Saudi Cultural Missions Theses & Dissertations
Permanent URI for this communityhttps://drepo.sdl.edu.sa/handle/20.500.14154/10
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Item Restricted Bridging Tradition And Modernity: People’s Perceptions of Social Media's Impact on Realizing Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030(Ohio University, 2025-05) Alharethi, Mesfer; Khan, LaeeqThis research investigates how nation branding and social media influence public perceptions and travel intentions regarding Saudi Arabia, particularly in the context of Vision 2030. The study evaluates the impact of platforms such as TikTok on emotional engagement and travel motivations by analyzing the interplay between push and pull factors. A descriptive, cross-sectional correlational approach was employed, gathering data through an online survey of 426 Saudi nationals aged 18 and above who regularly engage with social media. Inferential statistics reveal that nation branding as measured by knowledge of Vision 2030 significantly correlates with increased knowledge of tourism opportunities (r = .519, p < .001) and travel intentions (r = .259, p < .001). Emotional appeal was also a critical factor, as respondents who followed TikTok influencers creating Saudi tourism content exhibited significantly higher emotional perceptions (t = 5.20, p < .001). In addition, a strong correlation was found between push factors (r = .507, p < .001), pull factors (r = .463, p < .001), and the likelihood of considering Saudi Arabia as a tourist destination. The results highlight how incorporating social media into nation branding efforts can drive significant change. By offering empirical data on the influence of TikTok, this research contributes to academic discourse while delivering actionable recommendations to support the tourism goals of Vision 2030.15 0Item Restricted Analysing the Transformative Impact of TikTok Virality on Accelerating E-Commerce Brand Growth and Expansion(University of Essex, 2024-10-03) Alghamdi, Yasser; Sampson, TonyGlobal business is greatly impacted by social media and interactive platforms. Social media platforms aid in the growth of enterprises within financial constraints. These kinds of platforms are especially necessary for e-commerce companies, as they allow for improved brand growth and expansion in the international marketplace through interesting content, interactive options, and influencer benefits. With its ability to facilitate influencer marketing, content analysis, and customer interaction through data analysis, TikTok is becoming a platform that is rapidly expanding globally. The platform acquires the vast majority of the clients of a company without any further effort because of the influencer marketing help. In this context, the study aims to emphasise how TikTok virality has a revolutionary effect on e- commerce brand growth and expansion. The study also intends to concentrate on the elements, significance, and difficulties that TikTok has encountered or is currently encountering in order to hasten the expansion of e-commerce firms. The findings of the study revealed that one of the biggest social media networks, TikTok, has been promoting e- commerce businesses through a variety of techniques such as content recommendations, influencer marketing, and even viral challenges made by influencers to draw attention to the brands. While acknowledging this, it may also be claimed that these procedures enhance public perception of the brand, demonstrating TikTok's support for the expansion of e- commerce brands in the commercial sector. Furthermore, based on the particular data, it appears that the Gen Z demographic prefers influence marketing on the aforementioned social media platform since they have a better understanding of the product's reality.8 0Item Restricted CONTEXTUALIZING TIKTOK CONTROVERSIES: CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF PLATFORM PRIVACY DEBATES(University of Central Florida, 2024) Alharazi, Bshaer; Salter, AnastasiaThis study focuses on online news coverage of TikTok's privacy policies to uncover accusations related to security threats between October 2020 and May 2023. Using critical discourse analysis, the research compares TikTok's discourse with other platforms like Facebook and YouTube, highlighting the role of governments, tech companies, and users in shaping this discourse. Furthermore, it demonstrates how cultural and political factors influence privacy discussions, particularly regarding the controversies, discussions, and accusations between the United States and China. AI tool ChatGPT analyzes the discourse by focusing on the news texts' most prominent topics and keywords. The goal is to identify key themes for each highlighted keyword to answer the following questions: (1) How does TikTok's privacy policy construct notions of privacy and security? (2) How do shareholders discuss potential risks in TikTok’s privacy policies? (3) What are the risks of privacy violations and TikTok's global implications? This research asserts that when analyzed alongside the privacy policy discourses of other major social media platforms, TikTok's privacy policies reveal significant implications for cybersecurity, particularly in the context of informed consent. The findings highlight the interplay of cultural, political, and economic factors, emphasizing the urgent need for continuous monitoring and accountability in digital privacy-seeking risk assessment and minimizing.53 0Item Restricted The Influence of NWOM By Beauty Community Influencers in TikTok On Brand Image(Queen Mary University of London, 2024-08-15) Alharthani, Shahad; Sheng, JieBackground: The increasing influence of social