Social Media Investment Research Articles

Mechanisms Linking Social Media Use and Sleep in Emerging Adults in the United States.

Social media use is associated with poor sleep outcomes. We aimed to extend previous research by examining how measures of social media use would affect two sleep characteristics: sleep quality and insomnia symptoms. In addition, we tested a serial mediation model linking social media use to sleep through increases in negative social comparison and pre-sleep cognitive arousal. Participants were 830 emerging adults (ages 18-30) who were recruited for an online survey study in February 2024. The sample was 63.1% female, with an average age of 24. We examined three measures of social media use: duration (minutes of daily use), frequency (number of weekly visits to social media platforms), and emotional investment (attachment to and integration of social media into daily life). Consistent with our hypothesis, greater emotional investment in social media and more frequent social media use were associated with poorer sleep quality and greater insomnia severity. We also found evidence supporting our hypothesized serial mediation model: emotional investment in social media and more frequent social media use were associated with increased negative social comparison, which subsequently increased pre-sleep cognitive arousal, which then led to poorer sleep outcomes. Our findings suggest that negative social comparison and pre-sleep cognitive arousal are important mechanisms linking social media use to poor sleep outcomes. Future studies should aim to test this serial mediation model using longitudinal data and experimental methods.

Research on the Food Service Industry in Central Taiwan

This study examined the changes in business models in the food service industry of Taiwan in the postpandemic era. After staying at home for a more prolonged period during the pandemic. More consumers choose to cook at home to save costs, leading to a booming homemade food market. This trend greatly increases the popularity of convenient meal kits, semi-finished products, and do-it-yourself (DIY) meal sets. It not only caters to consumers’ interest in cooking but also provide convenient and quick solutions for food preparation. Food and beverage businesses have successfully expanded their market reach by developing high-quality homemade food products and utilizing social media and e-commerce platforms for sales. The immediacy and wide audience coverage of social media economy have enabled influencers and food bloggers to directly demonstrate the use and effects of meal kits and DIY dining through live streams and short videos. This approach attracts large numbers of followers to purchase these products, thereby quickly enhancing product awareness and sales. Collaborating with social media has become an effective marketing strategy for food and beverage businesses because it increases brand exposure and allows for product adjustments and improvements based on immediate consumer feedback. This study aims to analyze the post-pandemic restaurant industry through the lens of business models. By conducting interviews with restaurant owners across various sectors in central Taiwan, the research will explore how they confronted the challenges during the pandemic and how they have adjusted their business strategies in the aftermath. The objective is to identify future strategies suitable for the Taiwanese culinary market. This study employs business model theory and interview methodology to investigate six companies within Taiwan's restaurant industry. Through comprehensive analysis, the research aims to determine how the restaurant industry should adjust its strategic direction in the post-pandemic era. The interviewed restaurants implemented various adjustments during the postpandemic period, including arranging for industry–academia collaboration, enhancing employee training and incentives, strengthening restaurant recognition and sense of pride among employees, diversifying dish presentation, improving customer service systems, providing customized services, increasing investment in social media, reinforcing supplier relations, and expanding into new distribution channels. The study results indicate that food and beverage businesses can further explore the potential of social media economy, develop more products suitable for online promotion, and continually optimize marketing strategies by leveraging data analysis and market research to meet consumer demands.

Social Media Use, Emotional Investment, Self-Control Failure, and Addiction in Relation to Mental and Sleep Health in Hispanic University Emerging Adults.

The number of social media users has increased dramatically in recent years. Common correlates of social media use may be poor mental and sleep health which are pressing issues among emerging adults and Hispanic groups. This study investigated the relationships between five different forms of social media use and mental and sleep health in Hispanic university emerging adults. Hispanic university emerging adults (n = 358) completed a survey assessing sociodemographics, overall social media use frequency, nighttime in-bed social media use, social media addiction, social media self-control failure, emotional investment in social media, depression, anxiety, stress, and sleep quality. Findings demonstrated that social media addiction and social media self-control failure were positively associated with stress and poor sleep quality. Emotional investment in social media was positively associated with depression. Findings may suggest that Hispanic university emerging adults may use social media emotionally and problematically to cope with negative affect and poor sleep quality, or that negative affect and poor sleep quality stem from using social media emotionally and problematically. The clinical implications of these results are discussed. Prospective studies are warranted to assess temporality.

