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IMCS
21,3 A research framework for social
commerce adoption
Mahmood Hajli
144 Department of Management, University of London, London, UK

Received 11 April 2012

Abstract
Revised 4 July 2012 Purpose – Social relationships on the internet through the emergence of Web 2.0 applications created
21 August 2012 new opportunities for business. This is mainly because of the growth of social networking sites, which
13 September 2012 has also developed e-commerce. The current development in e-commerce opened a new stream, entitled
Accepted 10 October 2012 social commerce, which is using social technologies to create an environment for generating social
interactions. These social interactions can drive online social support in e-commerce, which in turn is
creating trust and an increased intention to use social commerce.
Design/methodology/approach – This research used social support theory and related theories on
intention to use to propose a theoretical framework for the adoption of social commerce.
Findings – The model predicts that forums and communities, ratings, reviews, referrals and
recommendations are helping to introduce new business plans for e-vendors. The model also shows
trust is an on-going issue in e-commerce and can be built through social commerce constructs.
Research limitations/implications – There is limited research in the area of social commerce
which this study seeks to redress. This study proposes a new model which can be extended by other
constructs. However, the research needs to empirically test the constructs of the proposed model and
their relationship.
Originality/value – This paper introduces social commerce constructs, namely; recommendations
and referrals, forums and communities and rating and reviews. The bases of the model proposed in
this research are IT adoption and literature in the area such as PU and intention to buy or trust. These
highlight the key role of ICT in the behaviour of online customers. This can be a development for
e-commerce adoption models and the results signify that IS has a reference discipline for the behaviour
of online consumers. This is an issue in marketing where not enough attention is paid to the
importance of IT and IS.
Keywords Social commerce, Social commerce adoption, Electronic commerce, Trust, Social media
Paper type Research paper

Introduction
The emergence of Web 2.0 applications transferred human approach to the web and
interconnectivity among users (Mueller et al., 2011). Virtual world is the other
development of Web 2.0, enabling people to interact on the internet (Mueller et al., 2011).
The social interactions of people on the internet, especially in social networking sites
(SNSs), have created a new stream in e-commerce. This new stream is social commerce.
Social commerce is the use of Web 2.0 and social technologies to support interactions in
an online context to support consumers’ acquisition of services and products on the
internet (Liang and Turban, 2011). Web 2.0 is a phenomenon that has transferred
internet and the WWW to a social environment, creating platforms where people
Information Management & can interact and create content online (Lai and Turban, 2008). This advancement has
Computer Security also elevated online communities to a level where new business plans can be developed
Vol. 21 No. 3, 2013
pp. 144-154 and implemented (Lu et al., 2010). The co-create environment has changed the passive
q Emerald Group Publishing Limited behaviour of users to become active content creators on the internet (Hajli, 2012;
0968-5227
DOI 10.1108/IMCS-04-2012-0024 Zwass, 2010).
 In this environment consumers are not only buying a product or service, but they Social commerce
are creating content which can be a two-way value creation for customer and seller adoption
(Do-Hyung et al., 2007). Consequently, today’s customer is displaying active behaviour
while participating in a business process.
Consumers are active and they have social relationships with other friends, members
of other communities and e-vendors. They communicate, rate other products, review
others’ opinions, participate in forums, share their experiences and recommend products 145
and services. Hence they are supporting each other, both in an informational and
emotional context.
Literature suggests that the next generation of online businesses will be based on
communities to attract new customers (Bagozzi and Dholakia, 2002; Ridings and Gefen,
2004). Therefore, it is important for businesses to have a business model adapted to
social commerce (Lorenzo et al., 2007; Liang and Turban, 2011). Some research has
shown that potential consumers are more interested in other people’s recommendations
rather than merely vendor generated product information (Ridings and Gefen, 2004).
This can best be achieved by online rating, recommendation and voting in an online
context (The Nielsen Company, 2007). Additionally, these interactions might help to
increase the level of trust and reduce perceived risk. Trust is an on-going issue in
e-commerce (Gefen et al., 2003) and can be increased by social commerce and social
support. In fact, to endorse trust in an online context, there is a need to provide credible
signals to re-assure e-vendors (Ba and Pavlou, 2002). Social commerce constructs (SCCs)
can provide these indications and give sellers inducements to be trustworthy. SCCs such
as communities, ratings and reviews can facilitate this.
Trust has the mediating role in an electronic market (Ba and Pavlou, 2002) and in the
proposed model, trust plays a part as a mediated construct. The present paper
investigates the limitations of current literature and tries to develop a theoretical
framework for the future of e-commerce and social commerce. The research explains a
theoretical framework for social commerce drawing on social support theory and SCCs,
which in this research focused on forums and communities, ratings and reviews,
recommendations and referrals.

