Digital influence and conscious consumerism: how social media shapes Saudi Women’s Ramadan purchase behavior

Abstract

This study tests an integrated model of how social media dependence, advertising content type, and influencer-related social proof shape conscious consumer behavior among Saudi women during Ramadan, and examines whether this relationship is homogeneous across age, education, and income. A cross-sectional survey of 408 Saudi women was conducted during Ramadan 1447 AH (2026 CE) using a 29-item validated questionnaire and non-probability purposive sampling. Data was analyzed using simple linear regression, PROCESS macro mediation (Model 4), and Kruskal–Wallis tests. Social media platform reliance was significantly associated with conscious consumer behavior (R 2  = 0.436, β  = 0.660, p  < .001); authentic personal content was a stronger predictor of engagement than promotional content (R 2  = 0.488, β  = 0.699, p  < .001); and social proof cues were more strongly associated with purchase-relevant trust than direct influencer endorsement (R 2  = 0.417, β  = 0.646, p  < .001). Content-engagement interaction fully mediated the path from content type to conscious consumer behavior ( β  = 0.371, 95% CI [0.282, 0.463]). No significant differences by age, education, or income were observed (Kruskal–Wallis, all p  > .05, η 2  < .01). Implications: These findings suggest that, within this sample, engagement-driven and social-proof-driven mechanisms are more strongly associated with conscious purchase behavior than direct promotional or influencer-led messaging, and that the Ramadan period may be associated with reduced demographic differentiation in social media-driven consumer behavior. Contributions: This study offers an empirically tested integrated framework linking media dependence, content processing, and social validation mechanisms to conscious consumer behavior in a Ramadan-specific, Saudi female sample, and proposes two theoretical propositions for further testing—the “influencer paradox” and the “Ramadan cultural universality hypothesis.”