Prabha Kiran, Rumki Bandyopadhyay, Puja Chhabra Sharma, M.R. Vanithamani, Monika Gadre and Gautam Bapat
Purpose-Fears regarding the effects of social media marketing on users' mental health have emerged in tandem with the phenomenon's meteoric surge in popularity. “This paper’s main objective is to shed light on the effect of social media marketing use on psychological well-being.” Incorporating insights from other areas of research, it offers a more in-depth examination of the phenomena by focusing on a variety of moderators, such as different forms of social capital (such as bonding and bridging social capital), social isolation, and smartphone dependence. Methodology- The report comprises a quantitative analysis utilising structural equation modelling (SEM) on a sample of 433 social media users who are students from the Delhi/National Capital Region. Findings- The results suggest that social media marketing use has a favourable indirect effect on mental health, most likely as a result of the benefits gained from increased social capital through connecting and bridging. Social implications-Practitioners interested in mitigating the harmful effects of social media marketing use on mental health would do well to take note of these results. Negative effects on mental health have been linked to social media marketing use, such as smartphone addiction and social isolation. However, these effects may be mitigated if social media marketing promotes and facilitates relationships with both strong and weak ties. Originality-This work helps to resolve the contradictions identified thus far in the literature by providing actual evidence and robust statistical analysis showing that both positive and negative impacts coexist.