Social Commerce Purchase Research Articles

Gen Z buying patterns: comparing the influence of professional advising and social media engagement

PurposeThis paper aims to assess retail shopping avenues for young consumers based on the type of guidance and assistance they pursue (social media vs professional service provider) in purchasing situations judged to be important. Young consumers consider themselves pet parents and pets represent an extension of self. Thus, pet-related products, by their importance, represent an excellent area of analysis for this inquiry.Design/methodology/approachData collection was completed in a way that is contextually relevant and gives the results ecological validity with the assistance of a major supplier of pet food. A total of 470 Gen Z owners of small companion animals were obtained. The partial least squares structural equation modeling testing method is considered appropriate for the model analysis due to the structure and homogeneity of the sample and due to the precision of the method.FindingsResults indicate that, in accordance with social media engagement (SME) theory, high SME elevated social commerce purchase intentions while professional advice seekers reported increased brick-and-mortar shopping. Thus, context-dependent, young consumers may purchase from brick-and-mortar sites.Originality/valueThis paper draws on SME and Advice Response Theory and proposes an original model explaining channel selection preferences for young consumers based on the type of advice sought for important purchasing decisions. The model represents a steppingstone to investigate the mechanism that translates information search sources into buying through different channels.

Social Commerce Purchase Intention Factors in Developing Countries : A systematic literature review

Over the last decade, research on social commerce has grown exponentially, reflecting the widespread adoption of social commerce strategies and practices. Social commerce encompasses a broad range of distinct concepts. Recent reviews of the literature detail the numerous factors of social commerce adoption. This paper has an objective to investigate the important factor of social commerce adoption in developing countries. 149 articles from high quality repository collected to be review, in this study the systematic literature review conducted through Kitchenham methodology which consist of developing research question, determining the sources as well as research string, categorizing inclusion and exclusion criteria, choosing the primary studies, extracting the data then synthesizing the data. After careful quality assessment process, 49 articles selected to process in depth review. The result of this study found that there ae several important factors and lead by trust factor for social commerce adoption in developing countries.

Determinants of Social Commerce Purchase and Recommendation Intentions Within the Context of Swift Guanxi Among Chinese College Students

This study examined the factors determining social commerce purchase and recommendation intentions within the context of swift guanxi. The data analysis was conducted with Smart PLS 3.0 using the structural equation modeling technique. The results have illustrated that perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use were significant in determining both the recommendation and social commerce purchase intentions. In addition, eWOM was also a significant predictor of both social commerce purchase and recommendation intentions. Interestingly the results showed that trust in social network sites was not significant in influencing social commerce purchase and recommendation intentions. Also, mutual understanding and relationship harmony were found to predict the social commerce purchase and recommendation intentions. The implications of these and other results findings of the study are discussed.

Resilience, vulnerability and personality effects on social commerce intentions: the COVID-19 era

PurposeThis study aims to explore the relationship between social commerce purchase intention and consumer psychological factors (i.e. resilience, vulnerability and personality traits) during the COVID-19 pandemic.Design/methodology/approachDrawing on social cognitive theory (SCT), an econometrical behavioral model was developed to explore the key determinants of online purchase behavior of 303 students in Greece. The research data were collected with a two-wave online survey (pre- and during the pandemic) which was distributed randomly to students in Generation Z.FindingsA series of regression analyses revealed a positive effect of openness and a negative impact of extraversion and neuroticism on internet, Instagram and Facebook purchases during the pandemic. Findings suggest that loneliness serves as a moderator, while resilience and vulnerability have a positive effect on social media purchase behavior.Practical implicationsThis study provides insights and implications for social commerce marketers and sheds light on the determinants of online purchase intentions of young consumers during the COVID-19 pandemic.Originality/valueElaborating on SCT, this study provides novel insights into young consumers’ internet use and online purchase behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic (i.e. longitudinal approach), by focusing on consumer vulnerability and resilience while also embedding personality traits and mental health aspects (i.e. loneliness levels during the pandemic).

Impact of SNS Behavior on Social Commerce Purchase Intention

Social commerce, a subset of eCommerce that usually occurs on social media platforms, is currently revolutionizing eCommerce. Activities undertaken on SNS such as posting, commenting, liking, sharing, and reading on SNS have been described by literature to lead to sharing and giving social commerce-related information. But no study has focused on whether these SNS activities may influence purchase intention. As such, this paper sought to assess the influence of two main forms of SNS behavior (active and passive SNS behavior) on social commerce purchase intention as well as examine the mediating effect of online bridging and bonding social capital. The results further revealed that active SNS behavior has a positive influence while passive SNS behavior has a negative influence on purchase intention under social commerce. The results and contribution of this study regarding theory, practice, and future research are further discussed.

