Espelho, espelho meu: qual a insegurança que a internet me deu? : uma análise sobre a influência das redes sociais no comportamento de consumo de jovens mulheres

Abstract

Social media plays a fundamental role in the daily lives of the population, especially among young Brazilian women, influencing the way they communicate, consume, and construct their perception of themselves. This research aimed to analyze how exposure to social media relates to the intensification of insecurities associated with appearance among young women from the city of João Pessoa (PB), in addition to investigating its main impacts on the consumption behavior of beauty products. The research, of a qualitative and exploratory nature, was conducted through semi-structured interviews with ten consumers of cosmetics, aged between 15 and 21 years, selected through convenience and snowball sampling methods. The data, organized into five categories, were analyzed based on the content analysis technique proposed by Bardin (2016). The results suggest that exposure to social media is related to processes of social comparison, self-image construction, and the intensification of appearance-related insecurities, as well as being associated with the emergence of consumption desires and needs perceived by the participants. Overall, the accounts indicate that the use of social media is associated with relevant impacts on self-image and on the consumption behavior of the interviewed participants.