IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/elcore/v18y2018i4d10.1007_s10660-018-9299-6.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Does friendship quality matter in social commerce? An experimental study of its effect on purchase intention

Author

Listed:
  • Qi Li

    (Xi’an Jiaotong University)

  • Ni Liang

    (Xi’an Jiaotong University)

  • Eldon Y. Li

    (National Chengchi University
    Asia University)

Abstract

Friendship plays a critical role in social commerce in contemporary societies. This study aims to theorize and examine how friendship quality impacts purchase intention. Product-related risk is introduced to gain insight into its moderating effects on intention to purchase from three different seller groups. Through empirical evidence, we confirm that friendship quality has positively effect on purchase intention. In particular, friends with high friendship quality (i.e., good friends) are more conducive to selling high-price high-risk products. However, friends with low friendship quality (i.e., simple friends) are not as attractive as strangers having good user reviews (i.e., reputable strangers). In other words, people are more willing to buy from reputable strangers than from simple friends. Theoretically, these results contribute to a better understanding of the effect of friendship quality on purchase intention. Finally, this research offers several practical implications for developing successful businesses in social commerce.

Suggested Citation

  • Qi Li & Ni Liang & Eldon Y. Li, 2018. "Does friendship quality matter in social commerce? An experimental study of its effect on purchase intention," Electronic Commerce Research, Springer, vol. 18(4), pages 693-717, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:elcore:v:18:y:2018:i:4:d:10.1007_s10660-018-9299-6
    DOI: 10.1007/s10660-018-9299-6
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10660-018-9299-6
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10660-018-9299-6?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Frenzen, Jonathan K & Davis, Harry L, 1990. "Purchasing Behavior in Embedded Markets," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 17(1), pages 1-12, June.
    2. Lei Thien & Nordin Razak, 2013. "Academic Coping, Friendship Quality, and Student Engagement Associated with Student Quality of School Life: A Partial Least Square Analysis," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 112(3), pages 679-708, July.
    3. Luc Wathieu & Marco Bertini, 2007. "Price as a Stimulus to Think: The Case for Willful Overpricing," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 26(1), pages 118-129, 01-02.
    4. Shen, George Chung-Chi & Chiou, Jyh-Shen & Hsiao, Chih-Hui & Wang, Chun-Hsien & Li, Hsin-Ni, 2016. "Effective marketing communication via social networking site: The moderating role of the social tie," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(6), pages 2265-2270.
    5. Su, Lujun & Swanson, Scott R. & Chen, Xiaohong, 2016. "The effects of perceived service quality on repurchase intentions and subjective well-being of Chinese tourists: The mediating role of relationship quality," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 82-95.
    6. Dowling, Grahame R & Staelin, Richard, 1994. "A Model of Perceived Risk and Intended Risk-Handling Activity," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 21(1), pages 119-134, June.
    7. Menon, R.G. Vishnu & Sigurdsson, Valdimar & Larsen, Nils Magne & Fagerstrøm, Asle & Foxall, Gordon R., 2016. "Consumer attention to price in social commerce: Eye tracking patterns in retail clothing," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(11), pages 5008-5013.
    8. Henry Kaiser, 1974. "An index of factorial simplicity," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 39(1), pages 31-36, March.
    9. Grewal, Dhruv & Gotlieb, Jerry & Marmorstein, Howard, 1994. "The Moderating Effects of Message Framing and," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 21(1), pages 145-153, June.
    10. Jennifer J. Halpern, 1994. "The Effect of Friendship on Personal Business Transactions," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 38(4), pages 647-664, December.
    11. Henry Kaiser, 1970. "A second generation little jiffy," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 35(4), pages 401-415, December.
    12. Mitchell, V. -W., 2001. "Re-conceptualizing consumer store image processing using perceived risk," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 54(2), pages 167-172, November.
    13. Beatty, Sharon E & Smith, Scott M, 1987. "External Search Effort: An Investigation across Several Product Categories," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 14(1), pages 83-95, June.
    14. Hajli, M. Nick, 2014. "The role of social support on relationship quality and social commerce," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 17-27.
    15. Kotha, Suresh & Rajgopal, Shivaram & Rindova, Violina, 2001. "Reputation Building and Performance: An Empirical Analysis of the Top-50 Pure Internet Firms," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 19(6), pages 571-586, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Nour El Houda Ben Amor & Mohamed Nabil Mzoughi, 2023. "Do Millennials’ Motives for Using Snapchat Influence the Effectiveness of Snap Ads?," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(3), pages 21582440231, July.
    2. Bugshan, Hatem & Attar, Razaz Waheeb, 2020. "Social commerce information sharing and their impact on consumers," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    3. Wei Wu & Qianwen Yang & Xiang Gong, 2024. "Impulsive Social Shopping in Social Commerce Platforms: The Role of Perceived Proximity," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 26(4), pages 1527-1541, August.
    4. Wang, Yichuan & Herrando, Carolina, 2019. "Does privacy assurance on social commerce sites matter to millennials?," International Journal of Information Management, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 164-177.
