Millennial Consumer Preferences in Social Commerce Web Design.
| Autor | Anaya-Sanchez, Rafael |
1 Introduction
Social commerce (SC) has become a means by which companies like Amazon and eBay add value to their services thanks to the use of Web 2.0 tools, which encourage customer participation during the purchase process (Wang and Zhang, 2012). Currently, SC is one of the biggest stars of the digital world, with a global income of $90 billion anticipated in 2020 (Aladwani, 2018).
It is crucial for companies interested in capitalizing on SC to understand the mechanisms by which users make decisions and conduct transactions (Baghdadi, 2013). With a proper understanding, companies can expand their customer base and optimize their strategies. Accordingly, web design is a determining factor in user adoption processes (Huang and Benyoucef, 2017), as it has a significant impact on their purchase decisions and, consequently, the benefits.
Although various studies have examined how factors of web design and factors related to attitude and learning influence the intention to buy (Huang and Benyoucef, 2015; Shanmugam, Sun, Amidi, Khani, and Khani, 2016; Shaouf, Lu, and Li, 2016), which shows that it a fundamental topic of studies within the field of SC (Han, Xu, and Chen, 2018), there is little understanding about the connection that exists between these dimensions. Similarly, despite it being established that there are differences in how different age groups use and value SC (Huang and Benyoucef, 2017; Williams, 2018), there is very little empirical analysis focused on how the preferences of the millennial public are considered in the design of these sites. This study considers these two main aspects, proposing a research model that includes three key factors in the design of SC (usability, functionality, and sociability), and two relevant factors in the study of social learning (cognitive and affective assessment), in order to determine how these variables influence the millennial public's intention to buy. In order to validate the proposed model, the study is based on a sample of 230 millennials, using the PLS (partial least squares) technique to analyze their responses. The results show that web design is a key factor for millennial consumers when making cognitive and emotional assessments of a website, consequently favoring their intention to buy.
2 Social commerce
The use of the internet as a space to make purchases, search for information, and create new businesses has attracted a large number of users (Hall and Tiropanis, 2012). This trend has been further strengthened with the appearance of social networks, which offer more interactive sales channels. Consumers can also create, receive, and share information about products and purchase experiences with other users (Chang, 2017), as well as companies.
E-commerce initially focused on maximizing the efficiency of search strategies, one-click buying, and virtual catalogs, etc. (Carroll, 2008). Customers therefore interacted with the platforms individually and independently (Kim and Srivastava, 2007) since navigation was only conducted in one direction, from the company to the customer (Parise and Guinan, 2008). The development of social networks has turned e-commerce into a customer-oriented social setting (Wigand, Benjamin, and Birkland, 2008). In this environment, companies can understand their customers, giving them an idea of customer purchase experiences and expectations and helping them develop successful commercial strategies (Constantinides and Fountain, 2008).
The introduction of social tools (social networks, forums, etc.) in e-commerce websites has favored the foundation of SC. SC is understood as the development of e-commerce activities and other transactions through environments based on social media and Web 2.0 technologies (Hajli, 2014; Liang and Turban, 2011). In these environments, consumers can interact in social purchase activities, such as product searches, information exchange, and collaborative decision-making (Shen and Eder, 2012). SC allows customers to express themselves and share their information with other customers and companies (Shanmugam et al., 2016), not only focusing on making a purchase (Molinillo, Liebana-Cabanillas, and Anaya-Sanchez, 2018a), but also on socializing. SC platforms have two configurations (Liang and Turban, 2011; Molinillo et al., 2018a): social networks with options to communicate with other customers and advertising and transaction systems (e.g., Facebook, Instagram, etc.); and websites dedicated to sales with e-commerce designs and features, including social tools, such as forums, review and evaluation systems, etc. (e.g., Amazon, AliExpress, and Threadless).
SC has had a major impact on commercial processes and is beneficial for consumers and business owners (Hajli, 2013). Consumers can make a more social, collaborative purchase based on collective intelligence used to make more accurate decisions (Dennison, Bourdage-Braun, and Chetuparambil, 2009). Business owners can identify behaviors, preferences, and expectations that allow them to offer better services (Constantinides, Romero, and Gomez Boria, 2008) and attract buyers through current consumer recommendations, thus establishing and strengthening relationships (Marsden, 2010).