DIGITAL MARKETING COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES OF COMPANIES TRADING ON SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS

Contemporary trade companies operate within a multifaceted and rapidly changing environment that is shaped by both exogenous and endogenous factors, where digital marketing technologies play a special role. The purpose of the article is to identify the connection between digital marketing technologies and retail business sales regarding their use in marketing budget effectiveness. The study utilized the method of econometric analysis (regression analysis, analysis of descriptive statistics) as well as the method of social network analysis. Regression analysis showed the importance of investment in advertising and customization of marketing campaigns due to the cutting-edge technologies. Factors such as advertising budget, the number of posts, likes, and comments on social networks have a significant impact on sales. Based on the model's findings, every extra dollar allocated towards advertising amplifies sales by 0.0497 units, indicating the importance of investment in advertising campaigns. The sales distribution is somewhat skewed with a mean of 909 and a median of 922. The analysis revealed significant variability in key variables, indicating the diversity of strategies and conditions in which different companies operate. Practical digital marketing solutions for retail businesses include increased investment in social media advertising, regular posts, and engagement through likes and comments. The promising area for further research is to explore the potential of artificial intelligence for personalizing retail business marketing.

Foreign market entry with circular business models: a customer-centric approach

Circular business models have been developed in recent years, driven by concerns over environmental sustainability. The circular business models are initially tested domestically, but businesses may aspire to expand internationally with it. However, entering foreign markets with circular business models, which include novel products and innovative services, may be challenging. Moreover, generalized foreign market entry criteria for circular business models are lacking. This in-depth case study utilized a mixed-method approach to shed light on the tactical adaptations businesses need to make in their circular business model when entering foreign markets while also ensuring economic competitiveness. The case includes foreign market entry with a circular “service" business model; therefore, we emphasized the customer side of the business model canvas related to customer relationships. In our conclusion, we identify five tactical adaptations, namely implementing a co-creation tool for customization, offering tangible customized benefits, increasing investment in social media marketing, utilizing start-up incubators/accelerators/co-working spaces as a marketing channel and offering adjustable contract lengths. Foreign markets with circular business models and involving the value network partners of the business are also expected to expand the positive externalities of circular economy internationally.

Presenting a Social Media Marketing Model in the Fashion and Apparel Industry Using Grounded Theory

Objective: The purpose of this research is to present a social media marketing model in the fashion and apparel industry using grounded theory. Methodology: The nature of the present research is exploratory, employing qualitative data. The statistical population of the research includes experts and Ph.D. professors in marketing management at universities in Mazandaran Province. The researcher utilized the snowball sampling method to achieve theoretical saturation, which was attained after conducting interviews with 14 experts and scholars. Qualitative data were collected using structured interviews and analyzed through the qualitative grounded theory method. Findings: Four axial codes were identified and reported for causal factors, including online electronic business developments, online electronic business experience, characteristics of online customers, and social media marketing capabilities. For contextual factors, four axial codes were identified and reported, including online digital culture, online digital thinking, online electronic transformation infrastructure, and online digital leadership. Additionally, four axial codes were identified and reported for intervening factors, including cultural factors, social media challenges, and social and legal factors. For the central phenomenon, three axial codes were identified and reported, including social media marketing tools, social media marketing advertising, and social media marketing performance. For strategies, five axial codes were identified and reported, including the use of influencer marketing, investment in social media marketing, digital knowledge orientation, digital culture creation, and logistics (support) strategies. Finally, customer attitudinal and behavioral outcomes, as well as organizational outcomes, were identified. Conclusion: This research was initiated to develop a social media marketing model in the fashion and apparel industry using grounded theory. Through the qualitative method, the research progressed and reached a comprehensive model. At the end of the study, recommendations based on the researcher’s experiences are presented.

Exploring the Factors that Influence Pivoting in Student Startups: A Case Study of Entrepreneurship Student of SBM ITB Analysis

According to recent news sources and journals, the growth of start-ups in today's world is on the rise. The pandemic has played a significant role in this growth, with many people starting their own businesses after being laid off from their jobs (Casselman, 2021). In 2023, experts predict that there will be increased investment in social media, user-generated content, and entertainment for small businesses (Halperin, 2023). Alternative funding sources are also becoming more common for small businesses as interest rates rise (Halperin, 2023). The design acts as the research project's "blueprint," connecting the design, data collecting, and analytic activities to the research questions and guaranteeing that the entire study agenda will be covered. Based on the tentative coding analysis that has been done above to answer the question "what encourages you to pivot?", that have been analyzed into selective coding, it can be seen that their reason is because their own ability to build a business is still not that enhanced. This conclusion could be argued because there are severals variable that are supporting the conclusion. For example the informant said that the lack of proper planning, difficult process to execute, and the customer is not interested in the idea offered are the reason that prompting the pivoting phenomenon. Based on the results of the research conducted, it can be seen that as many as 17 out of 20 student startups in the SBM ITB entrepreneurship department experienced pivoting. The majority of these student startups experience pivoting in their business model and business ideas, where the pivoting they experience is included in the types of pivoting discussed in the previous chapter such as technology, customer need, customer segment, channel, complete, and side project types.

