Author:
Trehan Deepak,Sharma Rajat
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate the consumer motivation to buy products on consumer-to-consumer (C2C) communities on social networking sites (SNSs). These transactions involve no intermediation or payment of fees by any party. The phenomenon is in contrast with the traditional C2C transactions, on websites such as eBay, where the company website facilitates the transaction between consumers, charges a fee to sellers and provides limited information about buyers and sellers.
Design/methodology/approach
Drawing from media richness theory and social capital theory, this paper thus proposes and empirically tests a theoretical model developed using data collected from people making transactions on these communities that synthesize the motivations behind consumers’ intention to buy.
Findings
The results indicate that the media richness of the Facebook platform increases the social capital and sense of virtual community among users, which further impacts the purchase intentions of users. Social capital alone does not lead to purchase intention and indirectly impacts purchase intentions through the trust dimension.
Research limitations/implications
This study contributes to theorizing the role of the platform, social capital and sense of virtual community in buying behavior on SNSs and provides valuable new insights into these constructs for the brand managers on social media sites.
Originality/value
Existing research on social commerce does not hold true for C2C communities on SNSs. This paper provides a new perspective into these communities through the lens of media richness and social capital constructs as antecedents of purchase intentions on these communities.
Subject
Marketing,Business and International Management
Reference55 articles.
1. The influence of C2C communications in online Brand communities on customer purchase behavior;Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science,2009
2. Social Capital: prospects for a new concept;Academy of Management Review,2002
3. The strength of strong and weak ties;Nonprofit Management and Leadership,1998
4. Evidence of the effect of trust building technology in electronic markets: price premiums and buyer behavior;Mis Quarterly,2002
5. Developing a sense of virtual community measure;Cyberpsychology & Behavior,2007
Cited by
12 articles.
订阅此论文施引文献
订阅此论文施引文献,注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献,订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献