From Hearts to Carts: Understanding the Impact of Comments, Likes, and Share Functions on Consumer Purchase Intentions in a Social Media Landscape

In recent years, considerable attention has been devoted to studying how social media engagement, encompassing actions such as likes, comments, and shares, shapes consumer purchasing decisions. While previous research acknowledges the significance of social media engagement, there remains a dearth of thorough analysis regarding the explicit effects of likes, comments, and shares on consumer behaviour, particularly in terms of examining how these engagements affect diverse consumer groups. Thus, this study aims to enhance our comprehension of how activities on social networking platforms, such as comments, likes, and shares, impact consumer purchasing decisions. Employing a cross-sectional approach, the study utilized purposive sampling to collect data from Malaysian university students who had previously made purchases through social media platforms like Instagram. A total of 134 valid responses were analyzed. The research outcomes significantly contribute to the existing literature in several respects. Firstly, the study constructed a research framework based on signalling theory to explore how social network activities, such as comments, likes, and shares, influence consumer purchasing decisions. The findings revealed insightful observations, indicating that likes and shares exert a substantial direct influence on purchase decisions within the Instagram ecosystem. However, contrary to expectations, the study found no significant association between comments and consumers' purchasing decisions on Instagram. These discoveries offer valuable insights into the specific impact of different social media engagement metrics on consumer behaviour, particularly within the context of Instagram.  Keywords: social media, like, share, comment, consumer behaviour, purchase decision, Instagram