A Perspective of Investment Relationship on Effects of Social Media Investment Outcomes

The rise of social media has had an impact on conventional media since it has given individuals a platform to engage in marketing and investment activities. This article examines about the majority of firms use social media as a marketing tool genuinely aids in establishing and keeping relationships with investors. Currently, social media facilitates investors as well as companies an opportunity to establish relationships. Social media truly considered an investment in relationships, and by means of the execution of relationship quality, it is measured for how it influences behaviours such as fulfilment, word-of-mouth and trust. Both institutions and financial investors emphasize the effective use of social media marketing. Online survey mode was used to reach target group of respondents. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to assess the reliability of each component using the Cronbach alpha test, correlation, KMO for the precision of the factor analysis and pivot of the Varimax, all of which were related to seven distinct parameters and 27 dimensions. Research results show that investors who follow a company on social media are more likely to be satisfied, to trust it and to want to recommend it to non-followers. Additionally, they perceive higher levels of commitment and excellence in relationships. Together, these results show that social media is likely to have an effect on crucial relationship marketing variables that lead to more relational clients.

Association Between Judgment Biases During Facial Processing and Body Dysmorphic Symptomatology

BackgroundRecent work has shown that judgment biases during facial processing serve as a correlate of dysmorphic concern. The current study aimed to replicate and extend this work by further testing larger model-congruent interrelations between judgment biases and intrusions, negative affect, maladaptive behaviors and social media investment.MethodsFemales reporting high (n = 30) vs. low (n = 33) dysmorphic concern categorized photographs of their own and other faces in terms of either attractiveness or gaze direction using the Biased Judgment-Dimension Task. To assess intrusions and maladaptive behaviors, participants completed the Task-Irrelevant Intrusions Task and a 3-day diary, respectively.ResultsResults revealed that, regardless of judgment required, individuals low in dysmorphic concern were faster to make judgments about attractive vs. unattractive photographs. We termed this novel and potentially protective bias “Efficient Processing of Attractive Self” (EPAS). Furthermore, EPAS patterns predicted lower dysmorphic concern, higher self-esteem, and reduced maladaptive behaviors, including reduced screen time.ConclusionsThese findings are consistent with a potential relevance of EPAS in maintaining dysmorphic concern. Associations with cognitive-behavioral factors highlight potential benefits of modifying these bias patterns during visually oriented interventions.

Influence Of Social Media Usage On The Purchase Decision Process: A Study On Indian Consumers

Social media has revolutionized communication and information sharing, offering marketers a new avenue to reach customers. In developing countries like India, the rapid growth of social media and social networking sites presents unique opportunities for businesses. However, measuring the real return on investment in social media marketing remains a challenge. This paper aims to assess the impact of social media usage on the purchase decision process. The study examines the usage patterns of social media and their influence on the five stages of the purchase process. The findings reveal that social media is predominantly used as an information source due to its perceived convenience, effectiveness, and credibility. Additionally, social media reviews and opinions significantly influence the purchase decision process. However, the tendency to share post-purchase experiences on social media is surprisingly low. This research contributes to a better understanding of the role of social media in shaping consumer behavior and provides insights for marketers seeking to leverage this powerful platform effectively.

Sellers, Shifters, Sharers & Science Communicators: The initial beliefs and positions of fitness influencers and creators on Instagram

This article investigates the initial beliefs about social media held by fitness influencers and content creators. As influencers and content creators continue to play a growing role in mediating our social world, who invests in this work, and why, becomes increasingly important. Using semi-structured interviews with 41 fitness influencers and creators, this article identifies four typologies of initial belief: Science Communicator, Seller, Shifter, and Sharer. Differences in beliefs were explained in part by the variety of social positions held by influencers and creators within the fitness industry. Relying on Pierre Bourdieu’s concepts of social position and belief, this article aims to create a more generalizable account of who influencers and creators are, and why they continue to believe investments in social media are worth it.

