The effects of social support, social presence and flow on customer engagement in social commerce: a trust transfer perspective

Abstract

In recent years, s-commerce has become a phenomenon among young people, who are drawn to the online community and use it as a platform to find and exchange thoughts on many aspects of life, including buying and selling items. Therefore, customer engagement is considered an important factor, having a significant impact on consumer buying behavior. Despite extensive research on customer engagement, few studies have examined why customers engage in social commerce and the resulting consequences for businesses. In this study, the important factors that drive customer engagement on social commerce platforms are discovered. The conceptual model was proposed using theories including the social support theory, the social presence theory, the trust transfer theory, and the service-dominant (S-D) logic. The data were collected from 441 participants who have used TikTok platform. The results indicate that social support, social presence of web and social presence of interaction have a significant, positive effect on customer engagement through the intermediary factors (flow and trust transfer). The findings show that improving an understanding of the behavioral consequences of customer engagement is essential for website administrators, marketers, and social commerce retailers to develop marketing policies and communication strategies.