Title: Understanding consumerism within Western and Muslim based societies: Twitter usage of Saudi and American consumers

Authors: Othman Althawadi; John Fraedrich; Allam Abu Farha

Addresses: College of Business and Economics, Qatar University, Qatar ' College of Business, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, 62901, USA ' College of Business & Economics, Qatar University, Qatar

Abstract: Consumerism was defined and studied as protection and active participation in negative business issues that directly affect the consumer. The consumerism model is based on the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) using social media (Twitter) to determine any significant differences between two divergent cultures and economies: Saudi Arabia and the USA. Our results suggest a partial fit to the model. The equivalent significant findings for both samples are as follows: 1) Consumers with negative perceptions of government regulatory practices have a more positive attitude towards consumerism; 2) Both countries have a positive subjective norm, intention, and behaviour for consumerism. Our findings found that Saudi consumers have a higher level of intent to engage in consumerism behaviours via Twitter than American consumers. Finally, Saudi consumers have a negative perception of government regulatory practices that can be attributed to its restricted civil society relative to the USA.

Keywords: consumerism; consumer activism; consumer movement; TPB; theory of planned behaviour; Twitter.

DOI: 10.1504/JGBA.2021.115743

Journal for Global Business Advancement, 2021 Vol.14 No.2, pp.192 - 215

Received: 09 Feb 2018
Accepted: 10 Apr 2018
Published online: 21 Jun 2021 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article