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Some things are just better rich: how social commerce feature richness affects consumers’ buying intention via social factors

Author

Listed:
  • Thomas Friedrich

    (University of Bamberg)

  • Sebastian Schlauderer

    (University of Bamberg)

  • Sven Overhage

    (University of Bamberg)

Abstract

The social commerce discipline has produced several different social commerce features that can be integrated into e-commerce platforms. Thereby, it is assumed that using multiple social commerce features in combination can better stimulate consumers’ social interactions. Yet, little is known about the effects of such strategies. This paper introduces the concept of social commerce feature richness and investigates its effects on consumers’ buying intention via social factors. The results of a controlled online experiment, in which 237 participants used variants of an e-commerce platform with functionally diverse social commerce feature sets, confirm that the social commerce feature richness positively affects social factors, which increase consumers’ buying intention. With the social commerce feature richness, we provide a novel, theoretically grounded and empirically verified concept to better understand how the use of functionally richer sets of social commerce features can maximize the success of social commerce initiatives.

Suggested Citation

  • Thomas Friedrich & Sebastian Schlauderer & Sven Overhage, 2021. "Some things are just better rich: how social commerce feature richness affects consumers’ buying intention via social factors," Electronic Markets, Springer;IIM University of St. Gallen, vol. 31(1), pages 159-180, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:elmark:v:31:y:2021:i:1:d:10.1007_s12525-019-00374-7
    DOI: 10.1007/s12525-019-00374-7
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    Cited by:

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    2. Elshaer, Ibrahim A. & Alrawad, Mahmaod & Lutfi, Abdalwali & Azazz, Alaa M.S., 2024. "Social commerce and buying intention post COVID-19: Evidence from a hybrid approach based on SEM – fsQCA," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    3. Šneiderienė Agnė & Beniušis Antanas, 2022. "Factors Influencing the Decision-Making of Users of Lithuanian E-Commerce Platforms," Management Theory and Studies for Rural Business and Infrastructure Development, Sciendo, vol. 44(1), pages 72-83, March.
    4. Rainer Alt, 2021. "Electronic Markets on the next convergence," Electronic Markets, Springer;IIM University of St. Gallen, vol. 31(1), pages 1-9, March.
    5. Sonia Camacho & Andrés Barrios, 2022. "Social commerce affordances for female entrepreneurship: the case of Facebook," Electronic Markets, Springer;IIM University of St. Gallen, vol. 32(3), pages 1145-1167, September.
    6. Wu, Wei & Wang, Sihang & Ding, Guanqi & Mo, Jinfei, 2023. "Elucidating trust-building sources in social shopping: A consumer cognitive and emotional trust perspective," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Social commerce; Feature richness; Buying intention; Social factors;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L81 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Retail and Wholesale Trade; e-Commerce
    • M15 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - IT Management

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