Hotel guests’ social commerce intention

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to synthesize a dyadic theoretical model which takes social-oriented and individual-initiative drivers into account and illustrates a mechanism between social commerce intention and its antecedents in the hospitality industry. To understand tourist social commerce behaviors, the current study puts forward a comprehensive model and investigates the impact among social support, social capital, participant involvement and social identification on tourist propensity to engage in social commerce with behaviors such as to like, share, post reviews and make purchases.Design/methodology/approachThe current research draws on social exchange theory and social penetration theory to study how social-oriented drivers (i.e., social support and social capital) and individual-initiated drivers (i.e., participant involvement and social identification) could better explain tourists’ social commerce intentions. Structural equation modeling was performed based on a sample of 569 hotel guests from 61 hotels in Macau.FindingsResults reveal that social capital mediates the relationship between social support and social commerce behavioral intention. This chain of relationship is moderated by social identification in that the more a hotel guest identifies himself/herself as an in-group member of an online community, the more likely he/she would engage in social commerce behaviors.Practical implicationsThe diffusion velocity of marketing effect is manifested through customers’ social commerce intentions and behaviors, which helps managers to identify the importance in maintaining a supportive atmosphere to nurture intimate member-to-member and member-to-provider relationships.Originality/valueThe present study enriches the social penetration theory and social exchange theory by showing how both individual and social perspectives could jointly influence hotel guest propensity to post likes and comments and to reserve hotel rooms, as means to build more intimate relationships with the members within a virtual community.