#SocialMediaWellness: Exploring a research agenda and conceptualization for healthy social media consumption

Abstract

The crossroads of scholar and marketer concerns related to healthy social media usage is where this study extends the burgeoning literature on consumer well‐being in the digital area by exploring the topic of social media wellness, made more salient during the pandemic era. Consumers spend increasing amounts of time on social media despite experiencing numerous negative repercussions. Various disciplines have contributed to the examination of this topic; however, scant research has been conducted within the consumer research or marketing disciplines. Therefore, this paper aims to shed light on the need for social media wellness by (1) highlighting issues related to social media consumption, (2) introducing a conceptual definition of social media wellness, (3) exploring consumers' perceptions and experiences of social media usage through topic analysis, and (4) providing a research agenda for scholars to pursue. Following an exploratory observation of common topics surrounding social media wellness, specific hashtags and their corresponding posts were gathered from Twitter and then examined using the topic modeling method Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA). Implications and future research are discussed accordingly.

Are Your Students Aware of Social Media Wellness? A Necessary Macromarketing Curriculum Extension

“…SM wellness is defined as the optimum state of well-being a consumer pursues while intentionally managing SM consumption accessible on mobile devices and other digital technology through the awareness of how such consumption affects one's mental health, well-being, and priorities (Mertz et al 2023). SM usage is inherently related to consumption for its users, and such consumption is tied to positive outcomes like enhanced connectedness, social capital, and social support when they are part of an online community (Green and Elliott 2010; Merolli et al 2013; Valenzuela et al 2009).…”

“…We have seen growing acknowledgment of the negative implications of SM through traditional media, consumer discourse, and even firm documentaries (e.g., Lush's SM boycott, #SocialMediaDetox, The Social Dilemma, and TikTok Boom). As the COVID-19 pandemic turned consumers and marketers to screens for daily interactions, SM consumption became relied upon and potentially created additional awareness of overuse and burnout from SM (Mertz et al 2023). Regardless, the time consumers spend on SM applications has continued to rise, with an increase of over 63% in the last decade (Dixon 2022).…”

“…Thus, we argue for an updated integration of SM into the marketing curricula, one that acknowledges and supports these developing side effects of SM consumption: SM wellness . SM wellness is a facet of digital wellness that recognizes consumers’ desire for an optimum state of well-being while intentionally managing their SM consumption (Mertz et al 2023).…”

Peer‐to‐peer community on social media: An exploratory cross‐cultural study

“…Is the psychological "we feeling" enough for consumers, or can the realization of being talked up by a chat robot have severe negative consequences for consumer well-being? Future research can examine consumer well-being in response to these new technologies when used in conjunction with social media (Ambika et al, 2023;Mertz et al, 2023). In addition, looking at these questions from a global perspective could be fruitful as various countries adopt or ban these technologies and/ or social media platform consumption (Soo, 2023).…”