Abstract
This study investigates the driving factors of the social commerce intention of online communities in Saudi Arabia by building a model that comprises two exogenous variables (social support and social commerce constructs (SCCs)), a mediating variable (trust), and one endogenous variable (social commerce intention). The study population comprises Facebook and Twitter users in the kingdom. A convenience sample of 500 social media users was chosen. Data were gathered via a questionnaire-based online survey. Our findings indicate that social support had a significant relationship with trust and social commerce intention. This relationship was significantly mediated by trust. SCCs also had a significant relationship with emotional as well as informational support and social commerce intention. Unexpectedly, the relationship between SCCs and social support dimensions was significantly mediated by trust. Consequently, it was concluded that social support, trust, and SCCs are key drivers of social commerce intention. These results invite social media retailers to consider such factors to increase social media users’ intention to purchase.
Highlights
Three major pillars supported the introduction of social commerce, namely, electronic commerce, social media application, and Web 2.0 constructs
Works on social commerce introduced the term, describing it as a new platform that emerged from electronic commerce in the wake of social media networks, such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn,[1,2] or a combination of social media applications that were built using features of Web 2.0, such as user-generated and shared content, and e-commerce.[3]
International Journal of Engineering Business Management developing economies such as that of Saudi Arabia, where an important consumer concern is a lack of trust in the accuracy of information about products and services before purchase
Summary
Three major pillars supported the introduction of social commerce, namely, electronic commerce, social media application, and Web 2.0 constructs. The focus of Alqahtani et al.[16] was on mobile transactions and factors that affect the intention and usage of these transaction types He found that 11 factors influence the acceptance and adoption of m-transactions, including navigational structure, ease of use, usefulness, visual appeal, security, information communication technology (ICT) infrastructure, culture, trust, government m-readiness, cost, and social influence. This study is the first to examine the impact of online consumer behavior on the social commerce intention in developing economies, such as Saudi Arabia, where an important consumer concern is a lack of trust in the accuracy of information about products and services before purchase. The section reviews the existing literature on the determinants of social commerce intentions This is followed by the research methodology section, after which the results are presented and discussed.
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