Determinants of trust and purchase intention in social commerce: Perceived price fairness and trust disposition as moderators

Abstract

The study investigates the determinants of trust in sellers and products and purchase intention in the social commerce (s-commerce) context by considering the moderating effects of trust disposition and perceived price fairness. The data were collected from 416 individuals who have followed at least one seller on Instagram and analysed using the Partial Least Squares (PLS) approach. The findings revealed that review quantity, review quality, perceived symmetric product information, and responsiveness positively influence trust in seller. The direct influence of review quality on trust in products was confirmed. Trust disposition negatively moderates the impacts of review quality on trust in sellers and responsiveness on trust in products. Furthermore, perceived price fairness positively moderates the influence of trust in sellers and products on purchase intention. The findings extend the literature on s-commerce in several ways. The findings enable s-commerce sellers to formulate effective marketing strategies and boost purchase intention.