Dr. Ashley Hass, Professor of Marketing
Research Highlights
Focusing on digital marketing, social media influencers, and consumer’s digital and social media wellness.
“Social Media (SM) Wellness” is the optimum state of well-being that a consumer pursues while intentionally managing SM consumption accessible on mobile devices and other digital technology through the awareness of how such consumption affects one’s mental health, and priorities (Mertz et al., 2023).
Societal Impact
- There’s a growing amount of research on how social media has the potential to negatively impact all people, whether they are children, young adults, or even older adults.
- Industry leaders like the US Surgeon General and the American Psychology Association specifically are sounding the alarms about those negative effects on our youth.
- Social media can lead to increased anxiety, depression, and even suicidal ideation. Those on social media can struggle with body dissatisfaction & self-esteem.
- The answer is not to ban the use of smartphones and social media, but to rather figure out how we can build a healthy relationship with technology and social media.
- In terms of businesses, burnout is also growing so understanding how social media wellness impacts employees is super important.
- Our findings show this is something consumers are increasingly caring about, and there is a growing young segment of consumers who are rejecting smartphones and social media.
Student Impact
- Gen Z students are more anxious than ever entering into college during a time when there is a lot going on with the world. For more about this, Dr. Hass recommends the book The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt.
- Social media can also be a source of stress for them.
- Our research found the awareness of SM Wellness can impact the potential for changing student’s behavior to change and be intentional with screen time.
- There are no textbooks in marketing as of our publication that talks about SM wellness, so our goal is to spread the word and give students that power when it comes to awareness.
Spotlights
- Certified this summer from the Digital Wellness Institute as a “Digital Wellness Educator.”
- Numerous published works including: Mertz, B. A., Hass, A., Anderson, K. C., Kaskela, T., & Zmich, L. J. (2023). #SocialMediaWellness: Exploring a research agenda and conceptualization for healthy social media consumption. Journal of Consumer Behaviour, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1002/cb.2179
- Dr. Hass is published in the Journal of Consumer Behaviour, the Journal of Macromarketing, the Journal of Consumer Marketing, and Marketing Education Review, among others.
Connect
To connect with Dr. Ashley Hass, please email – hassa@up.edu
Or visit her website at – www.ashleyhass.com
Contribute
Help Dr. Hass and the Pamplin School of Business Faculty continue their research. Your contribution will directly impact students and society!
