The effect of social media interaction on young adults’ purchase decisions for products advertised on social networks

Abstract

Background: Social media platforms have transformed how young adults receive, evaluate and respond to marketing messages. Despite increasing research on digital consumer behaviour, integrated empirical evidence on how social media interaction influences all stages of consumer decision-making remains limited in Arab and Middle Eastern contexts.
Aim: This study examines the effect of social media interaction on young adults’ purchase decisions regarding products advertised on social networks, focusing on millennial consumers in Egypt and the Middle East.
Setting: Egypt and the Middle East.
Methods: A quantitative cross-sectional survey design was employed using an online self-administered questionnaire distributed across major social media platforms. A total of 348 valid responses were collected from millennials aged 21 years – 40 years. Reliability and validity tests confirmed the instrument’s robustness (Cronbach’s α = 0.87). Data were analysed using Pearson correlation and simple linear regression.
Results: Social media interaction had a statistically significant positive effect on all six stages of consumer decision-making, with the strongest effects on need recognition (R² = 0.428) and information search (R² = 0.298). Overall, it explained 39.2% of the variance in purchasing behaviour (R² = 0.392).
Conclusion: The study provides empirical evidence from an underrepresented Arab market, contributing to consumer behaviour theory and digital marketing practice.
Contribution: It offers an integrated framework linking social media interaction to the sequential stages of millennial consumer decision-making.