Meme asset wagering: Perceptions of risk, overconfidence, and gambling problems

Several financial assets, such as shares of GameStop or Dogecoin cryptocurrency, became the focus of substantial speculation in early-2021 that resulted in high price volatility and trading volume. This “meme asset wagering” appears to be closely related to the emergence of zero-fee retail brokerages, high-leverage cryptocurrency exchanges, and social media investment communities that facilitate and encourage risky behavior. As an emerging form of financial risk-taking, little is known about participants in these markets. In this study, an internet-based sample (n = 643) was recruited to assess the relation between meme asset ownership, perceived risks in gambling and investing, investment knowledge, and measures associated with gambling problems. Results suggest that meme asset wagerers perceive less risk from financial uncertainty, have higher levels of overconfidence in their investment ability, and have higher risk of gambling problems. The findings suggest that these products may be treated like gambling by some individuals.

Social media, signaling, and donations: testing the financial returns on nonprofits’ social media investment

Social media, signaling, and donations: testing the financial returns on nonprofits’ social media investment

Analyzing and Prioritizing the Social Media Marketing Challenges

In today's competitive markets, marketing may be one of the most important factors in the sale of goods and products. In the present age, with the technological revolution, many human aspects have changed. One of these aspects is business and business interaction methods that have completely changed with the advent of e-commerce. Despite the growing investment in social media marketing and the many benefits it's for all businesses left in the world today, identifying the challenges This ubiquitous marketing approach has been largely overlooked. To this end, the purpose of this study is to identify and rank the challenges of social media marketing. To this end, the purpose of this study is to identify and rank the challenges of social media marketing. First, by reviewing the literature and reviewing the opinions of experts, the most important challenges facing social media marketing were identified. Then, using Mikhailov hierarchical analysis technique, the most important challenges were prioritized. The results showed that security challenges are one of the most important social network-based marketing challenges.

Too Connected to Being Connected? Adolescents' Social Media Emotional Investment Moderates the Association between Cybervictimization and Internalizing Symptoms.

This study examined whether the association between cybervictimization and internalizing symptoms was moderated by adolescents' emotional connectedness to their social media. Participants were 288 adolescents (54.9% male participants) with (n = 151) and without (n = 137) attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) between the ages of 13 and 15years (M = 14.09, SD = 0.36). Adolescents reported on social integration and emotional connection (SIEC) to social media and parents reported on their impression of their adolescent's SIEC to social media. Adolescents also reported on cybervictimization experiences and internalizing symptoms. Adolescents with ADHD had higher cybervictimization scores than adolescents without ADHD and were also more likely to report multiple experiences of cybervictimization over the past month. Emotional investment in social media moderated the relations between cybervictimization and internalizing symptoms such that cybervictimization was associated with higher anxiety and depression symptoms at higher levels of emotional investment in social media. Results were consistent across both parent and adolescent report of social integration and emotional connection to social media. These findings indicate that cybervictimization may be associated with negative outcomes specifically among adolescents with a strong emotional connection to their social media use.

Measuring the Effectiveness of Social Media in a B2B Scenario in India

Digitalisation is a global phenomenon that is a worthwhile proposition for the development of any nation’s economy. Social media contributes significantly to the development of an economy by the spreading and democratisation of information through global players, such as Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn etc. According to a Forbes report in 2017, these digital platforms create new ecosystems and business models for business owners and entrepreneurs. Whilst a report by Statista in 2020 states that there were 3.6 billion social media users worldwide and the number is expected to grow to 4.4 billion by 2025. Return on Investment (ROI) measurement of social media, which is a very important component for organisations to evaluate its success or effectiveness, remains a major challenge for organisations, despite number of attempts having been made by experts in the field. This study is aimed at understanding how the success and effectiveness of social media is measured in a B2B scenario. Various frameworks on social media ROI measurement are critically evaluated. Then, a tool for measuring social media ROI is developed, such that businesses will be able to evaluate their social media investments. The instrument covers 14 variables over four dimensions. The results indicate that respondents perceived organic return as the most important dimension. It is also evident that brand testament is found the least perceived dimension for measuring the social media ROI.

Impact of Social Media and Photo-Editing Practice on Seeking Cosmetic Dermatology Care.

