Date of Award

1-12-2017

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Journalism, MSMC

First Advisor

Po-Lin Pan

Committee Members

Manu Bhandari; Marceline Thompson-Hayes

Call Number

LD 251 .A566t 2016 A44

Abstract

Instagram has become one of the most important destinations for shopping between individuals in Saudi society, especially among the younger generations, who use it on a daily basis. This study was designed to examine how Saudis employed Instagram as a marketing channel and why they preferred using Instagram for shopping over other social media platforms. The Uses and Gratification Theory was employed to gain an in-depth understanding of the reasons behind Saudis using Instagram to shop and the way this activity affected their lives. This study surveyed 2,117 Saudis who use Instagram in order to explore potential correlations with website credibility, materialism, self-esteem, and purchasing involvement. A survey was used to answer the proposed hypotheses and research questions. The results found strong correlations between certain variables, namely the amount of Instagram use, degree of materialism, and level of self-esteem.

Rights Management

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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Social Media Commons

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