Purpose

Consumers may enjoy the information sharing and social support made available when a social media platform is used for pre-purchase research; however, do consumers reevaluate the privacy and security of the platform differently when ordering and payment capabilities are added? As social media systems have evolved into social commerce platforms (SCPs), individuals are often faced with whether to complete a purchase they have been researching or switch to a traditional e-commerce platform to complete the transaction. This research examines consumer trust formation in the SCP channel and how consumer interest and engagement in the channel are maintained and influence consumer decisions to purchase via the SCP.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on trust and involvement literature, a research model was conceptualized to capture consumer beliefs about SCP privacy and security and whether the SCP can be trusted, using these inputs into subsequent consumer interest, engagement and decisions on whether to use the SCP for purchasing. The research model was empirically tested using the panel data's structural equation modeling (AMOS) (n = 405). The data showed acceptable reliability and convergent validity, while the original research model provides predictive validity and theory-confirming insights.

Findings

Results confirm that consumer perceptions of privacy and security play a crucial role as decision criteria, informing their judgments of whether a new social commerce channel can be trusted enough to conduct purchases. Further, consumer trust supports their interest in the SCP, resulting in enduring and enhanced behavioral use and, to a lesser extent, purchase intent. Still, a majority of this sample declined to purchase using the SCP and rather preferred to transact on tried and trusted traditional e-commerce sites.

Originality/value

This study is among the first to examine trust formation in new SCPs, where consumers are deciding to expand their engagement level from social and informational to commercial.

中文翻译：

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了解消费者对社交商务的兴趣：隐私、信任和安全的作用

目的

消费者可以享受利用社交媒体平台进行购买前研究时所提供的信息共享和社交支持；然而，当添加订购和支付功能时，消费者是否会以不同的方式重新评估平台的隐私和安全性？随着社交媒体系统演变成社交商务平台（SCP），个人经常面临着是完成他们一直在研究的购买还是转向传统电子商务平台来完成交易的问题。本研究考察了 SCP 渠道中消费者信任的形成，以及如何维持消费者对该渠道的兴趣和参与度以及如何影响消费者通过 SCP 进行购买的决定。

设计/方法论/途径

基于信任和参与文献，我们构建了一个研究模型来捕获消费者对 SCP 隐私和安全以及 SCP 是否可信的信念，并将这些信息用于后续消费者的兴趣、参与度以及是否使用 SCP 进行购买的决定。使用面板数据的结构方程模型 (AMOS) ( n  = 405)对研究模型进行了实证检验。数据显示出可接受的可靠性和收敛有效性，而原始研究模型提供了预测有效性和理论确认见解。

发现

结果证实，消费者对隐私和安全的看法作为决策标准发挥着至关重要的作用，可以帮助他们判断新的社交商务渠道是否足够值得信任来进行购买。此外，消费者信任支持他们对 SCP 的兴趣，从而导致持久和增强的行为使用，并在较小程度上增强购买意向。尽管如此，该样本中的大多数人还是拒绝使用 SCP 进行购买，而是更愿意在经过考验且值得信赖的传统电子商务网站上进行交易。

原创性/价值

这项研究是首批考察新 SCP 中信任形成的研究之一，其中消费者决定将其参与水平从社交和信息扩展到商业。