3 theoretical model
3.1 Web design
A website's quality can be defined as the performance of the electronic commerce system in terms of information and services (Liao, Palvia, and Lin, 2006). Likewise, design is one of the main factors that determine users' perceptions of quality (Wolfinbarger and Gilly, 2002), which in turn affects their behavior (Liang and Lai, 2002). Companies should strive to offer websites with quality designs (Liang and Turban, 2011), which invite users to visit them and make purchases (Fan and Tsai, 2010). Huang and Benyoucef (2017) argue that in order to make the most of SC, it is necessary to study the design's usability, functionality, and sociability, as they help reduce errors, generate positive attitudes, and increase the intention to buy/use the system (Huang and Benyoucef, 2015; Wu, Shen, and Chang, 2015).
3.1.1 Web usability
Usability is defined as the capacity of software to be understood, learned, operated, and to appear attractive to users (Fernandez, Insfran, and Abrahao, 2011). It specifically refers to the degree to which users can use a website to achieve their objectives effectively, efficiently, and satisfactorily (Huang and Benyoucef, 2017; Venkatesh, Hoehle, and Aljafari, 2014). According to Huang and Benyoucef (2017), usability is measured by a series of attributes: ease of use, esthetics, organization, accessibility, adaptability, simplicity, and information quality. On the other hand, Rosenzweig (2015) considers the main characteristics to be the ease of learning how to use a website, efficiency, rectification of errors, and satisfaction with the experience. Usability is a fundamental variable of website quality, increasing the intention to use, user acceptance (Davis, 1989), and intention to buy (Ben Yahia, Al-Neama, and Kerbache, 2018).
3.1.2 Functionality
Functionality refers to a set of website features and properties that meet the needs that arise as a user is conducting a specific task (Stefani and Xenos, 2011). Functionality includes the following attributes (Huang and Benyoucef, 2017; Liao and Shi, 2017): response time, information usefulness, contact methods, help and search functions, payment security, information protection, and consumer satisfaction. Functionality is a factor that has traditionally been used in the design of SC (Huang and Benyoucef, 2017). Furthermore, when consumers are offered a high level of functionality, they can use SC better by interacting with the information and services available (Shaouf et al., 2016). A quality web design should provide adequate functional support that meets consumers' needs at every stage of the purchase process (Huang and Benyoucef, 2017).
3.1.3 Web sociability
Sociability is one of the variables that contribute to the quality of SC (Guo and Barnes, 2011). Using Web 2.0, it makes the most of the power of technology in a more collaborative, interactive way, encouraging the creation of communities that connect users, providing them with access to knowledge and experiences (Dennison et al., 2009). Huang and Beyoucef (2017) indicate the following attributes that serve as a measure of an SC site's sociability: social communities, recommendation systems, creation of social connections, content generation and distribution, establishing conversations, and consumer participation. Accordingly, sociability in SC offers an experience that allows consumers to connect with each other, find people with similar interests, share information, and communicate while making purchases (Yang, Li, Kim, and Kim, 2015).
3.2 The dimensions of social learning
On SC sites, customers can access the knowledge and experience of other users regarding products that interest them (Huang and Benyoucef, 2017). This process is known as social learning (Bandura and Walters, 1977). Numerous authors have studied the processes that affect learning and how individuals behave in response to stimuli they receive when making transactions; however, these studies only focus on a part of the internal process, the cognitive dimension, omitting the affective aspect, which is of relevant importance. It is currently understood that all internal psychological processes that occur during learning can primarily be divided into two dimensions: cognitive assessment and affective assessment (Illeris, 2003).
The term "assessment" can be defined as an automatic association (conscious or unconscious) between a response and/or internal affective state and a stimulus or specific situation, whether positive or negative (Castelfranchi, 2000). Chen, Lu, and Wang (2017) define cognitive and affective assessments within the perspective of the purchase process in SC as follows: cognitive assessment is the evaluation an...
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