Purpose

The purpose of this article was to explore the influence of individual perception and social climate on consumer-initiated group-buying purchase decisions. An extended cross-level research model was used to explain how a new mechanism for purchasing through personal interactions could work.

Design/methodology/approach

This study utilised a questionnaire survey for data gathering. The subjects of the investigation were group-buying initiators. Hierarchical linear modelling (HLM) was used to experimentally examine the research hypotheses.

Findings

The empirical results of the study indicate that the social influence of critical mass can effectively promote positive attitudes and intentions towards consumer-initiated online group buying. An individuals' perception of an initiator's fairness influences their trust in the initiator. In addition, trust in the initiator can positively and significantly influence buyers' attitudes and intentions to online group buying.

Originality/value

Most previous studies on online group-buying focus on how social media influences group-buying behaviours. This study extends social media research by introducing an extended cross-level model to provide a comprehensive investigation into online-shopping. It is a preliminary attempt to systematically verify relationships at the individual and aggregate levels. The decision to group buying requires a relationship of trust to be formed before any transaction takes place, thereby increasing the intention to make a purchase. As a result, group buying is perceived as positive when interpersonal communication is very efficient, or when social influence is high.

中文翻译：

---

人际互动购买新机制：网络团购中的公平、信任和社会影响

目的

本文的目的是探讨个人感知和社会气候对消费者发起的团购购买决策的影响。扩展的跨级别研究模型用于解释通过个人互动进行购买的新机制如何运作。

设计/方法/方法

本研究采用问卷调查来收集数据。调查对象为团购发起人。分层线性模型 (HLM) 用于通过实验检验研究假设。

发现

研究的实证结果表明，临界群众的社会影响力可以有效促进消费者发起的在线团购的积极态度和意愿。个人对发起人公平性的看法会影响他们对发起人的信任。此外，对发起者的信任可以积极且显着地影响购买者对在线团购的态度和意图。

原创性/价值

以往关于在线团购的大多数研究都集中在社交媒体如何影响团购行为上。本研究通过引入扩展的跨级别模型来扩展社交媒体研究，以提供对在线购物的全面调查。这是在个体和总体层面系统地验证关系的初步尝试。团购的决定需要在任何交易发生之前形成信任关系，从而增加购买意愿。因此，当人际交往非常有效或社会影响力很大时，团购被认为是积极的。