Towards social commerce: assessing the effect on firm performances

Abstract

The aim of the research is to empirically analyze social commerce features and their impact on financial performance. Social commerce is an ongoing phenomenon defined as a new form of e-commerce mediated by Web 2.0 technologies and infrastructures and, especially, by social media. This paper tries to contribute to the extant literature by developing a conceptual model useful to understand if and how system quality, usability, information quality, service quality, playfulness and Web 2.0 features, namely social commerce principles, affect firm financial performance. Data collected from 192 European firms were analyzed applying multiple regression analysis (OLS). Findings reveal that system quality, information quality, playfulness, and Web 2.0 features significantly affect financial performance. The research provides interesting theoretical and practical contributions that are discussed to highlight the crucial role of Web 2.0 technologies and infrastructures and to remark the essentiality of system and information quality in boosting firms’ performances. Moreover, empirical results show that playfulness requires to be adequately designed and managed in order to effectively engage customers and provide a concrete support in enhancing firms’ financial performance in the social commerce era.