media, particularly TikTok, has transformed the landscape of digital marketing, where influencers play a pivotal role in shaping consumer perceptions and brand image. While much of previous literature has focused on the positive impacts of influencer marketing, there is limited understanding of the negative word-ofmouth (NWOM) effects, particularly through the phenomenon of "deinfluencing," where influencers publicly criticize brands. Purpose: This study aims to explore the impact of deinfluencing on brand image and consumer perceptions within the beauty community on TikTok. It seeks to fill the gap in existing literature by examining how negative endorsements by influencers affect consumer perception of brands. Method: Utilizing a qualitative research approach, this study employs netnography to analyze comments from TikTok videos involving an influencer's deceitful marketing campaign and a deinfluencer's response. Sentiment analysis using VADER, supported by manual review and cross-examination with other tools like TextBlob and MonkeyLearn, provides a comprehensive understanding of audience reactions. Findings: The study reveals that deinfluencing significantly impacts influencer credibility when involved in deceitful marketing campaigns. While the majority of comments expressed negative sentiments toward the influencer for their deceptive practices, only a small percentage criticized the brand. In contrast, the findings also show that deinfluencers can increase their credibility through their criticising of brands and their products.38 0Item Restricted User Hostile Design: A Comparative Analysis of Dark Patterns on Instagram and TikTok(University of Sussex, 2024-09-10) Sendi, Khadejh Saddik; Berry, DavidThis dissertation discusses the importance of understanding and addressing user-hostile design practices, specifically dark patterns, by undertaking a research project on Instagram and TikTok. The research examines how these platforms use manipulative interface designs to influence user behaviour, exploiting biases for economic gain while compromising user autonomy and privacy. Using the methods of a comparative case study approach, supported by over 100 screenshots and frameworks like Political Economy, Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), and Actor-Network Theory (ANT), the study systematically identifies the deployment of dark patterns such as Privacy Zuckering, Forced Action, Preselection, and Confirmshaming. The main findings are that Instagram employs more visually overt and frequent dark patterns, while TikTok uses subtler manipulative techniques. Both platforms tend to combine multiple patterns in ways that reinforce each other, particularly in areas involving privacy and user control. The conclusions are that these dark patterns pose significant ethical challenges, suggesting a need for stronger regulations and design guidelines to safeguard user rights and privacy in digital environments.47 0Item Restricted The Role of Social Media Use Among Young Adults as it Relates to Fruits and Vegetables Intake and a Content Analysis of Fruits and Vegetables Videos on YouTube and TikTok(Saudi Digital Library, 2023-03-30) Nakshbandi, Sarah; Coccia, CatherineYoung adults have low fruits and vegetables intake, high use of social media, including YouTube and TikTok, and rely on social media to obtain nutrition information, which may affect food intake. This study examined the quality and reliability of fruits and vegetables videos on YouTube and TikTok using content analysis. A cross-sectional survey was also administered to young adults to examine the association between Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) constructs, including nutrition knowledge, social support, outcome expectation, reciprocal determinism, self-efficacy, and social media use on fruits and vegetables intake. Gender differences were also examined. The study analyzed 50 popular videos from YouTube and TikTok. Half of the YouTube videos were of good quality and reliability. Nearly half of TikTok videos were of moderate quality and poor reliability. Nutrition knowledge videos had the highest quality and reliability scores, 5 and 4, respectively. Online health organizations had minimal participation on YouTube. On TikTok, there were no nutrition knowledge videos, no videos from health organizations, and limited videos created by healthcare professionals. The study also included surveys with 275 young adults aged (18-30). Survey findings showed that higher reciprocal determinism, outcome expectations, and social support were correlated with higher self-efficacy to eat more fruits and vegetables (beta=.134, p=.052), (beta=.134, p=.022), and (beta=.421, p=<.001), respectively. Higher social media use was found to have an inverse relationship with self-efficacy to eat fruits and vegetables (beta=-.140, p=.010). Higher nutrition knowledge, self-efficacy, and social support were correlated with a higher daily intake of fruits and vegetables (beta=.149, p=.017), (beta=.269, p=<.001), and (beta=.287, p=.001), respectively. However, higher social media use was not correlated with a higher daily intake of fruits and vegetables (beta=.089, p=.157). There were no gender differences in social media use, self-efficacy, or total fruits and vegetables intake. Young adults' self-efficacy to consume fruits and vegetables may be negatively impacted by exposure to low-quality food content, like what was found on TikTok. These results may also indicate that social media use could be a useful nutrition education tool. Improved SCT constructs may assist young adults in enhancing their daily fruits and vegetables intake and self-efficacy. Further research is needed.24 0