Mobile social commerce (ms-commerce) has blurred the boundaries between social interaction and shopping, creating an environment where consumers can discover novel products, experience positive emotions and seek social recognition in real time. These experiences can transform casual browsing into spontaneous purchasing. This study explores how variety-seeking attitude, positive emotional responses and perceived social status drive impulsive buying intentions (IBI) in ms-commerce.
The study adopted a mixed-methods research approach, combining structural equation modeling (SEM) with qualitative analysis in MAXQDA 24 to extend behavioral reasoning theory (BRT) in the context of ms-commerce. In-depth interviews with 13 ms-commerce users and a survey of 630 users were conducted to examine the psychological and behavioral drivers of IBI.
The results indicate that users' emotional response to ms-commerce is strengthened by interpersonal trust, metavoicing affordance, perceived utilitarian value and social hedonic value. A positive emotional response magnifies users' variety-seeking attitudes and perceived social status. In addition, buyers' autonomy moderates the association between users' variety-seeking attitude and perceived social status, on the one hand and IBI, on the other.
The findings of this study offer important insights for ms-commerce app developers, users, brands, marketers and policymakers to understand the changing dynamics of ms-commerce better.
The domains of metavoicing affordance, perceived social status, interpersonal trust, and buyers' autonomy in the ms-commerce literature have received limited attention. Our study aims to accommodate these crucial constructs by broadening the scope of the BRT.
