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that there are no commercial or financial relationships connected with this research that could be constitute a conflict of interest.

Publisher’s note

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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Keywords: gender, social media, adolescence, youth, edu-communication, empowerment, perception, media literacy

Citation: Aran-Ramspott S, Korres-Alonso O, Elexpuru-Albizuri I, Moro-Inchaurtieta & and Bergillos-García I (2024) Young users of social media: an analysis from a gender perspective. Front. Psychol . 15:1375983. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1375983

Received: 24 January 2024; Accepted: 06 May 2024; Published: 30 May 2024.

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Copyright © 2024 Aran-Ramspott, Korres-Alonso, Elexpuru-Albizuri, Moro-Inchaurtieta and Bergillos-García. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence: Oihane Korres, [email protected]

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