Investigating the factors influencing small online vendors’ intention to continue engaging in social commerce

ABSTRACT

This study investigates the variables that determine small online vendors’ intentions to continue engaging in social commerce. Based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB) and social exchange theory (SET), eight hypotheses were developed to (1) identify the antecedents that influence small online vendors’ attitudes toward social commerce, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control; and (2) examine the causal relationships among the variables with respect for continuous usage intention. A questionnaire survey was used to collect data on a sample of 166 small online vendor managers and employees. Partial least squares (PLS) was used to validate the proposed model. The findings show that social exchange factors (perceived benefits and commitment) significantly affect small vendors’ attitudes toward social commerce. The results further confirm the validity of TPB, i.e., attitude and perceived behavioral control have significant impacts on continuous usage intention in relation to social commerce. The findings of this study provide important insights into the antecedents of attitude for academics and practitioners, application of social computing in commerce for engaging in service innovation, and have the potential to contribute to the development of effective online marketing strategies.

KEYWORDS:

• Social commerce
• theory of planned behavior
• social networks
• social exchange theory

Funding

The authors thank the Ministry of Science and Technology for financially supporting this research under contract No. 103-2410-H-194-069-.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Shin-Yuan Hung

Shin-Yuan Hung is an Information Systems Professor and the Dean of the College of Management at National Chung Cheng University in Taiwan. He was a visiting scholar of the MIS Department at the University of Arizona from summer 2007 to spring 2008. Dr. Hung received his bachelor’s degree in Statistics from National Chung Hsing University and his master’s and doctoral degrees in Information Systems from National Sun Yat-sen University. His current research interests include decision support systems, knowledge management, electronic commerce, and data mining. He has published papers in Decision Support Systems, Information & Management, International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, Electronic Commerce Research and Applications, Information Technology & People, Communications of the AIS, Journal of Global Information Management, Government Information Quarterly, and Pacific Asian Journal of Association for Information Systems, among others. He currently serves as an Associate Editor of Information & Management and an Area Editor of Journal of Information Management.

Annie Pei-I Yu

Annie Pei‐I Yu is an Assistant Professor of Marketing in the Department of Business Administration at National Chung Cheng University, Taiwan. She received her Ph.D. degree in Marketing from the University of Edinburgh, UK. In 2009, Dr. Yu was recognized by Emerald/EFMD as the Outstanding Doctoral Research Award Winner in the Marketing Research Category. Her research focuses on consumer behavior, user experience, consumer–brand relationships, the interaction of brand community members, and their influence on branding. Dr. Yu has published articles in Computers & Industrial Engineering, Journal of Consumer Behaviour, Psychological Reports, and Asia and Pacific Management Review.

Yi-Chieh Chiu

Yi-Chieh Chiu received her MIS master’s degree from the National Chung Cheng University. Currently, she is a Senior Specialist at the Department of Life Insurance Information Technology, Cathay Life Insurance Co., Ltd, Taipei, Taiwan.