Literature review and theoretical framework

Social commerce
Social commerce is a new stream in e-commerce, emerging recently through the
development of information and communication technologies (ICTs) and Web 2.0
technologies. The emergence of Web 2.0 technologies, along with the introduction of
wikis, blogs, communities and social networks, has dramatically changed the structure
of the web (Lai and Turban, 2008). Some authors believe social commerce is affected by
the expansion of social networking (Leitner and Grechenig, 2007; Liang and Turban,
2011). Many of the technological advancements like RSS, AJAX or APIs offer online
shoppers an interactive system which enables them to make connections with other
platforms. This, in turn, has had an effect on business models such as B2C and C2C,
which give new opportunities as communication channel (Do-Hyung et al., 2007).
Social commerce refers to the delivery of e-commerce via social media, which
emerged through Web 2.0 (Liang et al., 2011). Social media is a social technology
introduced by Web 2.0 via SNSs such as Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin. The
popularity of SNSs is the main reason for the current transformation (Liang et al., 2011;
IMCS Liang and Turban, 2011; Fue et al., 2009). This phenomenon is shaping new business
21,3 models based on communities where the objective is to bring features of social commerce
to e-commerce in order to design customer-oriented businesses. This provides added
value for customers and will improve marketing strategies (Liang and Turban, 2011).

Social support and SCCs

146 The experience of the user in an online context is different to that offline, as the user has
social interactions with other people. In an online context, consumers do not have actual
human contact and sociability (Gefen et al., 2003). In fact, the relationship between
vendor and consumer is anonymous and impersonal as well as automated (Wang and
Emurian, 2005). In a high street shop, customers spend their time in store and interact
with the staff whereas in an online shop it is a major challenge to create an online store
which is socially rich (Kumar et al., 2010; Do-Hyung et al., 2007). The social technologies
and applications of web technologies can influence social perception. People can
participate in forums and communities, share their experiences and knowledge and
leave their advice for other users. Through these SCCs, people receive social support.
These supports can be informational or emotional. These can increase trust and
consequently the likelihood that consumers will buy the product. With the advancement
in e-commerce technologies like online forums and communities, recommendation
systems and chat rooms, actual interactions with other users may influence consumers’
behaviour in an online market.
Social support is defined as:
The social resources that persons perceive to be available or that are actually provided to
them by non-professionals in the context of both formal support groups and informal helping
relationships (Gottlieb and Bergen, 2010).
Social support has been thoroughly investigated in psychology, sociology and health
studies. With the emergence of Web 2.0 and social relationships in social technologies,
it is now being welcomed into business studies.
Members of online communities are able to participate in different group activities
and support other members through their social interactions and communications on a
given platform (Bagozzi and Dholakia, 2002). They use social technologies, such as
social media, online communities and other Web 2.0 applications to support other
members through their experiences and information sharing. When people join online
communities and participate in group work, they are enhancing existing social supports
and networks throughout the community (Ridings and Gefen, 2004). These social
interactions are facilitated by SCCs such as forums and communities, social media,
ratings, reviews and recommendations (Hajli, 2012).
In online shopping, as consumers do not have first-hand experience of a product, such
as touching it or smelling it, reviews provided by other customers become ever more
valuable, especially if these customers do have hands-on experience of the product or
service (Do-Hyung et al., 2007). Their comments, reviews and ratings become vital
supports for other potential customers (Do-Hyung et al., 2007).

Research model and hypotheses

In this research a social commerce adoption model to address the whole issue of social
commerce has been developed. There are six predictors for this model as shown in Figure 1.
 Social commerce
Rating and
adoption
Reviews

Forums and
147
Communities Trust Intention to Buy

Recommendation
and Referrals

Social Commerce Constructs

Perceived Figure 1.
Usefulness Social commerce
adoption model

According to the literature in this area they were identified to be important in

understanding and explaining consumers’ intentions to make purchases.
In this research a social commerce adoption model has been developed in order to
increase our understanding of social commerce. Along with the SCCs, recommendations
and referrals, forums and communities and rating and reviews, the researcher
added trust as an ongoing issue in e-commerce, perceived usefulness and intention to
buy.

