Consumer Acceptance Of Social Commerce:An Application Of Extended Unified Theory Of Acceptance And Use Of Technology

Social commerce is an amalgamation of social media and electronic commerce and is a subset of electronic commerce.Nowadays,social media has become a fastest way of spreading information over the globe.Online businesses are incorporating social media into their businesses and getting benefit from Web 2.0 technologies.The interconnectivity and socialization of consumers over the Internet has become possible through Web 2.0 technologies.Consumers like to share their product and service related experiences before and after their online purchases.The involvement of technology has become eternal in human lives.Social media enabled by Web 2.0 technology is the core part of business nowadays.Individuals spend more and more time on different social media platforms to connect with their friends,colleagues,family members,sellers and significant others which possess a huge potential for online sellers to utilize social media websites for gaining their business goals.The objective of the current study was to investigate the factors of online purchase intentions through social media websites in Pakistan.The extended unified theory of acceptance and use of technology(UTAUT2)with the addition of social support,social commerce constructs,trust,innovativeness in new technology,and cultural moderators was applied.The data was collected from 458 social media websites users in Pakistan.Using PLS 3.0-SEM,the results revealed that performance expectancy,habit,price saving orientation,social support,social commerce constructs,trust have a positive association with behavioral intentions.These results further validate that facilitating conditions,habit,and behavioral intentions have a positive relationship with the use behavior.The moderating results of cultural dimensions(individualism/collectivism,uncertainty avoidance,and masculinity/femininity)have also shown the strong impact of behavioral intentions on use behavior.Technology acceptance has gained much attention in different areas but few studies have applied the UTAUT2 model in the social commerce context.The theoretical and managerial implications of this research are explained.