The Role of Social Media in Online Shopper Behavior: Insights from South Africa

Research highlights the pivotal role of social media in online shopping, yet there are still gaps remaining in understanding the influence of social media in social commerce. To address this gap, this study sets out to explore the impact of online informational influences (evidential, confirmational, and experiential), either user-generated content (participant or non-participant sharing) or via the brand social media pages, as drivers of online shopping loyalty behaviors such as repurchase intent and social word-of-mouth (sWOM). A cross-sectional approach employing non-probability sampling with an online survey hosted on Qualtrics resulted in a sample of 433 South African adult online shoppers. However, the two-step Covariance-based Structural Equation Modeling confirmed online influences' relationships with repurchase intent, with some negative effects. The drivers of sWOM were revealed, but interestingly, participant-sharing negatively predicted sWOM. Additionally, the moderating role of shopper satisfaction was confirmed. The applicability of the reference group theory is established in an emerging market context such as South Africa. In addition to the theoretical contributions, the study provides practical suggestions for brands to manage their campaigns in an online shopping environment.