The role of social factors in purchase journey in the social commerce era

Abstract

This research examines the influence of information sharing amongst consumers on e-commerce platforms. On this basis, we develop a model for predicting consumers' purchase decisions on social commerce platforms. We use PLS-SEM to analyse online and paper surveys from 310 consumers. The findings suggest that social commerce information sharing increases consumer perceptions of familiarity, perceived ease of use, and perceived usefulness of social commerce platforms. Consumer learning and training of social commerce systems also increased their stated intention to purchase using the platform. We theorise the rise of the hyper-informed consumer that conducts pre-purchase product and shopping platform research to improve purchasing outcomes and as a form of socialising. The authors explain the theoretical contributions and practical implications at the end of the paper.