An investigation of customers' loyalty to social commerce websites

The emergence of web 2.0 has brought new applications which have played a significant role in extending e-commerce websites with social commerce (S-Commerce) functionality. S-Commerce is a new extension of B2C e-commerce where customers purchase products/services online with the existence of social cues in the websites (such as reviews, recommendations and sharing). There has been little research in the area of customer loyalty to S-Commerce websites. Drawing upon theories of social presence and trust; and the Delone and McLean model of information systems success, this study aims to determine what factors affect customer loyalty to S-Commerce websites and to develop a framework that helps in investigating those factors. In order to achieve this objective, a quantitative approach will be employed. Data will be collected from S-Commerce users in Australia via survey. Analysis will be performed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). This study will contribute to the S-Commerce literature through a theoretical framework that shows how the loyalty of customers can be generated in S-Commerce websites. In addition, it is expected that this study will help businesses to have understanding of how to retain their customers which will result in higher profits.