Kathryn Ann Villacrusis Concepcion

Marketing (Sunway) | Year 3 | Degree: BSc (Hons) Business Studies

Social media as a tool for social change: A study on the drivers of Gen Z's in behavioural change

Social media has become commonplace in spurring social change due to its propensity for representation which has opened doors for activism amongst Gen Z’s. Thus, societal transformation has moved to the forefront with companies being urged to act with changed marketplace expectations. This study aims to explore social media as a tool for social change, regarding minority groups, as well as identify the motives that influence Gen Z’s behavioral change. From the revision of literature, the Communication for Social Change model and the Motivation, Attention, Design model have been used to develop a conceptual framework to understand how the process of social change relates to individual social media actions. 10 Gen Z’s, in Malaysia, have partaken in providing qualitative data through the form of interviews. Thematic coding along with in-depth analysis led to findings that reveal dualities in social media’s role for social change and thus, supporting the conceptual framework. However, some findings discover unique relationships between themes and negative sentiments, not explored by the framework, which can be studied in future research. The results of this study serve to aid corporations, policymakers and social marketing scholars by contributing to theoretical applications in the design of social marketing interventions.

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