    5. Jianshan Sun & Rongrong Ying & Yuanchun Jiang & Jianmin He & Zhengping Ding, 2020. "Leveraging friend and group information to improve social recommender system," Electronic Commerce Research, Springer, vol. 20(1), pages 147-172, March.
    6. Cheng Liu & Cheuk-Kwan Sun & Yu-Chia Chang & Shang-Yu Yang & Tao Liu & Cheng-Chia Yang, 2021. "The Impact of the Fear of COVID-19 on Purchase Behavior of Dietary Supplements: Integration of the Theory of Planned Behavior and the Protection Motivation Theory," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-17, November.
    7. Liu Yuan & Zhao Huang & Wei Zhao & Pavel Stakhiyevich, 2020. "Interpreting and predicting social commerce intention based on knowledge graph analysis," Electronic Commerce Research, Springer, vol. 20(1), pages 197-222, March.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Mauricio S. Featherman & Nick Hajli, 2016. "Self-Service Technologies and e-Services Risks in Social Commerce Era," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 139(2), pages 251-269, December.
    2. Sullivan, Yulia W. & Kim, Dan J., 2018. "Assessing the effects of consumers’ product evaluations and trust on repurchase intention in e-commerce environments," International Journal of Information Management, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 199-219.
    3. Yadav, Manjit S. & de Valck, Kristine & Hennig-Thurau, Thorsten & Hoffman, Donna L. & Spann, Martin, 2013. "Social Commerce: A Contingency Framework for Assessing Marketing Potential," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 27(4), pages 311-323.
    4. Leonie Kuen & Fiona Schürmann & Daniel Westmattelmann & Sophie Hartwig & Shay Tzafrir & Gerhard Schewe, 2023. "Trust transfer effects and associated risks in telemedicine adoption," Electronic Markets, Springer;IIM University of St. Gallen, vol. 33(1), pages 1-22, December.
    5. Robert Semel, 2016. "The Caring-Uncaring Emotional (CUE) Inventory: A Pilot Study of a New Measure of Affective Psychopathy Traits," International Journal of Psychological Studies, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 8(4), pages 1-1, December.
    6. Martha Ríos Manríquez & Celina López Mateo & Julián Ferrer Guerra, 2016. "Factorial Validation of a Corporate Social Responsibility Perception Scale for Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises," Information Management and Business Review, AMH International, vol. 8(5), pages 25-38.
    7. Lyndon Lim & Elaine Chapman, 2022. "Development and Preliminary Validation of the Moral Reasoning Questionnaire for Secondary School Students," SAGE Open, , vol. 12(1), pages 21582440221, March.
    8. Arjan J. Frederiks & Sílvia Costa & Boudewijn Hulst & Aard J. Groen, 2024. "The early bird catches the worm: The role of regulatory uncertainty in early adoption of blockchain’s cryptocurrency by fintech ventures," Journal of Small Business Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 62(2), pages 790-823, March.
    9. Ching-Hsun Chang & Yu-Shan Chen, 2014. "Managing green brand equity: the perspective of perceived risk theory," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 48(3), pages 1753-1768, May.
    10. Brandon Mastromartino & Tyreal Y. Qian & Jerred J. Wang & James J. Zhang, 2020. "Developing a Fanbase in Niche Sport Markets: An Examination of NHL Fandom and Social Sustainability in the Sunbelt," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-15, February.
    11. Pratibha A. Dabholkar & Xiaojing Sheng, 2011. "Consumer participation in using online recommendation agents: effects on satisfaction, trust, and purchase intentions," The Service Industries Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(9), pages 1433-1449, September.
    12. Ebrahim Khodadady & Mozhgan Ashrafborji, 2013. "Motivations Underlying English Language Learning and Achievement," SAGE Open, , vol. 3(2), pages 21582440134, April.
    13. Angela Poulakidas & Paul A. Dion, 2016. "The Influence of Corporate Reputation on Preference for Biodiesel Supplier," Corporate Reputation Review, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 19(4), pages 331-344, November.
    14. Anestis Fotiadis & Guych Nuryyev & Jennet Achyldurdyyeva & Anastasia Spyridou, 2019. "The Impact of EU Sponsorship, Size, and Geographic Characteristics on Rural Tourism Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(8), pages 1-15, April.
    15. Howard, Matt C. & Henderson, Jennifer, 2023. "A review of exploratory factor analysis in tourism and hospitality research: Identifying current practices and avenues for improvement," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    16. Abdul Manaf, Nor Aziah & Mas'ud, Abdulsalam & Ishak, Zuaini & Saad, Natrah & Russell, Alex, 2016. "Towards establishing a scale for assessing the attractiveness of petroleum fiscal regimes – Evidence from Malaysia," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 253-261.
    17. Mpho M. Pheko & Magen Mhaka-Mutepfa & Leonne M. Mfolwe & Kesego D. Mathoothe & Bee Seok Chua & Wah Yun Low, 2023. "Psychometrics Validation of the WHO-5 Wellbeing Index in Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Malaysia: Coping With COVID-19 Pandemic in the Global South Study," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(4), pages 21582440231, October.
    18. Nobes, Christopher & Stadler, Christian, 2013. "How arbitrary are international accounting classifications? Lessons from centuries of classifying in many disciplines, and experiments with IFRS data," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 38(8), pages 573-595.
    19. Zhang, Honghong & Fam, Kim-Shyan & Goh, Tiong-Thye & Dai, Xin, 2018. "When are influentials equally influenceable? The strength of strong ties in new product adoption," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 160-170.
    20. Gao, Yi & Bruce, Peter J. & Newman, David G. & Zhang, Chrystal B., 2013. "Safety climate of commercial pilots: The effect of pilot ranks and employment experiences," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 17-24.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:elcore:v:18:y:2018:i:4:d:10.1007_s10660-018-9299-6. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.