Investigating the Factors that Influence Purchase Intention and Use of Social Commerce Across Different Age Groups

Abstract

Due to the advancement in Information and Communication Technology, businesses have mainly shifted from a brick-and-mortar format to an online format. In this respect, a revolution in social commerce brought more automated and faster services. To examine the antecedents of Saudi customers’ social commerce acceptance, this research integrates an extended unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTUAT2), social commerce constructs, and user trust. Moreover, this study examines customer gender, age, and user experience as moderators on UTUAT2 factors and purchase intention relationships. This research obtained data from 596 social commerce users in Saudi Arabia. The structural model results illustrate that performance expectancy, facilitating conditions, price value, habit, social commerce constructs and user trust are positively related to customer purchase intention. Furthermore, facilitating conditions, habit, and purchase intentions positively relate to customer use behavior towards social commerce. The research findings also demonstrate that customers' gender, age, and experience moderate the effects of facilitating conditions, price value, hedonic motivation, and habit on purchase intentions and use behavior. Based on the findings, this research provides guidelines to researchers, businesses, policymakers, and government to understand the dynamics of social commerce in Saudi Arabia.