Social Media Usage in Consumer Behavior Evaluation

Dear Colleagues,

As we all know, social media platforms have transformed the way we relate throughout the world, and their growth has been unstoppable in recent years. Nowadays, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or WhatsApp have become indispensable tools for millions of people who devote several hours a day using social media to communicate and relate with one another.

Previous research has shown that the use of social media can improve human interaction and psychological wellbeing (Baumer, 2013), users’ civic engagement (Obar et al., 2012), and learning processes (Garrett and Cutting, 2012). However, is the use of social media always positive? And is user behavior in social media sustainable, responsible, and ethical?

The literature demonstrates that use of social media sometimes becomes abusive, generating excessive dependence. Its inappropriate use can produce psychological discomfort and symptomatology comparable to an addiction (Barbera et al., 2009; Renau et al., 2015), in addition to being accompanied by a diminished sense of volitional control and the induction of persistent activity (Thomée et al., 2011).

Unsustainable use of social media can also cause serious personal problems and lead to the loss of social involvement, social engagement, or social activities (Caplan and High, 2006; Sriwilai and Charoensukmongkol, 2016; Tokunaga, 2011), causing negative upheavals within affected persons (Rosen et al, 2013; Sriwilai and Charoensukmongkol, 2016), reduced social self-esteem (Valkenburg et al. 2006), in addition to producing high levels of stress that are derived, in large part, from the need to be up-to-date not only in the level of knowledge but also in the use of these social media platforms (Lee et al., 2014; Qin et al., 2011).

In addition to the foregoing, irresponsible, or unethical behavior resulting from non-compliance with the rules and principles governing virtual communities, we can also include certain other actions as negative outcomes, such as, for example, the creation and use of anonymous profiles for disqualifying and sometimes criminal purposes, spam, inappropriate content, and the use of inappropriate vocabulary, among others (Duncan-Daston et al., 2013).

This Special Issue welcomes a wide variety of academic disciplines encompassing different methodological approaches that will allow for an expanded view of unsustainable, irresponsible, or unethical behavior in relation to the use of social media.

Prof. Javier Sánchez-García
Prof. Silvia Sanz-Blas
Guest Editors

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