Are Your Students Aware of Social Media Wellness? A Necessary Macromarketing Curriculum Extension

Abstract

Social media wellness is an emerging topic due to the numerous adverse effects of social media (SM) usage, yet it is an uncommon topic in marketing curricula and research. This paper introduces this novel topic as an opportunity to extend macromarketing curricula. Following a class survey and activity, an analysis of 187 respondents indicates that the majority of students feel that too much SM consumption may impact their time management, course success, and well-being. Many students note they consume more SM than desired, and they overwhelmingly agree that this topic should be included in marketing curricula and that marketers should consider consumers’ SM wellness. These findings highlight the importance of the SM wellness topic integration into course materials to enhance students’ awareness and behavior with SM, with an opportunity to enhance systems-thinking. We close with recommended resources and activities where students take an active role to reflect, critically evaluate, and ideate on how this impacts consumers and marketers.