Exchanging social support in social commerce: The role of peer relations

Abstract

This study investigates the social support exchange process in social commerce. It confirms the influence of receiving online social support on giving social support meditated by peer relations in social commerce. The theoretical model was examined with data collected from 302 consumers that are involved in social commerce. The partial least squares method was employed to validate the proposed hypotheses. The findings suggest that the effect of receiving social support, that is, informational and emotional supports, on intention to offer support in social commerce is partially mediated by peer relations, that is, trust in peers and the norm of reciprocity. This study enhances our understanding of social commerce research by investigating the social support exchange process among peers. Moreover, this study extends the peer relations perspective to the context of social support exchange in social commerce.