Abstract

This thesis uses the engagement-generation process to examine how social presence and shopping convenience affect consumer participation in a social commerce (s-commerce) context. RED, a novel social commerce app, is used to determine whether different formats of content result in different levels of social presence and whether consumers’ purchase intentions varied when exposed to different content. This thesis also suggests methods for improving online purchase methods to increase customer engagement and online purchases. An experimental design was used, and the data was collected from a random sample.
Results suggest that video conveys a higher level of social presence than text, but format does not significantly affect online purchase intention. To increase user engagement on the social commerce platform, marketers can use more text to deliver content and improve the level of purchase convenience at the same time. This improves user purchase intention. This study centers on the interactive effects of social presence and online purchase convenience and opens a new line of research on different formats of content on social commerce platforms.
Key words social commerce; social presence; online shopping convenience; online purchase intention