Trust
Many researchers argue that trust is a key element in the online environment (Mutz,
2005; Gefen et al., 2003; Pavlou, 2003). There is also an emphasis on social trust, as
social trust is important because it reduces “transaction cost” in business interactions
(Mutz, 2005). It reduces the tendency to monitor other parties’ activities, and is an
element in sanctioning systems as reliable (Mutz, 2005). Therefore, it is widely believed
that establishing trust will promote economic growth.
Social trust varies among people. Research shows, a customer who has never
undertaken online shopping, increasing the level of social trust makes it more likely
they will shop online (Mutz, 2005). Similarly, a lower level of trust makes the customer
less likely to shop online.
Many different practitioners and researchers on e-commerce believe that social trust
is a key component in a country’s economic expansion and whether they can benefit
from economic potential introduced by e-commerce (Mutz, 2005). Now the importance
of trust needs to be tested in social commerce.
In situations where people do not know each other, a high level of social trust can
smooth the progress of exchange between them, thus creating growth in the economy
due to a reduction in transaction cost.
IMCS Trust improves the efficiency of a society by facilitating coordinated actions. Social
21,3 trust facilitates expansion of businesses in the market by attracting more customers
leading to economic growth. Many believe the market in a digital economy is based on
reducing face to face meetings. Here, trust plays a key role in online interaction.
Nowadays with the proliferation of the internet and the emergence of a digital
economy, countries which are concerned about economic growth have greater concern
148 for social trust. Trust is more important when risks are perceived to be high, as in the
case of e-commerce (Mutz, 2005). This area has been widely studied by researchers
(Mutz, 2005). It has been shown that trust plays an important role in the e-commerce
adoption process (Aljifri et al., 2003). People are concerned about buying products on the
internet if they have to leave their private information and credit card details. It is also a
concern in SNS. Disclosing personal information is a big concern in e-commerce
adoption and now the same issue has arisen in s-commerce. The problem is that in some
countries, such as the USA, people are also concerned about the organizations and
institutions which provide security for online shops.
Research shows that some advances in ICT have been used by companies to increase
social trust within the marketplace and online shops, as well as decreasing their risk
perceptions in online behaviour (Grazioli and Jarvenpaa, 2000). This has tackled issues
such as deceiving consumers by building unreal trust methods and systems of risk
reduction (Grazioli and Jarvenpaa, 2000). This study uses trust as a foundation to test
SCCs.
It has been confirmed that trust has a significant role in a customer’s intention to buy
(Shin, 2010; Han and Windsor, 2011; Lu et al., 2010). Having confidence in the provider
and with less perceived risk, a customer will search for new items or services in the
online environment and be more likely to make a purchase (Hassanein and Head, 2007;
Shin, 2010). Hence, it is important to investigate the role of trust on a social commerce
adoption system.
Given the concerns and risks about e-commerce, there is a significant relationship
between trust and online commerce behaviour (Ba and Pavlou, 2002). Trust plays a key
role in determining a consumer’s behavioural intention and actual behaviour (Shin, 2010;
Gefen et al., 2003; Ming-Hsien et al., 2009). Social commerce and the emergence of Web 2.0
can help customers to reduce their risk and increase social trust. Applications on
Web 2.0, such as customer ratings and review, would be a good solution to overcome this
barrier. Social technologies enable consumers to have social activities in SNSs (Han and
Windsor, 2011), where interactions among the connected users can increase trust among
the participants (Han and Windsor, 2011; Swamynathan et al., 2008). Trust is an
important determinant in considering a consumer’s intention to buy (Roca et al., 2009;
Han and Windsor, 2011). In fact, the more trust the consumers have, the more likely it is
that they will buy (Han and Windsor, 2011). Additionally, information obtained from
customer reviews is more trustworthy than information provided by an e-vendor
(Do-Hyung et al., 2007). Consequently:
H1. User’s trust in s-commerce web sites has a positive effect on the user’s
intention to buy on SNS.

