Parámetros que intervienen en el comportamiento de la etiqueta

This section revises the literature from previous sections pertaining to trust and purchase intention, from an e-commerce and social commerce perspective. Fishbein and Ajzen (1975) define purchase intention as “the strengths of one’s intentions to perform a specific behavior” (Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975:288). Mcknight et al. (2002) adopted the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) – asserting that “trusting beliefs (regarding the perception of web attributes) lead to trusting intentions which lead to trust related behaviour” (McKnight et al., 2000:336). Mcknight et al. (2002) frequently reference the relationship between trust and online transactions (Lu et al., 2016; Kim and Park, 2013).

Various characteristics have been previously verified to influence user trust online: characteristics of websites, characteristics of people, and characteristics of companies (Gefen, 2000; Cheung and Lee, 2006; Jarvenpaa, 2000). Social commerce characteristics facilitate online purchasing, if they are presented favourably to the consumer (Kim and Park, 2013). These constructs assist growth in social commerce, as brands are enabled to make better decisions on how to generate favourable leads.

In a social commerce context, intention to purchase is defined as a “customer’s intention to engage in an online transaction on social networking sites through an e- retailer” (Hajli et al., 2017:134). Trust does drive purchase intentions through increased information seeking behaviour and through social commerce constructs (Hajli et al., 2017). In conclusion, through the process of gathering product information with the assistance of online communities and social commerce tools, trust is developed – which increases the intentions to purchase. This aligns with previously mentioned literature (see Lu et al.,2016). Co-creation and participation in the information-seeking process positively develops trust (Hajli, 2015a) and social interaction facilitates purchase behaviour. Lu et al. (2016) argue that behavioural intention is the “most influential predictor of behavior” – implying that purchase intention can represent purchase behaviour (Lu et al., 2016:229). Lu (2016) further demonstrates that trusting beliefs in online sellers are closely related to transaction intentions with the same online seller (McKnight et al., 2002; Pavlou, 2003). In this study research framework, trust signifies Kim and Park’s (2012) cognitive and emotional trust, which influences trust performance that is the user’s intention to purchase.

Group buying has also been proven to positively affect group purchase intention (Cheng, Sai, Cheng and Chen, 2012). Group buying thrives in social media through leveraging the online community. Social proof theory reinforces several arguments raised in prior social commerce literature. First, the power and influence of social interactions in a community facilitate purchase behaviour. Second, social interactions within a community builds trust, and trust is antecedent to purchase

35 intention. Third, group buying behaviour closely mimics social commerce community behaviour, in that the community is used for cues, and people behave as their friends and peers have behaved. Social proof has also been studied within the cultural context, using Hofstede’s dimensions of individualism and collectivism. In a social media-focused paper by Viljoen, Dube and Murisi (2016), the social media platforms of Facebook and Twitter are explored for their comparable credibility in the South African market. Their study reinforces how Facebook and Twitter influence consumer intention to purchase in the context of mobile phones. The sample comprised Facebook and Twitter users living in East London, in the Eastern Cape. The sample group is highlighted as a limitation in the study – respondents should be more spread out to ensure that the results are more generalisable (Viljoen et al., 2016). Twitter was found to influence purchase decisions more strongly than Facebook. Although this study reconzed Twitter as a more influential platform than Facebook, only 22% of South African social network users are active on Twitter, which is almost half the active users on Facebook. Both platforms were however, recognised as being able to significantly influence purchase intention. Something to consider is that Twitter comprises of opinion leaders (micro influencers) that are deemed to be highly influential and more credible and their followers want to emulate them of which followers want to emulate (Viljoen et al., 2016) – and therefore purchase intention is higher. A further significant point that is relevant to this study, is the increased interaction between brand and user – which strengthens relationships and promotes trust. As discussed in the previous section, Das (2016) confirms that online retailer awareness, association and quality, is positively related to purchase intention, repurchase and recommendation (Das, 2016).

3.3 CHAPTER CONCLUSION

The chapter explored online trust from an e-commerce and social commerce perspective, including the barriers to trust online, the importance of trust in social commerce, and what factors influence this trust. This chapter proposed that trust formation in one culture cannot be presumed to be the same for another culture.

3.4 CHAPTER SUMMARY

In this chapter, trust was first explored broadly giving context to its multi-dimensional application. The various types of online trust were briefly reviewed to give an idea of how this study chose to adopt cognitive and emotional trust. The significance of trust was outlined through the uncertainty and perceived risks of transacting online (Kim et al., 2008). In the previous chapter, this study showed how social commerce constructs develop trust, which results in a socially interactive, socially supportive, and socially warm social commerce firm. In this chapter, however, the focus turned to understanding what influences online trust in social commerce.

36 Social commerce characteristics, and website and information systems are drivers of online trust, which in turn influence purchase intention. Das (2016) further highlights online retailer awareness, association and quality as being positively related to purchase intention, repurchase, and recommendation (Das, 2016). Here, the literature introduces culture and how trust perceptions vary from one culture to another. This highlights that trust is measured unequally in different cultures, and one cannot assume one trust-building strategy will work for all cultures.

The next chapter explores culture in marketing. First, culture is defined as a multi- dimensional construct highlighting how globalisation and advancement of web 2.0 have exposed businesses to cross-cultural consumers. Hofstede’s national cultural framework is introduced and the cultural dimensions are defined – after which the applications of Hofstede’s national cultural model are explored. Thereafter, culture and online trust are examined. The different fields of application of these cultural dimensions are then explored through previous studies and then the gaps in the research in online culture at the individual level are then identified. Online cultural studies are identified through exploring online culture marketing.

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CHAPTER 4

CULTURE IN MARKETING

4.1 INTRODUCTION

In the last chapter, the application of trust was assessed within an online context. The literature raised questions on the effects of culture on trust and the significance of cross-cultural differences – appealing for further exploration of this influence in future works (Doney and Cannon, 1997; Jarvenpaa et al., 2000; Ng, 2013; Kim and Park, 2013). In South Africa’s rural Kwazulu-Natal, Lekhanya (2013) investigated the cultural impact of social media technology adoption, and found that cultural values do affect the adoption of new social media technologies (Lekhayna, 2013) – which is a reason to undertake further research on the effects of culture.

This chapter begins by examining the definition of culture, the applications of Hofstede’s model and discussions around applying culture at the individual level. The cultural dimensions are then outlined, and the criticisms of the model are evaluated in order to raise awareness of the shortcomings. The literature on the effects of national culture on trust in ecommerce and social commerce is explored, in order to assist with the development of the research question.