Understanding Consumers' Purchase Intention and Gift-Giving in Live Streaming Commerce: Findings from SEM and fsQCA

Live streaming commerce has experienced tremendous growth over the past few years. Although research has increasingly investigated the phenomenon of live streaming as e-commerce, it is arguably essential to determine why consumers make purchases through live streaming and send paid gifts to streamers. This study aims to understand users' social commerce purchase intentions and gift-giving according to the uses and gratification perspective, and engagement, and extends the literature by identifying five uses and gratifications for social media live streaming and how the viewers' engagement affects purchase intentions and gift-giving. We tested the hypothesis among 525 Indonesians who watch live streaming through Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) and fuzzy set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA). The results of SEM confirm the importance of pass-times and habits to consumer engagement in live streaming. In this sequence, the role of engagement (emotional, social presence, and immersion) was confirmed to significantly influence purchase intention and gift-giving intention. The results of fsQCA provide theoretical insight and practical suggestions for increasing our understanding of the complex interconnectivity among uses, gratification factors, engagement in social commerce purchase intentions, and gift-giving intentions. Finally, this study also highlighted the configurational conditions for understanding consumer behaviors in live streaming commerce. Doi: 10.28991/ESJ-2022-06-03-03 Full Text: PDF

The Factors Driving the Consumer Purchasing Intentions in Social Commerce

The traditional concept of e-commerce has gradually shifted to social commerce due to the faster integration of social media into the traditional e-commerce environment. The understanding of the determinants and reasons accounting for the acceptance of social commerce among the people is critical to practitioners and scholars alike to properly implement social media strategies to drive up social commerce purchases. This study thus examined the intention to purchase in social commerce among Chinese citizens based on the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and Social Exchange Theory (SET). The data generated through a research questionnaire was analyzed by the use of structural equation modeling (SEM) aided by AMOS statistical software. The results indicate that trusting beliefs such as trust in social networks, the integrity of the seller, and the benevolence of the seller were significant predictors of the intention to engage in social commerce purchase intention. However, the competency of the seller was not a significant determinant of the intention to purchase in social commerce. Other results showed that the consumer experience in social commerce was significant in predicting the trust in social networks, the integrity of the seller, the competency of the seller, and the benevolence of the seller in social commerce interaction. The validations of the significant impact of consumer experience on the four-trusting belief factors (trust in social networks, the integrity of the seller, competency of the seller, and benevolence of the seller) are among the major contributions of this study to the e-commerce and social commerce literature. Practical and research implications are discussed.

Digital platform interactivity and Jordanian social commerce purchase intention

Social commerce is a first-generation platform that uses a variety of social attributes to attract the attention of internet users. The impact of platform interactivity components; Content Usefulness, Engaging, Real-time communication, and E-wom on customers' purchase intentions was investigated in this study. A Quantitative research method was applied in this study using an online self-administrative questionnaire that was published using Google Docs to collect data, and 521 consumers participated in an online survey. The research used SPSS and AMOS to validate and test the hypotheses. All platform interactivity components were significantly affecting purchase intention. This study provides insights to marketing managers of how consumers perceive social commerce and what affecting them along with practical and theoretical implications.

Customer Relationships, Privacy, and Security in Social Commerce

ABSTRACT Social commerce is a new development in e-commerce and social networks. Consumers belonging to various social communities of interest often rely on information generated by these communities to make online purchase decisions. This empirical research study explores the relational and security aspects of social commerce. It looks at technology-enabled customer relationship quality, privacy, and security protection as determinants of social commerce decisions. The results show that the web experience and online convenience delivered through the social commerce provider website positively influence the perceived customer relationship quality as a driver of social commerce purchase and sharing behavior. Additionally, the study finds that while perceived security protection is still a significant influencer of social commerce decisions, perceived privacy protection is no longer a primary customer concern.

