Investigating the Mediating Role of E-shopping Tendency on Cognitive Assessment of Social Distance and Intensity of Social Media Use During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Social distancing is an important strategy for controlling the prevalence of the COVID-19 epidemic, so understanding the behavioral impact of social distance is essential. This study examines social distance as a cognitive assessment of the intensity of use of social networking sites during Pandemic 19. This study was conducted on 384 users of social networking sites in Urmia. The model was experimentally investigated using the structural equation model with Smartpls software. The results showed that the cognitive evaluation of social distance has a positive and significant effect on the intensity of social network use. The mediating role of e-shopping tendencies was also significant in this regard. In addition, the moderating role of gender and age on the relationship between cognitive assessment of social distance and the intensity of social network use was confirmed. These findings are significant for organizations, companies, and manufacturing and educational institutions. It emphasizes the importance of identifying a subset of people who need social support to rely on social networks to purchase and use to control the social distance caused by the epidemic.