Advancing on weighted PLS-SEM in examining the trust-based recommendation system in pioneering product promotion effectiveness

The advancement in digital technologies has led to an explosive information phenomenon, particularly in Internet shopping. This paper attempts to examine the trust element in the current pervasive use of the recommendation system for product promotion effectiveness. Owing to the nature of high-volume online consumers and the nonexistence of the online consumer sampling frame, sampling weight adjustment approach was utilised for ensuring sample representativeness. Additionally, the responses collected were further analysed according to gender for a holistic understanding of the trust element. A cross-sectional quantitative research approach was adopted. Specifically, snowball sampling method was used to collect responses from online consumers. The findings revealed that benevolence, integrity, and competence trust are found to be positively associated with product promotion effectiveness. Competence trust recorded a large effect size followed by benevolence and integrity trust. Both male and female consumers shown different degrees of trust level. The findings provide practical implications for online merchants. They were suggested to focus on enhancing online consumers’ trust level and capitalize on competence trust for effective product promotion. They should also recognize the gender differences in the trust level for product promotion effectiveness when they are promoting gender-based products and services.