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Consumer sentiment: The influence of social media

Author

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  • Zhang, Zhengfa
  • Keasey, Kevin
  • Lambrinoudakis, Costas
  • Mascia, Danilo V.

Abstract

Since the late 1940s consumer sentiment has been used by policy makers, companies and investors as an indicator of economic mood. However, the rapid growth and spread of social media has changed the landscape of the consumer. By using a unique hand-collected dataset of more than 11 million influencers’ posts, we test whether consumer sentiment is related to social media influencer sentiment. We find consumer sentiment, after testing for endogeneity concerns, is robustly related to different categories of influencer sentiment across different groupings of individuals.

Suggested Citation

  • Zhang, Zhengfa & Keasey, Kevin & Lambrinoudakis, Costas & Mascia, Danilo V., 2024. "Consumer sentiment: The influence of social media," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 237(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolet:v:237:y:2024:i:c:s0165176524001216
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econlet.2024.111638
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Arteaga-Garavito, Maria Jose & Croce, Mariano M. & Farroni, Paolo & Wolfskeil, Isabella, 2024. "When the markets get CO.V.I.D: COntagion, Viruses, and Information Diffusion," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
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    Cited by:

    1. Iwona Kaczmarek & Adam Iwaniak & Grzegorz Chrobak & Jan K. Kazak, 2025. "Integrating media sentiment with traditional economic indicators: a study on PMI, CCI, and employment during COVID-19 period in Poland," Journal of Computational Social Science, Springer, vol. 8(2), pages 1-23, May.
    2. G Sunil Choudhary & G. Yamuna, 2025. "The Social Media Factor: Assessing Influencer Impact on Investment Risk Perception and Decision-Making," The Review of Finance and Banking, Academia de Studii Economice din Bucuresti, Romania / Facultatea de Finante, Asigurari, Banci si Burse de Valori / Catedra de Finante, vol. 17(1), pages 7-24, June.
    3. Chen, Xiaohui & Choi, Paul Moon Sub & Kim, Sang-Joon & Lee, Jangwook & Kim, Seung-Hee, 2025. "Do influencers pay? Evidence from the Internet celebrity economy in China," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).

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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • D1 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior
    • D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis

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