The conceptual framework of the factors influencing consumer satisfaction in social commerce

The twentieth century has seen enormous changes in the field of Information Communication Technology (ICT) and that change will continue into the future, as well. When Web 2.0 tools appeared, people had the opportunity to interact with each other on the internet and helped to create a new stream with different functions. This stream called Social commerce (SC) which is defined as an extension of Business to Customer (B2C) e-commerce where consumers can interact with each other to conduct online shopping activities and discuss their experiences and preferences on products and services. Virtually all of the previous research on SC focus on behavioral and purchase intentions. In addition, there are many theories that can provide a better understanding of the satisfaction in SC. For instance, the theory of social interaction (Liang & Turban 2011) and the theory of social process (Amblee & Bui 2011) can both help in understanding consumer behaviors. In addition, the motivation theory might help in understanding why people use SC as well as how intrinsic and extrinsic motivations carry on in SC (Liang & Turban 2011). Although these studies have reviled promising findings, questions remain concerning what factors affect consumers’ satisfaction, which are yet to be answered. Therefore, this study aims to develop a theoretical framework using Trust and Social Influence theories to investigate the influencing factors on customer satisfaction in social commerce. Investigating the theoretical framework of this study would provide theoretical evidence and help businesses and individuals to better understanding the factors that affect consumer satisfaction in SC.