The influence of social commerce on eco‐friendly consumer behavior: Technological and social roles

Abstract

AbstractThere is much evidence that consumers' eco‐friendly consumption behaviors have changed with the development of the mobile internet economy and social networks. Social commerce, which combines social media and e‐commerce, is widely used to promote eco‐friendly consumption behavior. However, there has been insufficient empirical research into how technological and social factors affect consumers' eco‐friendly behavior in the social commerce context. Taking the “Green Box Area” program based on Alibaba Group's two mobile apps as the research object, this study developed a model that integrated technological and social roles to predict consumers' eco‐friendly behavior. Using data from 468 users participating in the “Green Box Area” program, structural equation modeling analysis suggested that technological and social factors are essential predictors of consumers' eco‐friendly behavior in both short‐term and medium‐/long‐term models. Furthermore, consumer achievement played a critical mediating role in the causal chain of social factors influencing eco‐friendly behavior. Additionally, the findings showed that perceived ease of use and social influence significantly affected short‐term but not medium‐/long‐term eco‐friendly behavior. Conversely, social interaction affected eco‐friendly behavior only in the medium‐/long‐term. The results offer implications for policymakers and social commerce practitioners to consider the effective promotion of consumers' eco‐friendly behavior.