Title: The study of social networking site characteristics on consumer trust towards positive WOM and purchase intention

Authors: Lu-Wen Liao; Chun-Tsen Yeh; Pei-Chun Fang; Wan-Ting Sun

Addresses: Department of Intelligent Production Engineering, National Taichung University of Science and Technology, Taichung, Taiwan ' Department of Finance, Chang Jung Christian University, Tainan, Taiwan ' Department of Industrial Engineering and Management, National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology, Taichung, Kaohsiung, Taiwan ' Department of Industrial Engineering and Management, National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology, Taichung, Kaohsiung, Taiwan

Abstract: Social commerce is the process of selling products and services directly through social media such as social networking sites (SNSs). In recent years, social commerce has experienced a significant expansion, especially in cross-border e-commerce and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Important characteristics of SNSs include intimacy, familiarity, expertise and interactivity. This study examined the influence of these four characteristics on consumer trust as well as the influence of trust in turn on purchase intention and positive word-of-mouth (WOM). This investigation was based on the stimulus-organism-response framework in which shopping experience was included as a moderator. We confirmed positive correlations between familiarity, expertise, and interactivity with consumer trust as well as positive correlations between trust with purchase intention and positive WOM. There was no significant relationship between intimacy and consumer trust. We also found that shopping experience played a crucial moderating role in the relationships between familiarity, expertise, and interactivity with trust.

Keywords: social networking site; SNS; S-O-R model; social networking site characteristics; purchase intention; shopping experience.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMC.2025.145324

International Journal of Mobile Communications, 2025 Vol.25 No.3, pp.249 - 276

Received: 17 Aug 2022
Accepted: 07 Oct 2023
Published online: 31 Mar 2025 *

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