Consumer behavior in social commerce: Results from a meta-analysis

Abstract

The literature on consumer behavior in Social commerce (SC) shows inconsistencies in the research findings that might impede their generalizability. Through a meta-analytic study, we explored consumer behavior in SC, compared different theoretical frameworks, tested the moderators among variables, and tested the effect of the factors derived from consumer behavior theory on the stages of consumer decision-making. We found the variables from TAM, TRA/TPB, UTAUT, and the IS Success model to be important in motivating consumer behavior. Furthermore, we found the variables from the IS Success model to be less strongly correlated with SC behavior than the variables from other theories. In contrast, the variables from UTAUT are more strongly correlated with SC behavior. We found interpersonal trust to be more strongly correlated with SC behavior (r+=0.497) compared with organizational trust (r+=0.411). More importantly, we found the difference to be statistically significant (Z=-3.838). This study makes theoretical contributions through a moderator analysis, which helps to better understand the underlying consumer behavior theories, and further examines the role of trust in the integration of such theories. The study also makes contributions to practice by informing SC platform providers on how their consumers behave during the stages of the purchase decision-making process.