The relationship between IT affordance, flow experience, trust, and social commerce intention: An exploration using the S-O-R paradigm

Abstract

The rising trend of online social shopping is evident from the increasing volume of online social commerce. However, despite the importance of this development, only a limited number of studies exist pertaining to the factors that affect social commerce intention. To fill this gap in the research, the present study develops a model identifying the antecedents of social commerce intention. Utilizing stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) theory and the affordance lens, the current study attempts to explore the role of IT affordance, flow experience, and trust on social commerce intention. For this purpose, the empirical data were collected by means of an e-survey instrument from customers that had previously used a social commerce platform for shopping. The authors used the partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) method to verify the relationships proposed in the model. Our results show that: visibility affordance influences customer purchase intention through trust in the seller and trust in the social media platform; metavoicing affordance influences social commerce intention through flow experience and trust in the social media platform; and guidance shopping affordance influences social commerce intention through flow experience, trust in the seller, and trust in the social media platform. Some significant theoretical and managerial insights are also presented.