Explore Moderated Mediation of Trust in Social Commerce on Links Between a User’s Perceived Past Negative Experiences and Social Commerce Engagement

Abstract

Due to the impact of the pandemic (COVID-19) crisis and the inflation threat, not only do companies change their production models, but also their operating modes. The purchase mode of consumers, moreover, are changed. These changes make social commerce (SC) more popular. However, there exist problems in SC. Therefore, not only is the purpose of this study to examine the role of a user’s perceived past negative experience (PPNE) in social commerce (SC) and the impact of trust in SC on a community user’s social commerce engagement (SCE), but is also to explore the moderating effects of perceived information credibility (PIC) on the relationship between a user’s PPNE and trust in SC. 349 valid samples were collected from the target population in Taiwan and analyzed data by AMOS 22 and SPSS PROCESS to examine a conceptual model and three hypotheses. Of the three hypotheses, all hypotheses were supported. The findings not only confirmed the psychological perception and effects of a user’s PPNE on trust in SC and the impact of trust in SC on user’s SCE, but also identified PIC as the moderating role in a virtual user’s PPNE – trust in SC chain. Besides the need for empirical confirmation of the hypotheses given, finally, there are several practical implications for social marketers and future research directions for scholars.