Abstract

The rapid expansion of social media platforms has fundamentally transformed consumer behavior, brand communication, and digital influence dynamics within contemporary marketing ecosystems. Consumers no longer function solely as passive recipients of marketing content; instead, they actively shape brand perception through advocacy, criticism, emotional engagement, and peer-to-peer influence mechanisms. Despite the growing importance of social media interactions in influencing purchasing behavior, existing research remains fragmented regarding how positive advocacy, negative criticism, and emotional engagement collectively shape consumer decision-making processes. Furthermore, limited theoretical integration exists between digital consumer influence, emotional engagement analytics, and intelligent behavioral prediction systems. In response to these gaps, this study introduces the concept of Digital Consumer Influence Intelligence (DCII) as a novel interdisciplinary framework designed to explain how social media advocacy, criticism, and emotional engagement interact to influence purchasing behavior in digital environments. The primary objective of this research is to investigate the multidimensional impact of social media-based consumer interactions on purchase intentions and actual purchasing behavior while identifying the psychological, emotional, and behavioral mechanisms underlying digital consumer influence. The study further examines how advocacy and criticism generate asymmetric effects on trust formation, brand perception, and consumer engagement across social media ecosystems. To achieve these objectives, the research integrates perspectives from consumer behavior theory, digital marketing analytics, emotional engagement theory, social influence models, and AI-driven behavioral intelligence systems.