How user relationships affect user perceived value propositions of enterprises on social commerce platforms

Abstract

Social commerce is a popular topic issue in the academic field. Prior research mostly focused on the effectiveness of social commerce on consumers. However, the effect of social commerce on electronic commerce enterprises has rarely been involved. By combining social network theories, information theories, and the value theory of electronic commerce, with information quality and credibility as the path, this study investigates how inter-user relationship on a social commerce platform affect user’s perceptions of the value proposition of electronic commerce enterprises. The results show that the instrumental inter-user relationships can significantly improve a consumer’s perceptions of a product’s quality and information, and then improve the perception of efficiency value proposition and novelty value proposition of electronic commerce enterprises. The expressive relationships between users can effectively improve the expression of consumer awareness of product credibility, and thus enhance the consumer’s perception of the value proposition of electronic commerce enterprises.