Conference PaperPDF Available

Social Commerce: Chanting the Experience of Shoppers in a Developing Country

Authors:
Yurita Yakimin Abdul Talib at Northern University of Malaysia
Yurita Yakimin Abdul Talib
Download full-text PDF
Read full-text
Download citation

Abstract

The proliferation of the Internet, and the recent hype/massive popularity of social media for socialization and interactions have created a new landscape of social commerce. While social commerce via websites and marketplaces is accustomed in the Western market, the recent development indicates that millennials in the Southeast Asia are taking riskier buying decisions by embarking on business transactions with individual sellers on the social networking (SNS) platforms; known as customer to customer social commerce (C2C-SC). Taking into consideration of the rapid growth and potential security issues of this type of social commerce, it is therefore pivotal to understand why shoppers tend to shop on SNS platforms although they have options to shop on a more secured platform. This qualitative study was conducted, in a developing country of the Southeast Asia, to gain in depth understanding of buyers’ engagement in the rapidly growing social commerce. Based on the thematic analysis from the interviews data, findings highlighted that buyers’ interest for shopping on SNS platforms was instigated from the two motivational perspectives – intrinsic and extrinsic. Intrinsic motivations consist of feelings of convenience, sense of comfort and sense of satisfaction. Extrinsic motivations are formed by inputs of other buyers, sellers’ characterization and products distinct. This study is amongst the first to explore online buyers’ experiences that justify their interest to purchase on SNS platforms, which emerged from the interplay of internal and external factors. Findings offer insightful explanations on the phenomenon and contribute to further development in the body of knowledge of social commerce, specifically related to C2CSC.
Content uploaded by Yurita Yakimin Abdul Talib
Author content
All content in this area was uploaded by Yurita Yakimin Abdul Talib on Mar 05, 2023
Content may be subject to copyright.
Proceedings of The 19th International Conference on
Electronic Business
Talib & Rusly
The 19th International Conference on Electronic Business, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, December 8-12, 2019
(Full Paper)
Keywords
et al.
et al.
Talib & Rusly
The 19th International Conference on Electronic Business, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, December 8-12, 2019
et al.
et al.
Talib & Rusly
The 19th International Conference on Electronic Business, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, December 8-12, 2019
in-vivo
Talib & Rusly
The 19th International Conference on Electronic Business, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, December 8-12, 2019
Intrinsic Motivation
feelings of convenience, comfort and satisfaction.
“..I always buy online due to time constraints.” (R12)
“Erm, because a lot of people selling products online and with small kids it is difficult to go out. So online
is a good idea; you don’t even have to worry about where to park the car and everything.” (R14)
“I have time constraints to go out. I study civil engineering and need to buy all sorts of equipment. There
are other things I need to do. During that time, I want to buy a gadget, also a mobile phone to make my
work easier." (R19)
“One of the reasons is that I have a baby. I have a hard time moving around So, I buy online, shopping
online. Another reason, it is easy to look for anything, everything is at your finger’s tip.” (R8)
“In social media, seller commonly provides their phone numbers in the advertisement of their products.
Buyers can then contact them through WhatsApp application based on the contact number given to ask
more about the product details and anything.” (R9)
Talib & Rusly
The 19th International Conference on Electronic Business, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, December 8-12, 2019
“I have been buying online for many times. All processes went well… So, after few times, I feel good
buying from the online platform” (R18)
“I feel like I want to buy (laughs)… It’s like satisfaction to know that when you get that item it can be like a
gift from someone. Even though we use our own money, we feel like receiving gifts when the items
arrived.” (R20)
Extrinsic Factors
opinion or
inputs of other buyers, sellers’ characterization products distinct
“I have been the seller’s follower for quite sometimes before decided to buy from that seller. I read through
reviews from other buyers; people commenting on the status, saying thank you and everything.” (R1)
“Okay, if the seller is established, for example through Lazada, we are able to know the seller, it has
guaranteed. But if in the Facebook, the strategy is to check sellers’ background, feedback the seller
