The Influence of Social Media on Nutritional Behavior and Purchase Intention Among Millennials

Abstract

The purpose of this exploratory cross-sectional study was to investigate the effect of social media on dietary behavior, and to identify motivations and behavioral outcomes of peers and influencers communication in social media regarding food purchase behavior. The theory of consumer socialization was used as the theoretical framework for this study. Data was collected from 462 social media Saudi millennials through an online survey. Results showed that when Millennials communicate with peers or influencers in social media, the main motivations appeared to be similar for both socialization agents. Both interaction and social integration and remuneration motivations appeared to have significant impact with the greatest impact for influencers. The increasing popularity of social media as a new form of communication especially among young consumers should be taken into consideration. The power of peers and influencers in consumers purchase decisions implies that managers should consider concentrating in using peer and influencers as an important form of marketing communication. This research paper Contributes to the scarce literature investigating the effect of social media on dietary behavior of both peers and influencers communication in social media regarding food purchase behavior.