Social commerce constructs

There are different constructs for social commerce. These constructs can be
categorized as social media, ratings and reviews, social shopping, social advertising,
recommendations and referrals and forums and communities. Companies use them Social commerce
as a platform to communicate with customers and to enable customers to communicate adoption
with each other (Lai and Turban, 2008), which becomes a new channel for CRM. They
can thus use social commerce to increase sales and decrease marketing costs.
The impact of social technologies in the market can be recognized from how
e-vendors now provide more opportunities than before to interact with consumers
(Amblee and Bui, 2011). These social interactions give consumers the opportunity to 149
gain more knowledge, which in turn will increase their trust (Lu et al., 2010). Online
vendors create the platforms that allows businesses to take part in consumers’ social
interactions using social technologies (Amblee and Bui, 2011). Social commerce, with the
aid of Web 2.0 and social media technology, facilitates consumers’ ratings and reviews
and recommendations and referrals (Hajli, 2012). Members of SNSs can re-assure each
other through their information exchange and experiences, thus increasing their
confidence and consequent willingness to buy (Han and Windsor, 2011).
The other construct of social commerce is ratings and reviews. Customers can access
friends’ reviews, where there is an emotional aspect that adds a personal touch to the
decision-making process of buying. Brand reputation can also be affected by feedback
from reviews (Davidson and Copulsky, 2006). The consumer can turn to online
recommendation systems, which seem to have a big influence on the buyer. However,
such systems are often biased according to different markets (Riemer and Lehrke, 2009;
Senecal and Nantel, 2004). Yet the quality and quantity of information provided from
some sources such as customer reviews certainly do influence purchasing intention
(Do-Hyung et al., 2007).
Kumar et al. (2010) examined the evolution of structure of Yahoo! 360 and Flicker,
both examples of social networks (Kumar et al., 2010). They discovered that although
there are some isolated users and communities in these two social networks, there are
also a large number of powerfully connected sections which span the whole network.
The research also shows social context or social support do influence trust
(Weisberg et al., 2011). When an e-commerce platform has social presence
(Weisberg et al., 2011) and social applications, consumers feel more secure and
consequently they have more intention to buy (Hajli, 2012):
H2. The user’s forums and communities in s-commerce have a positive effect on
the user’s trust.
By welcoming friends and other users to join and offer positive support, people in SNSs
can increase their ratings. With these interactions the level of trust will increase and
consequently, sales will too (Swamynathan et al., 2008). Ratings will also increase user
satisfaction when they undertake a transaction (Swamynathan et al., 2008). Accordingly:
H3. User’s rating and reviews in s-commerce have an effect on the user’s trust.
H4. User’s recommendation and referrals in s-commerce have an effect on the
user’s trust.

Perceived usefulness
“People tend to use or not use an application to the extent they believe it will help
them perform their job better” (Davis, 1989). This is perceived usefulness that
was first introduced by Davis in 1989 and has been tested and validated by many
IMCS researchers since. Perceived usefulness, along with perceived ease of use, is two
21,3 variables of technology acceptance model (TAM), which is one of the most successful
theories in predicting an individual’s intent to employ a technology. There are two core
theories to test and predict an individual’s intention to utilize an information system (IS)
(Mathieson, 1991). These two theories are the TAM, introduced by Davis (1989) and the
theory of planned behaviour (TPB) which was introduced by Ajzen (1985). Perceived
150 usefulness is an important element of TAM and has been tested and validated by many
researchers.
However, TAM is a development of the theory of reasoned action (TRA). TRA was
originally designed to describe virtually any human interactions (Davis et al., 1989),
whereas TAM was intended “to provide an explanation of the determinants of computer
acceptance across a broad range of end-user computing technologies and user
populations” (Davis et al., 1989). Many authors believe that perceived usefulness affects
users’ intentions to use e-commerce (Gefen and Straub, 2000). This construct is applied
here in social commerce as well.
Han and Windsor (2011) examine the user’s willingness to pay on SNSs. They used
the new construct “perceived value of online connection” instead of perceived
usefulness. They found a significant positive effect of the user’s perceived value of online
connection on their willingness to pay other members of SNSs (Han and Windsor, 2011).
Useful and straightforward information on a web site increases the level of online trust
and consequently increases intention to use a system (Yu-Hui and Barnes, 2007; Mei et al.,
2005). Research shows the more useful functions that a web site provides, such as good
information and content, the more trust a customer will have in it (Yu-Hui and Barnes,
2007). Albeit, the design of a web site can have great influence on the success of
e-commerce (Song and Zahedi, 2005). A web site should have an attractive appearance
and should be easy to navigate around (Katos, 2012; Song and Zahedi, 2005). If so,
consumers will assume a positive outlook and be more likely to engage. In addition,
when consumers feel comfortable with a web site, they will have more trust in that
platform (Roca et al., 2009). Accordingly, it should be a significant variable in the
proposed model:
H5. The user’s perceived usefulness in s-commerce web sites has a positive effect
on the user’s trust.
H6. The user’s perceived usefulness has a positive effect on the user’s intention to
buy on SNS.

