The impact of social networking functionalities on online shopping: an examination of the web's relative advantage

Ree Ho and Doug Vogel

International Journal of Business Information Systems, 2014, vol. 16, issue 1, 25-41

Abstract: Exponential growth of social networking has provided a revolutionary tool for firms to improve internet marketing activities. Firms are motivated to use social networking sites as they recognise the importance of having closer collaboration, improved customer relationship and, ultimately, increased sales transactions. In particular, social networking functionalities such as user generated contents and user collaboration are two of the main features of social networking site. The research survey is based upon a sample of 221 Facebook users. The findings illustrate that the web's relative advantages consisting of trust, convenience and information quality obtained from online resellers' website can facilitate an interactive and user-centred environment for electronic commerce. In addition, the relative advantages of the web largely depend on peers and engagement with sellers derived from social networking sites.

Keywords: e-commerce; electronic commerce; social networking sites; SNS; online shopping; convenience; relative advantage; trust; information quality; user generated content; UGCs; user collaboration; internet marketing; Facebook. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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