THE DEVELOPMENT OF A CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK FOR MOBILE SOCIAL COMMERCE AND PURCHASING DECISIONS: A SYSTEMATIC LITERATURE REVIEW FROM 2010 – 2020

This paper aims to develop a framework for mobile social commerce purchase decisions based on the existing literature. Social media and mobile technology advancement has shifted the way contemporary selling is conducted online. This new business model has revolutionised the relationship between consumers and businesses. Mobile social commerce integrates the features of social media, which enables the interactions between users during their mobile shopping experience. Users’ creativities provide innovative solutions in user generated content (UGC) that not only solves their own problems, but also provides possible improvements to products and services. Even so, the authenticity of UGC and the possibility of fabrication remains a challenge that needs to be resolved. Previous studies have shown that user engagement in UGC has a significant effect on enhancing the efficiency of social interaction between businesses and consumers. The corresponding purchasing decisions depend on the degree of consumer involvement in UGC. Based on a review of the literature from 2010 – 2020, the positive attitudes towards online community knowledge sharing will positively influence consumers’ purchasing decisions. A favourable review about the products or services that generate strong positive attitudes is more likely to be considered by consumers. Thus, their purchasing decisions are determined by their commitment to an attitude. The risk perception of consumers differs from various dimensions and capacities. The risk tolerance of each purchasing goal will have an effect on their purchasing decisions. The framework proposed in this study can be further tested in the context of Malaysian consumers.

Social support and social commerce purchase intention: The mediating role of social trust

Social commerce (s-commerce) has risen in popularity primarily owing to social media development. We investigated social support as a predictor of s-commerce purchase intention, and the mediating role of social trust in this relationship. Participants comprised 356 undergraduate students at five Chinese public universities. Structural equation modeling results indicate that social support had a direct positive effect on s-commerce purchase intention, and that social trust partially mediated this relationship. Our findings shed light on the relationship of social support and s-commerce purchase intention, and the practical contribution of the findings is that they can assist practitioners to develop better s-commerce strategies.

Social Commerce and the Hedonic Utilitarian Nexus

The development of social networking sites has led to the appearance of social commerce using Web 2.0 to support social exchange activities. While this topic has received attention in the literature, research still lacks theoretical foundation tackling the relationships between hedonic, utilitarian motivations and social commerce purchase intentions. This study addresses this shortcoming, as it investigates these relations. A theoretical model was proposed and tested using a survey. Findings indicate that the higher the hedonic value derived from a social network, the more trustworthy this channel becomes and the higher the purchase intention. Furthermore, economic benefit exerts a positive and significant influence on trust and intent to purchase using the social commerce channel. The results offer several theoretical and practical implications. They highlight the significance of the utilitarian and hedonic shopping motivations on social commerce adoption and ascertain the important mediating role of trust as well as the need to enhance economic benefits and enjoyment for customers.

Consumers' Decision-Making Process on Social Commerce Platforms: Online Trust, Perceived Risk, and Purchase Intentions.

This study enhances the existing literature on the role of trust and online perceived risk in shaping consumer purchase decision-making in social commerce. The aim of this article is to investigate consumers’ purchase decision-making process, the determinant components of social commerce purchase intentions and attitudes, the effect of perceived risk on intention to go shopping in online settings, and consumer trust and buying behavior on online retailing platforms. The insights obtained from our research extend current knowledge as regards determinants of consumer attitudes and intentions toward online purchases, consumers’ perceived shopping risk and repurchase behavior when buying products online, and perceived consumer online trust and purchase decisions. Limited research has considered consumers’ decision-making processes on social commerce platforms by investigating how their perceptual attitudes, behavioral intentions, and immediate gratifications affect the purchase of products and services online. Our study addresses this gap and extends prior research by focusing on the relationship between online consumer purchase intention, social commerce adoption behavior, and consumers’ trust together with risk factors affecting online buying decisions, in light of the characteristics of source credibility. Our findings point toward important avenues of research on psychological determinants of consumer engagement in social media, decision mechanisms lying behind evaluation of prices, the types of perceived risk incurred, and online repurchasing behavior and intention on social commerce platforms. Subsequent directions should clarify whether adoption of mobile payment services may shape online consumers’ impulsive buying behavior and decision-making, especially under the influence of online product reviews.

