The Role of Social Media in the Creation of Young People’s Consumer Identities

Bibliographic Data

ID16913170
AuthorsTerhi-Anna Wilska (0000-0001-7516-7356, University of Jyväskylä, corresponding author), Matilda Holkkola (0000-0002-8340-8524, University of Jyväskylä), Jouni Tuominen (0000-0002-1762-6697, University of Jyväskylä)
Year2023
Volume13
Issue2
Publication date2023-04-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSAGE Open (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2158-2440 • E-ISSN: 2158-2440
PublisherSAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/21582440231177030
OpenAlexW4378220387
LanguageEN
Citations received16
References cited53

This article explores how young people construct and express their consumer identities via their consumption styles on social media. The importance of commercial content on social media, such as the postings of social media influencers and advertisers, has been increasing during the past years. Framed by theories on social identity, social comparison and consumer socialization, we analysed focus group discussions with 15 to 19-year-old teenagers in Finland ( N = 35). The results reveal that the participants had a clear understanding of their consumer identities: what kind of consumers they were and what they did not want to be. The consumption styles: luxury brand-oriented, trendy second-hand and sustainable, were heavily affected by social media, particularly by commercial social media influencers. Although our sample of young people was rather small, the results were consistent with other studies, and provided deeper understanding of the important role of commercial social media in young people’s consumption styles. Thereby, the research brings social media more tightly into the process of young consumers’ identity formation. For today’s young people, consumer identity is a major part of social identity which is greatly affected by social media. This is should be acknowledged by commercial actors, educators and consumer policy makers

Advertising · Business · Consumer behaviour · Focus group · Influencer marketing · Political science · Social group · Social identity theory · Social media · Social science · Socialization · Sociology · Consumer Behavior in Brand Consumption and Identification · Digital Marketing and Social Media · Gender, Feminism, and Media · Psychology · Social Psychology · Marketing

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