Determinants of Social Commerce Purchase Intention Through Online Trust Mediation
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Abstract
The rapid rise of social commerce has changed online shopping by combining social interaction with digital transactions, enabling consumers to engage with brands and make purchasing decisions through social networking platforms. This study investigates how UGC, SMI, e-WOM credibility, and perceived value influence SCPI, with online trust serving as a mediating. The research adopts the SOR framework, explaining how external stimuli influence consumers' psychological responses and behavioral intentions. A quantitative approach was employed by collecting data from 200 respondents who had previously purchased things using social commerce sites. The proposed research model was evaluated using SEM-PLS with SmartPLS software to examine both direct and indirect relationships among the constructs. The findings demonstrate that all hypothesized relationships are statistically significant. Online trust emerged as the strongest predictor of purchase intention and effectively mediated the effects of user-generated content, social media influencers, e-WOM credibility, and perceived value on consumers' purchasing decisions. These results highlight the critical importance of strengthening consumer trust to encourage purchase intentions within social commerce environments, particularly on TikTok and Instagram. The study offers practical insights for digital marketers and platform providers by emphasizing strategies that reinforce trust, enhance information credibility, and deliver greater customer value. Future studies may expand the research context by including additional social commerce platforms, wider geographical coverage, and relevant variables to better understand consumer behavior.
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