The impact of positive valence and negative valence on social commerce purchase intention

PurposeNew research emphasizes the importance of social communications in e-commerce purchase decision-making processes but there are many technical and social challenges such as multi-faceted trust concerns. How consumers view and value referent’s online testimonials, ratings, rants and raves, and product usage experiences remain an important factor that needs to be better understood. Social commerce as a relatively new stream in e-commerce yet is growing fast and gaining the attention of scholars and practitioners, especially due to recent revenue developments. Consistent with e-commerce websites that do not enable consumer feedback, trust is a challenging matter for consumers to consider when they visit social commerce websites. Researching trust models and influences is increasingly important especially with the proliferation of online word of mouth (WOM) strongly effecting many consumers at many different phases of social commerce purchase decision making and transacting. The paper aims to discuss this issue.Design/methodology/approachThis study examines the effects and importance of institution-based trust and WOM within a model of consumer behaviour on social commerce websites. This research examines how trust and consumer feedback may affect consumers’ purchase intentions. This study collects data from the little-understood market of urban Iran and develops a research model to examine consumers’ purchase intentions on social commerce websites. A robust data set from urban Iran (n=512) is analyzed using partial least squares regression to analyze the proposed model.FindingsThe results of the analysis show that institution-based trust influences social media communication, leading to elevated purchase intention on social commerce websites. This research adds to the prior literature that espouses on the importance of consumers developing strong beliefs of vendor trust in social commerce platforms.Originality/valueExplaining how consumer purchase decision making is effected by using institution-based trust and electronic WOM in a little understood Middle Eastern context an important contribution of this research. Suggestions on practical and theoretical developments of this research in the sharing commerce research stream conclude this paper.

Effects of image congruity of social commerce and fashion brand types on purchase intention

This study investigated how the image congruity of social commerce and fashion brand types affects purchase intention and how trust and price sensitivity moderate this relationship. National brands, private brands, and non-brands were used as brand types in the present study. The online survey method was used to gather the data, and 232 data samples were analyzed. The results of the research were as follows. Consumers perceived greater image congruity between social commerce and nonbrands, followed by private brands and national brands. The significant perception differences were examined by comparing the mean values. There was a significant positive effect of image congruity of social commerce and non-brands on purchase intention. However, insignificant effects were found for image congruity between social commerce and private brands and national brands. In addition, trust and price sensitivity positively predicted social commerce purchase intention. A significant moderating effect of trust was found on the relationship between purchase intention and image congruity of social commerce and non-brands. A moderating effect of price sensitivity was found on the relationship between purchase intention and image congruity of social commerce and private brands. The findings of the present study offer valuable insights into social commerce concerning implementing diverse fashion brands as well as academic and practical implications.

Social Media Communication and Consumers Decisions: Analysis of the Antecedents for Intended Apps Purchase

The purpose of this study is to investigate how consumer’s socialization could shed light on social commerce apps behavioral intention (SCABI). Social commerce communication, virtual community trust, post-usage usefulness, perceived enjoyment, subjective norm, attitude toward the apps, and behavioral control are proposed as the several antecedents of behavioral intention of social commerce purchase decisions. Drawn from the Theory of Planned Behavior and social exchange paradigm, a theoretical model was developed and a list of (17) hypotheses was tested empirically. The sample included 230 respondents; structured equation modeling (SEM) was employed for measurement and structural evaluation. Prior to the evaluation of the measurement model and structural relationships, the indices for evaluation of goodness of model fit were obtained and the results show satisfactory values. The statistical results imply a reliable and valid measurement scale and the direct relationships were mostly supported. However, the virtual community trust → post usage usefulness, perceived enjoyment → SCABI, social commerce communication → attitude, attitude → SCABI, and subjective norm → attitude relationships were not supported. Therefore, social media, which is a highly social-related communication platform, plays a pivotal role in consumer decision making for online product purchases. Practical and theoretical implications are discussed.

소셜커머스 호텔 객실상품 구매에 영향을 주는 메시지 정보 탐색과 호텔성급에 따른 차이 연구

This paper tried to investigate what kind of information influences consumers who purchase hotel rooms through social commerce. Whether this information varies depending on the hotel star-rating was also investigated through the application of the heuristic-systematic model to the information that appeared on the social commerce purchase webpage. Specifically, the quantity limitation and the time limit were set for the heuristic cue. The geographical distance and the social commerce offering price were set in the systematic cue. As a result of the study, it was found that the quantity limitation and geographical distance had a significant effect on purchase increase. Differences in information according to hotel star-rating showed a significant difference between the time limit and the social commerce offering price. Based on the results of the research, academic and practical implications for social commerce companies and hotels are discussed. This study contributes to the theoretical expansion of HSM by applying it to social commerce product information and carrying out empirical analysis. In addition, by using web data for analysis, we expanded a research area that was insufficient regarding social commerce and hotels.