BackgroundThe use of social media and photo-editing practice has grown enormously over the past decades. Photo editing can alter a person’s desire to look better in photographs posted on social media platforms.ObjectiveTo assess the cosmetic dermatology seeking behavior of social media users and those who edit photographs before posting them on social media platforms.MethodsA validated self-administered structured questionnaire via Google form was sent to 550 social media users in Nepal. It included 5 sub-headings: use of social networking sites, photo-editing practices, awareness and motivation about cosmetic dermatology care, cosmetic dermatology care seeking behavior and self-esteem.ResultsFacebook and Instagram were the preferred social networking sites for posting photographs. One-fourth of the participants edited >40% of the total photos posted in social media. Hiding skin lesions was the most common reason (36.3%) for photograph editing. Fifty percent of the respondents felt the need to look better; repair skin damage; be able to look good without make up; look younger; feel happier and improve total quality of life as a “lot and top” motivation for using the cosmetic dermatological procedures. A majority preferred to seek cosmetic dermatology care from non-dermatologists because they felt dermatologist visit was not needed, the services were costly and they could not visit due to their busy schedule. On multivariate analysis, respondents who were aware of skin care favored seeking cosmetic dermatology care from dermatologists.ConclusionHigher investment in social media and photo-editing practices might be associated with increased non-dermatologist seeking behavior.

Young adults' romantic investment behaviors on social media

AbstractAccording to Rusbult's (1980) investment model, relationships are built and maintained through continual investment in one partner over potential alternative partners. Social media have continued to become more integrated into people's personal lives, with romantic relationship processes often unfolding in this new landscape. A large body of extant literature has explored how social media influence ongoing romantic relationships, but less is known about how social media facilitate relationship transitions (i.e., initiation, dissolution) and associated investment behaviors. In a large and diverse sample (N = 1521), we examine young adults' (18–29 years) social media investment behaviors around the beginnings and ends of their relationships, with a particular focus on how gender, age, and sexual orientation influence behaviors such as posting and removing of images with partners, following and un‐following partners and members of partners' social networks, direct messaging, and commenting on partners' posts. Our results suggest that men and sexual minorities more often engage in investment behaviors earlier in the relationship and after relationship dissolution. However, women and sexual minorities more often engage in disinvestment behaviors after dissolution, including removing traces of an ex‐partner from one's page and blocking them on social media entirely. Our results provide further understanding of how young American adults are enacting each relationship stage on social media and how the intersection of social media and romantic relationships differs by demographic factors.

How does consumer engagement evolve when brands post across multiple social media?

Brands allocate their social media advertising across multiple platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube. Because consumers use multiple social media, brand communications on one platform could generate engagement within the same platform (direct effects) and potentially impact engagement with the brand on the other platforms (spillover effects). Additionally, past engagement with a post on a platform could sustain into the future, thereby improving the longevity of posts (carryover effects). These effects could also vary across platforms. Drawing on recent advertising literature, the authors propose and test differential carryover, spillover, and direct effects within and across social media. The empirical analysis indicates that these effects exist and are significant, supporting the propositions presented. The analysis provides generalizable guidelines to social media marketers on the effectiveness of the various platforms at sustaining a post and at creating direct and spillover effects across other platforms. Finally, the study also exemplifies a resource allocation model for brands to use when allocating their efforts across the various social media platforms to maximize both consumer engagement and the firm’s return on social media investment.

From social capital to consumer engagement: the mediating role of consumer e-empowerment

PurposeThis paper fulfills a prominent need to examine some overlooked predictors of consumer engagement in an online setting. This study aims to explore whether and how consumer e-empowerment mediates the influence of social capital (bonding and bridging) on consumer engagement with the Facebook brand page.Design/methodology/approachBased on an online questionnaire survey, data obtained from 369 Facebook users were analyzed by using structural equation modeling to empirically examine the proposed framework.FindingsResults support an influential mediating effect of consumer e-empowerment to the social capital -consumer engagement link. Specifically, the effect of both bridging and bonding social capitals on consumer engagement is partially mediated by consumer e-empowerment.Research limitations/implicationsThe social capital notion is powerful for managers, as it indicates significant results for the firm due to investments in social media brand pages. Such social capital transmutes into consumer engagement via consumer e-empowerment. Therefore, this paper provides a guideline for managers when investing in social media sites.Originality/valueThis paper fulfills an identified need to study how social capital may affect consumer engagement. The paper is a leading study in investigating the direct and indirect (via consumer e-empowerment) effects of bonding and bridging social capitals on consumer brand engagement.