What motivates customers to participate in social commerce? The impact of technological environments and virtual customer experiences

Social commerce, as a relatively new phenomenon, has attracted little research attention. This study aims to provide initial insights into the dynamics of customer participation in social commerce. Based on the stimulus-organism-response paradigm, this study develops a model to investigate the effects of technological features (perceived interactivity, perceived personalization and perceived sociability) of social commerce on customers' virtual experiences (social support, social presence and flow) and subsequently their participation intention. The results indicate that social commerce intention is determined by social support, social presence and flow experiences. These experiences, in turn, are influenced by perceived interactivity, personalization and sociability features. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.