Instagram, Facebook or Twitter: Which Engages Best? A Comparative Study of Consumer Brand Engagement and Social Commerce Purchase Intention

Abstract Social media networks compete with each other, and they make an effort to increase their number of users while at the same time trying to create engagement. That is because a social media brand with high engagement creates high commitment and that leads to satisfying its business partners. This also increases the social commerce through that social media brand. Social commerce is defined as the commercial activities through social media channels, and it is a subdimension of online commerce. The new realities increased the interest towards social commerce through social networks and made it valuable to explore for both practical and academic environments. This study aims to investigate social media engagement regarding social media networks and explore the relationship between social media engagement and social commerce purchase intention. In the light of these objectives, a survey was conducted to collect the data and shared through social media networks. Hypotheses in the research were analyzed by using independent samples t-test, one-way ANOVA, Pearson correlation, and multiple regressions. Results showed social media networks differ according to consumer brand engagement. Also, consumer brand engagement differs according to age, education level, and income level. Another result proves that consumer brand engagement differs according to social media usage frequency and time spent using social media. Furthermore, social commerce purchase intention differs according to the social media networks. Finally, the study found that there is a positive relationship between consumer brand engagement and social commerce purchase intention.

Instagram, Facebook or Twitter: Which Engages Best? A Comparative Study of Consumer Brand Engagement and Social Commerce Purchase Intention

Social media networks compete with each other, and they make an effort to increase their number of users while at the same time trying to create engagement. That is because a social media brand with high engagement creates high commitment and that leads to satisfying its business partners. This also increases the social commerce through that social media brand. Social commerce is defined as the commercial activities through social media channels, and it is a subdimension of online commerce. The new realities increased the interest towards social commerce through social networks and made it valuable to explore for both practical and academic environments. This study aims to investigate social media engagement regarding social media networks and explore the relationship between social media engagement and social commerce purchase intention. In the light of these objectives, a survey was conducted to collect the data and shared through social media networks. Hypotheses in the research were analyzed by using independent samples t-test, one-way ANOVA, Pearson correlation, and multiple regressions. Results showed social media networks differ according to consumer brand engagement. Also, consumer brand engagement differs according to age, education level, and income level. Another result proves that consumer brand engagement differs according to social media usage frequency and time spent using social media. Furthermore, social commerce purchase intention differs according to the social media networks. Finally, the study found that there is a positive relationship between consumer brand engagement and social commerce purchase intention.

A Study on the Impact of Social Commerce Purchase Decision Factors on Customer Satisfaction, Customer Loyalty and Repurchase Intention

Background/Objectives: The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of Social Commerce users’ purchase decision factors on customer satisfaction, customer loyalty and repurchase intention. Methods/Statistical Analysis: Sample selection method was used convenience sampling methods. Among 258 total questionnaires, 226 were used as the data for analysis. 32 questionnaires were excluded either because the respondents did not have experience with the social commerce or because they responded without care. The main analysis was used as cronbach’s alpha coefficient, factor analysis and regression analysis. Findings: The total respondents were 226: 116 were male (51.3%), and 110 were female (48.7%). In terms of age group, 55.3%, 21.7% and 23.0% of respondents are in their 20s, 30s and 40s, respectively. After analyzing the purchase decision factors of social commerce, 22 factors were extracted, and were categorized into five groups. The total explanatory power of the extracted 5 factors was 68.2%. The values for cronbach’s α were all above 0.6, implying enough credibility. In addition, the values for cronbach’s α for the factors of customer satisfaction, loyalty and repurchase intention were all above 0.6 as well. The results after testing the first hypothesis, the p-value were .000, which is smaller than the .05 significance level, indicating statistically significant regression. Also, user convenience, price rationality, communication availability, information usefulness has statistically significant positive relationship. The result of testing the second and third hypothesis, customer satisfaction had a statistically significant positive relationship with customer loyalty, and customer satisfaction and customer loyalty have a statistically significant positive relationship with the repurchase intention, respectively. Application/Improvements: Through deeper review of previous literature and research, one must suggest factors that affect the Social Commerce and analyze them through the establishment of the elaborate research model in future studies.