Social Credibility: Trust Formation in Social Commerce

Authors

Lena Cavusoglu
Deniz Atik, The University of Texas Rio Grande ValleyFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

8-10-2021

Abstract

Trust formation in informal social commerce, also considered lateral exchange markets (LEMs) on social media platforms, has different dynamics from e-commerce and traditional consumerto‐ consumer (C2C) exchange. These online markets are massive in scale; thus, it is an important phenomenon in consumer research. With a holistic perspective, we conducted in-depth interviews with Instagram consumers and sellers. Our research is among the first to reveal an empirical understanding of the critical dynamics of trust formation in LEMs within social commerce and contribute to theory by introducing a novel dimension termed social credibility. Social credibility surpasses the source credibility evaluations one step further from assessing the source itself to assess the credibility of the individuals who contribute to the source's reputation, such as reviewers, followers, and customers. Thus, we define social credibility as customers’ assessments of LEM sellers’ credibility through perceived homophily with other reviewers, followers, and customers.

Comments

Copyright 2021 Association for Consumer Research. Original published version available at https://doi.org/10.1086/716068

Recommended Citation

Cavusoglu, L. and Atik, D., 2021. Social credibility: trust formation in social commerce. Journal of the Association for Consumer Research, 6(4), pp.474-490. https://doi.org/10.1086/716068

Publication Title

Journal of the Association for Consumer Research

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1086/716068