Social media have become an integral part of everyday life for most people. Many of us follow companies on social media and react to images and campaigns that resonate with us.

Each post and each “like” also contributes to a continuous exchange between companies and consumers about what is regarded as ethical, valuable and legitimate on social media. These findings are presented in a new doctoral thesis from Åbo Akademi University, where Anna Granstedt explores how organisations and users together shape norms and values on platforms such as Instagram.

Although social media are now one of the most important marketing arenas, we still know surprisingly little about the ethical issues that emerge there. Granstedt’s thesis demonstrates that ethics on social media is neither fixed nor stable, but instead a fluid phenomenon that is continuously renegotiated in real time through everyday communication between companies and users.

“Ethics is not established through rules set out in a manual, but through how companies communicate, how users react, and how platform algorithms prioritise certain messages over others,” says Anna Granstedt.

In her research, Granstedt shows that companies often use ethically framed messages, such as sustainability or inclusion, to enhance their reputation and to be perceived as responsible. These messages can generate what she calls ethical value – a perception among recipients that the sender is acting morally and that they themselves benefit from the interaction. At the same time, the company’s objective may primarily be to increase visibility and sales, rather than to pursue genuinely ethical work.

Consumers also play an active role. They interpret and reuse companies’ messages through selfies, hashtags and their own stories, which can reinforce, alter or entirely reinterpret the companies’ intentions.

“In this way, customers actively contribute to shaping what a brand stands for, and their interpretations can quickly have a greater impact than the company’s own communication.

Ethics on social media is therefore not merely a matter of messaging, but of how messages are received and translated into shared norms,” emphasises Granstedt.

The findings indicate that social media should not be regarded as simple marketing channels, but rather as social spaces where perceptions of ethics are created and renegotiated.

“Companies that aim to succeed in the long term need to understand the rules that develop on these platforms and recognise that they evolve quickly,” says Anna Granstedt.

Anna Granstedt defended her doctorate thesis in international marketing at Åbo Akademi University on 20 March 2026. Read the full thesis: Power and perception: Discursive construction of ethics, ethical value and legitimacy in social media marketing.