Research methodology
The recommended methodology for this research is structural equation modelling (SEM)
of the data analysis. Other authors (Gefen and Straub, 2000) believe this approach has
many advantages over other methods, for instance multiple regression. SEM is also good
in terms of path and factor analysis, especially when we are looking for reliability and
validity of a research outcome from different angles. This is available through this
approach. Using a SEM approach, a partial least squares (PLS) method was selected.
This has advantages compared to others, for example LISREL. Moreover, PLS is also
relevant for exploratory research (Chin, 1998; Gefen and Straub, 2004), which is the
nature of this research. This method is also suitable for testing a new model and theory as
it can be used for both confirmatory and exploratory research (Gefen and Straub, 2000).
Given that this study is designed to test a proposed model and is also an exploratory Social commerce
work, it is felt that this is the most appropriate method. adoption
Discussion, implications and future research
Implications for researchers
There is limited research in the area of social commerce which this study seeks to
redress. This study proposes a new model which can be extended by other constructs. 151
This research shows that SCCs influence trust and the consequent intention to buy
among users. The variable “trust” is shown to have a strong influence and its effect shall
be significant in reassuring consumers in social commerce. Accordingly, the position of
trust in the proposed model is seen to be important.

Implications for ISs

The bases of the model proposed in this research are IT adoption and literature in the
area such as PU and intention to buy or trust. These highlight the key role of ICT in the
behaviour of online customers. This can be a development for e-commerce adoption
models and the results signify that IS has a reference discipline for the behaviour of
online consumers. This is an issue in marketing where not enough attention is paid to the
importance of IT and IS. Customers are now interacting with ICT advancement in
e-commerce and new platforms. This has highlighted the new role of IS in management
and attracted practitioners to look at IS from a managerial angle. Moreover, the fact is
that in the near future, with the development of Web 2.0, the role of IS will become more
important in predicting online consumer behaviour.

Conclusion
The social relationships of consumers, enhanced by the emergence of Web 2.0
technologies, enable them to support each other and take an active role working on the
internet. This advancement has emerged through social commerce and is primarily
because of Web 2.0. Web 2.0 has increased communication between consumers with
the introduction of new channels such as blogs, social networks, social media and
communities. There are also new channels for businesses to get in touch with
customers. This research discusses the role of social technologies and uses social
support theory to propose a research framework for the adoption of social commerce.
The model covers SCCs and justifies them by social support theory.
Trust is an on-going issue in e-commerce and also now in social commerce. This
concern is of rising importance among consumers as social commerce platforms like
Facebook become more widespread. The model investigated the role of trust and its
impact on intention to buy. Trust is seen to be a key factor to increase the intention to
buy and through the support of SCCs, social presence can be enriched. In addition a
web site’s perceived usefulness by consumers is likely to increase the trust and
intention to buy.
The present study adopts TAM constructs and proposes a model which shows that
both trust and perceived usefulness are likely to influence consumer behaviour. The
research discusses how trust can be challenged in a social commerce environment by
the use of SCCs. It also describes the potential role of each SCC on increasing the level
of trust in an e-commerce environment. In a follow-up research this work with
empirical validation will consider by the author.
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About the author

Mahmood Hajli is a researcher at Birkbeck, University of London. His research concerns the
impact of social relationships on business. He believes it comes at a time when theories of social
support from Psychology and Sociology are now being adopted by Management Studies, due to
the emergence of Web 2.0 and 3.0 applications and social technologies. In his research, he is
developing social commerce constructs and a model for the adoption of technology, based on social
relations within business. His main area of research is the adoption of e-commerce and social
commerce, but he is also applying his model to e-health and e-learning. Mahmood Hajli can be
contacted at: [email protected]

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