Social Impact and Consumer Purchase Intention in Social Commerce

This research explores how social factors affecting consumer purchase intention in social commerce. It is generally agreed that social impact can influence consumer buying behavior. This paper presents a research model comprises four research hypotheses with four constructs, including informational social influence, conflict, competence, and purchase intention. The results of the empirical study suggest that informational social influence is critical in ensuring competence and conflict is the major factor contributing to purchase intention. The findings of the study provide useful insights into how online merchants can reinforce customer engagement behavior and so as to improve consumer competence and in turn foster purchase intention in social commerce