The Impact of Social Media Advertising on Customer Deception in the Context of Cybersecurity

Abstract

Social media advertising has changed the way businesses trade on consumers as the personalized and engaging content is delivered faster and wider than ever before. On the other hand, the very dynamic environment of advertising also allows creating space for several forms of deceptions, including fake promotion, misleading claims, and phishing campaigns. These tactics take advantage of consumer trust towards brands and platforms and create a misconception between genuine and fake. Such deceptive practices have a very severe cyber security impact because customers end up sharing their private information or downloading malicious software, putting them in danger from cyber threats. The dependency of social media on the consumer and advancement of deceptive techniques has highlighted the need for the improvement of consumers’ awareness along with regulatory oversight. Deceptive advertising, from a cybersecurity point of view, has been increasingly challenging for the individual as well as organizations. Fraudulent advertisements induce almost all social media techniques in order to manipulate consumers, making it quite hard to detect a breach or become a victim of identity theft. Furthermore, the rapid spread of such false adverts facilitated by algorithms creates a wider reach and risk to a larger audience. Therefore, collaborated action on part of policymakers, social media platforms, and experts in cybersecurity address this emerging issue by strengthening regulatory frameworks, enriching and verification processes, and improving digital literacy. This initiative can reduce the possibilities of misleading customers and instilling an atmosphere of trust in using social media as an advertising platform.

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