Lurking on Social Media: A multi-method investigation into its conceptualisation and measurement, to explore alternative explanations through a study of UK skincare consumers - interview transcripts

Albuhameed, Reem (2025) Lurking on Social Media: A multi-method investigation into its conceptualisation and measurement, to explore alternative explanations through a study of UK skincare consumers - interview transcripts.

This dataset comprises the full transcripts from 19 semi-structured interviews conducted with skincare consumers and online skincare browsers within the UK. The interviews explored user engagement in online communities. The textual transcripts include detailed discussions on motivations, personality traits, engagement behaviours, and perceived outcomes related to lurking behaviours. Interview questions were designed to elicit perspectives on both online and offline engagement, as well as the role of social learning in influencing these behaviours. NVivo was used to conduct thematic analysis of these qualitative data. The researcher coded the interviews to identify recurring themes and patterns linked to key constructs, which ultimately contributed to the development of the “lurking orientation” concept. These findings are intended to offer an alternative explanation for "passive" online behaviour (i.e. lurking) and its implications for customer segmentation and marketing strategies in the skincare sector. This NVivo dataset can be of help to researchers interested in qualitative insights into user engagement on social media, particularly those investigating passive consumption (lurking) as a multifaceted behaviour of varying engagement and activity level(s).