To conclude, my investigation highlighted that the rise of e-commerce due to digitalisation has had a profound effect on audiences, subsequently affecting their shopping habits alongside their wellbeing. Many aspects over the years such as accessibility, and the Covid-19 pandemic have been catalysts for the converting audiences shopping in store to online. Platforms such as Instagram, YouTube and TikTok have had a huge role to play in this also, with influencers constantly bombarding users with the latest clothes and link has created a lifestyle heavily enforcing the narrative that fulfilment can be achieved through materialistic goods. This societal belief then subsequently affects people’s finical situations and wellbeing.

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My findings heavily reflect Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs theory. Maslow believed that that an audience are motivated by needs. The audience satisfy their needs, and once one set of needs is reached, they start looking to satisfy the next level need. An audience are always motivated by their needs as it progresses upward. Maslow’s hierarchy has 5 steps: physiological, safety, belonging, esteem, and self-actualization. The issue with this in terms of online shopping and overconsumption is that we are presented with the ideology that we are never satisfied, which is why people constantly purchase products. 

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If I was to continue with my research, I would gather a larger sample group in order to gain more results. I would also take gender into account, as the majority of my sample group identified as female. I think that this will of altered my results slightly, as a female audience and a male audience engage with social media and online shopping differently. 

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Bibliography 

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Koltko-Rivera. (2006). Rediscovering the Later Version of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs: Self-Transcendence and Opportunities for Theory, Research, and Unification. Review of General Psychology, 10(4), 302–317. https://doi.org/10.1037/1089-2680.10.4.302

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