received before, testimonials or customer experiences in terms of his service and quality of the items. We
need to survey first.” (R2).
Talib & Rusly
The 19th International Conference on Electronic Business, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, December 8-12, 2019
“Well, it’s good to do background search, look for sellers’ details ... See the seller’s responses to customer
comments, his/her attitude and all about. We need to see that ... If I send WhatsApp message to the seller, I
will make sure this person responds to the WhatsApp message quickly. Check if there is bluetick to the
message sent. I will not buy if there is no blue tick.” (R11)
“… haa, so first I will look at the seller’s Instagram, the comments and how active the seller reply to
customers. Then, how active the status of his/her business or Instagram shops, right.” (R15)
“It is easy to track the shipment and usually, based on my experience with personal shoppers, there were
no problems dealings with them.” (R15)
“So, we compared the price and we found out that the price is cheaper when buying from online… usually
cheaper.” (R15)
“There are many people selling products on Facebook. It is even hard to get the items from outside, so we
just buy from online.”
Talib & Rusly
The 19th International Conference on Electronic Business, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, December 8-12, 2019
“Yeah, it is just from the photos (laugh)…The photos that the seller posted looked so attractive compared
to others.”
Journal of Service Management 26
Talib & Rusly
The 19th International Conference on Electronic Business, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, December 8-12, 2019
International Journal of electronic commerce 16
Designing qualitative research
Qualitative research in practice: Examples for discussion and analysis
American psychologist 55
Journal of marketing 26
Proceedings of the International Conference on Business, Accounting, Finance and Economics
Decision Support
Systems 86
... Social commerce blends e-commerce and social media strategies as an exciting, lucrative evolution in retail marketing. In line with its popularity, Malaysians are increasingly buying online through social media platforms (79%) claiming to make at least one purchase a year via SNS platforms ( (Talib & Rusly, 2019). Global social commerce is expected to grow at a blistering pace of 31.4% in the aftermath of the COVID-19 crisis. ...
Investigating the impact of AI-powered technologies on Instagrammers’ purchase decisions in digitalization era–A study of the fashion and apparel industry
Article
  • Feb 2022
  • TECHNOL FORECAST SOC
Over the last couple of decades, technological advancements have accelerated exponentially, especially in the realm of online social networking networks. The artificial intelligence (AI)-powered digital technologies applications continue to emerge to enhance and improve novel ways of communication on social media platforms, particularly Instagram. Indeed, this has caused a change in the behavioral and social customer journey, where customers need to embrace a digital experience adoption. The AI applications primarily aim to study the shoppers browsing trend to draw new clients and expand businesses. Even the fashion industry has tapped into Instagram's business benefits in this fast-paced and competitive industry. With this quick and compelling way to capture shoppers’ attention towards fashion products, the purchase decision may differ between e-shoppers and conventional shoppers. AI seems to be extremely promising and has the potential to be a game changer for Instagram users, advertisers, and influencers. This study applies the Engel-Kollat-Blackwell (EKB) theory to investigate the effects of AI-based digital technology experiences on Instagrammers’ fashion apparel purchase decisions - perceived eWOM, perceived emotional value, perceived quality, perceived risk and perceived price. Based on data collected from Instagram users, the framework of this study was evaluated using structural equation modelling (SEM). Semi-structured in-depth interviews were also conducted as part of the research to get a more in-depth understanding of the profiles and behaviors of Instagram users. Our findings from both methodologies confirm that perceived emotional value, perceived quality, and perceived eWOM revealed a statistically significant and positive influence on Instagrammers’ purchase decisions for fashion apparel. Meanwhile, the importance performance matrix analysis (IPMA) identified perceived emotional value as the most important factor for Instagrammers, but the highest performance was perceived quality. This research has important implications for Malaysian online retailers and shoppers to adapt to the fast-changing digital transformation. Assuredly, this study makes a noteworthy contribution to attitudinal research on social media commerce within the fashion industry.
View
ResearchGate has not been able to resolve any references for this publication.