The Effects of Social Media on E-Commerce: A Perspective of Social Impact Theory

In recent years social media has become more and more popular all around the world. This study aims to examine the influence of social media in the e-commerce context and to find how it impacts users' visit intention and purchase intention. Through a questionnaire survey, we test and analyze the research model and its related hypotheses by making use of structural equation modeling. The results indicate that social media interaction ties and social media commitment positively affect normative social influence and informational social influence. The last one in turn influences visit intention and purchase intention in e-commerce. In conclusion, we discuss the research findings and suggest some implications for researchers and practitioners.